by Mars Gravity
Clang!!
Before Murong Ye could reveal a manic smile, the instant Yun Che’s fingers made contact with Murong Ye’s long sword, it was already completely nullified. He felt as if his sword had pierced into incomparably sturdy hard rock, and was incapable of moving even half an inch forward.
But what was pinching the tip of the blade, was only Yun Che’s thumb and middle finger.
Murong Ye was stunned; Qin Wuyou and Xia Yuanba were also completely dumbfounded. At this point, Qin Wuyou finally noticed Yun Che’s profound energy. In a voice of thick disbelief, a cry sprang from his lips, “Nascent Profound Realm…. Tenth level!? How…. How is this possible!!”
The last time he had met Yun Che, he was only at the first level of the Nascent Profound Realm. Only a month and a half had passed since then, yet he was already at the tenth level of the Nascent Profound Realm!
This sort of speed…. could only be described within those fantastical sort of stories.
“Whaa? What did you say? Tenth level Nascent Profound Realm?” Both of Xia Yuanba’s circular eyes stared widely, and he thought there was something wrong with his ears.
Yun Che stretched out his right hand and clutched the sword blade with his entire palm. With a violent shake, a strong blast of profound energy ran down the blade’s body and hit Murong Ye’s arm, which had been tightly clutching the sword. He let go of the blade with an anguished roar. With the blade held in hand, Yun Che flung his arm and the hilt of the blade ruthlessly hit Murong Ye’s face, causing him to fall to the ground and roll.
Murong Ye sprawled on the ground. The entire right half of his face was swollen and splattered with fresh blood. Yun Che threw the sword in his hand away, and looked down while coldly saying, “Whatever happens between me and Senior Xueruo has nothing to do with you. Guard your identity as a toad who daydreams everyday well, got it?”
Chapter 124: Inner Palace’s Heavenly Profound List
“You… You!” Murong Ye clutched the completely red right half of his face as his entire body trembled. Since a very young age, he had always been raised in praise and admiration. Even in Blue Wind Profound Palace, although he was only an average disciple of the Outer Palace, his father was the city chief of New Moon City and his cousin was a member of the Inner Palace. Therefore, his position within the Outer Palace was definitely not low. Those who wanted to suck up to him were as plentiful as there were fish in the sea…. How could he stand this sort of humiliation!
And the person who had caused him such humiliation, was actually the one who had “gotten” the Lan Xueruo that he could only dream of getting.
“You will regret this…. Before long, I’ll let you regret having been born into this world!” Murong Ye climbed up from the ground, yelled venomously, to then totter away like a defeated dog.
You can try as much as you want…. Yun Che sneered silently as he watched Murong Ye’s retreating figure.
“Yun Che, you…. You’re simply too impulsive.” Qin Wuyou walked over and berated him.
“He wanted to kill me with his sword, but I’ve only damaged his pride. It should already be kind enough.” Yun Che said calmly.
“Sigh…” Qin Wuyou’s gaze wavered and his expression became extremely complicated. He let out a long sigh, but Yun Che didn’t know if the sigh was for beating Murong Ye up or for “sleeping” with Lan Xueruo. “With his identity as the son of New Moon City’s chief, Murong Ye is usually very arrogant. Even in Blue Wind Profound Palace, he still bullies and humiliates others; he does deserve a bit of punishment. Only, he has an older cousin here, named Murong Yi, who is the son of the Blue Wind Empire’s Northern Field Marshal. Murong Ye’s father becoming the city chief of New Moon City probably has something to do with this Northern Field Marshal. And if this identity isn’t prominent enough, then his other identity is something even I cannot overlook… Murong Yi is currently a disciple of the Inner Palace!
“Inner… Inner Palace?” Yun Che still didn’t respond in any way, but when Xia Yuanba heard the two words “Inner Palace”, he was so startled, his entire body started trembling, and even his expression paled by a substantial amount.
“So what if it’s the Inner Palace?” Yun Che asked, with a face devoid of any expression.
“Hehe, it’s your first time in Blue Wind Imperial City, so it’s natural that you wouldn’t know. If you stay here for a few more days, you’ll know what a scary concept the Inner Palace is. Let me tell you a few statistics.” Qin Wuyou said warmly, “The bar set for entering the Inner Palace is extremely high. Those who can enter Blue Wind Profound Palace, even if it’s just the Outer Palace, would be highly regarded as a genius of the highest tier if they were anywhere else. Within the country, young practitioners who dream of entering the Blue Wind Profound Palace number more than ten million, but currently, there are only around fifty thousand disciples in Blue Wind Profound Palace. Amongst these fifty thousand or so, fifty four thousand are in the Outer Palace, three thousand are in the Middle Palace, and within the Inner Palace, there only number a hundred.”
“Only a hundred people?” Yun Che revealed a small expression of shock.
“Correct. Not one of the disciples who can enter the Inner Palace isn’t a miraculous genius amongst geniuses who will one day become a sect master or an ambitious hero of some sort. They will become important figures that even the royal family has to treat with respect. The list that holds the names of the hundred who have made it into the Inner Palace has been deemed the ‘Heavenly Profound List’. Disciples are listed in terms of profound strength and only Inner Palace disciples can enter this list. Those who wish to be on this bulletin have to challenge and defeat any person on the list. If his challenge is successful, he will then be able to replace the corresponding place on the Heavenly Profound List, while the loser will be booted out of the Heavenly Profound List, and also the Inner Palace.
“Each and every disciple on the Heavenly Profound List all have an extremely golden reputation and prestige in Blue Wind Profound Palace, and even Blue Wind Imperial City. Not only is Murong Yi on the Heavenly Profound List, his rank is not even at the very bottom. Combining his current position, the seventy third rank, and his status as the Northern Field Marshal’s son, no one in Blue Wind Profound Palace dares to provoke him.”
“Murong Yi’s temper isn’t that great, so if Murong Ye were to approach Murong Yi, Murong Yi might just take action. If that happens, no one will be able to protect you.”
Although that was what Qin Wuyou had said, he knew deep in his heart that if this sort of thing were to happen, Lan Xueruo would definitely step forth for him…. Because if Murong Yi were to take action against Yun Che, it would be just like a ferocious tiger swatting a grasshopper… Even if the current Yun Che had this sort of extremely startling growth.
“Whatever, I’ve never been truly afraid of anyone.” Yun Che shrugged without a care.
“Brother-in-law, members of the Inner Palace are really super strong! Out of the people on the Heavenly Profound List, even the lowest ranked person is at the eighth level of True Profound Realm! The three most powerful are already at the Spirit Profound Realm. If Muyong Ye were to really ask for help from his older cousin who’s on that Heavenly Profound List, then…. then….” Xia Yuanba spoke worriedly.
At least the eighth level of the True Profound Realm…. Yun Che’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed. The age limit on disciples in Blue Wind Profound Palace was the same as all other Profound Palaces; it was also capped at fifteen to twenty years old. Those who were above twenty, unless they stayed to take on work within the palace, had to leave Blue Wind Profound Palace forever. If this was the case, then the hundred people on the Heavenly Profound List would naturally be either twenty years old or younger. For people of this age to reach the eighth level of True Profound Realm, whether it be in Floating Cloud City or New Moon City, it was impossible to imagine someone like that. And those three in the Spirit Profound Realm were even more startling to an extreme degree. His gra
ndfather Xiao Lie was around sixty, and the strongest in Floating Cloud City, but he was only in the Spirit Profound Realm!
The scope of the city also plainly represented the levels of profound strength. In Floating Cloud City, the sixteen year old Xia Qingyue who had attained the tenth level of Elementary Profound Realm was already recognized to be the greatest genius of the younger generation. In New Moon City, the number one genius of the younger generation, Xiao Luocheng was also sixteen, but had already entered the tenth level of Nascent Profound Realm.
But in Blue Wind Empire’s capital, those below twenty were actually in the Spirit Profound Realm…. And the eighth level of the True Profound Realm was merely the lowest bar to enter the Inner Palace of the Blue Wind Profound Palace.
“Oh right, I haven’t asked you yet! Your current profound strength has actually reached the tenth level of Nascent Profound Realm! It’s only been half a month’s time; even if you consumed an elixir, you couldn’t possibly have progressed so fast! Could it be that you previously hid your profound strength with something like a Profound Restricting Pearl of some sort?” Thinking of Yun Che’s large scale challenge in New Moon Profound Palace, the more he thought about it, the greater the possibility seemed to Qin Wuyou.
Yun Che didn’t answer, avoiding the question altogether, “Palace Chief Qin, what sort of process does a person have to go through if he wants to enter Blue Wind Profound Palace?”
Seeing that Yun Che didn’t want to answer, Qin Wuyou didn’t press on, and answered: “I no longer bear the identity of Palace Chief, just call me Instructor Qin. It is also fine to just call me by name. Blue Wind Profound Palace has strict regulations; anyone who wishes to enter has to go through assessments. But as an instructor, I have two or three chances to bring in students through personal relations every year. I’d originally wanted to arrange for you to enter the Outer Palace straight away, but with your current profound strength, there’s already no need for it.”
“You came just in time; today is the last day of Blue Wind Profound Palace’s yearly assessment exam for new disciples. Although registration has long since ended, slotting your name in is extremely easy. Once you get past the evaluations, you can officially enter Blue Wind Profound Palace’s Outer Palace. It saves a lot of trouble compared to having me arrange for you to move in straight away. Furthermore, I believe that you are also more willing to accept this kind of method.” Qin Wuyou stroked his long beard as he said that with a light chuckle.
Xia Yuanba also nodded along, “Right, right! This entrance exam lasts for a total of ten days, and today is the best day. Brother-in-law is currently at the tenth level of the Nascent Profound Realm, so he’ll definitely pass. Besides, brother-in-law is young, so he’ll still be awesome inside the Outer Palace.”
After saying that, Xia Yuanba suddenly fell gloomy…. His profound strength was merely at the sixth level of the Elementary Profound Realm. This sort of profound strength was considered the standard in Floating Cloud City, but in the Blue Wind Imperial City, it was absolutely nothing at all. He had been brought into the palace by Qin Wuyou and moped about Yun Che’s disappearance even during his daily cleaning of the Outer Palace’s Profound Pavilion. He endured all of the surprised and contemptuous looks everyday… Indeed, everyone looked at him as if he was trash and within Blue Wind Profound Palace, his profound energy really could only be considered as trash. As to whether he could enter Blue Wind Profound Palace’s Outer Palace to cultivate in the Profound… That was something he didn’t even dare hope for.
“Of course there’s no problem.” Yun Che nodded without hesitation. Between passing the entrance examination and entering from the “backdoor”, he would of course, choose the former. He took a glance at Xia Yuanba, and asked: “Instructor Qin, since you only have a few chances to practice favoritism, then, how about giving the chance you were originally planning to give me to Yuanba?”
“Ah?” Xia Yuanba’s expression became animated.
“This….” Qin Wuyou actually hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t that he was petty, but rather…. Xia Yuanba’s profound energy was really too low; even the lowest rank in the Outer Palace was far above his reach. While it was true he had relations that could bring him in, Xia Yuanba should still at least be of Nascent Profound Realm, and not too far away from the bar set for the lowest rank. For an Elementary Profound practitioner to enter Blue Wind Profound Palace… that would simply be a joke. The instructors and the Vice Palace Chiefs would likely have violent objections as well.
Only, Xia Yuanba had a kind and pure personality; Qin Wuyou liked him a lot. Adding this to the fact that Yun Che had recommended him……
He gritted his teeth and looked at Yun Che with a strange glint in his eye as the tone of his voice became extremely bizarre, “Yun Che brat, first answer a question of mine… Have you really, with Xueruo…. Cough, cough cough, slept together?”
“Of course, is there something abnormal about this?” Yun Che asked, the picture of innocence.
Qin Wuyou’s facial features twitched, swallowed forcefully, and said, “Alright! This child, Yuanba. I also like him. After you pass the entrance exam, I’ll immediately arrange for his entrance into the Outer Palace. But I must remind both of you, Blue Wind Profound Palace has all sorts of disciples. Yuanba’s Profound energy is too weak, so he may encounter a lot of bullying and humiliation….”
“That won’t happen.” Yun Che shook his head, and smiled wanly. There were faint traces of ice within the tranquility of his voice, “I won’t allow anyone to bully Yuanba.”
“Is…. Is this for real? I can really join Blue Wind Profound Palace?” Xia Yuanba’s eyes flashed; he was overwhelmed with joy and became incoherent. To have been able to enter New Moon Profound Palace had already made him happy beyond belief, and he had just been presented the opportunity join the highest-tiered Profound Palace, which countless hopefuls wished to enter. This had always been something he didn’t even dare to dream of. He had only come to Blue Wind Imperial City this time to obtain news of Yun Che, so he definitely didn’t have any extravagant hopes of this sort. For such a gargantuan surprise to suddenly fall from the heavens like this, was truly beyond his imagination.
“Hahahaha, I would never lie to you young’uns.” Seeing Xia Yuanba’s happiness, Qin Wuyou’s mood improved as he laughed heartily. Then he reached a hand out towards Yun Che, a voice transmitter jade clutched within his hand, “Come, Yun Che brat, record my sound transmission imprint. If you need anything in the future, you can transmit sound to me whenever you wish.”
“Uh….” Yun Che rubbed at his hair awkwardly, “I still don’t have a Sound Transmission Jade.”
“Oh.” Qin Wuyou withdrew his hand, “I’ll get someone to prepare one for you in a few days. But for now, follow me to the Profound Palace’s Central Plaza. With your current age and profound energy, passing the entrance examination should be easy. Perhaps next year, you may even have the opportunity to rush directly into the Middle Palace. By then, you should have considerable status in the Blue Wind Imperial City.
Chapter 125: Blue Wind Emperor
Blue Wind Imperial City, heart of the Imperial Palace.
Lan Xueruo walked with hurried footsteps, passed through the heavy guard, and headed straight for the emperor’s chambers. All of the imperial guards along the way saluted one after the other.
“Princess Cang Yue, you’ve returned. The emperor has been reminiscing about you these past few days.” At the doors to the emperor’s chambers, a middle-aged eunuch bowed as he welcomed her, “Do you require me to announce your arrival?”
“No need.” Lan Xueruo shook her head and walked directly into the emperor’s chambers.
Cang Wanhe, Blue Wind Empire’s ninety-ninth generation emperor, presided over the land under the heavens, with a prestige that shook the four oceans. He would be fifty-six years old this year; when living in the imperial palace without a worry, at this age, a king should not exhibit signs of aging, but Cang Wanhe
was quietly lying on a bed with a dazed expression. Even his gaze was dull and without spirit, and he looked almost like a seventy- or eighty-year-old past his prime.
“Your Majesty, Princess Cang Yue has returned!” His personal eunuch entered with light footsteps, and reported with a happy expression.
Hearing this, Cang Wanhe’s lifeless face revealed a shred of eagerness. His upper body moved, and he stood up with difficulty, “Quick, quickly let her enter.”
Right after he spoke, Lan Xueruo entered. Seeing the enthusiasm in Cang Wanhe’s clearly aged face and gaze, her heart clenched. With quick steps forward, she knelt with both knees in front of Cang Wanhe, “Royal father, your daughter has been unfilial, and has not visited you in a long time.”
“It’s good that you came back, it’s good that you came back, ah.” Cang Wanhe cheerfully nodded. At the moment, his face didn’t have the slightest degree of a monarch’s imposing aura, and only had the love that a normal father expresses towards his beloved daughter, “Get up quickly. It has already been three months since you last returned from New Moon City; during this time We couldn’t eat or sleep well in fear that something might’ve happened to you. Haha, it is good that nothing happened.”
“This time your daughter encountered something trivial, delayed a bit, and has worried royal father.” Lan Xueruo stood up, looked at her father’s appearance, and suddenly revealed a painful look: “Royal father, your condition…. Why does it seem more serious? With Master Gu personally attending to your illness, how could it be like this?”
“Cough cough….” Cang Wanhe wanted to speak, but went into a fit of violent coughs. He gasped a couple of breaths, and answered with a hoarse voice, “Perhaps, We really have become old. Even though this illness is serious, with Master Gu, it still won’t take Our life immediately, but We will die of anger sooner or later because of those unfilial sons… Cough cough, cough cough cough cough….”