by Mars Gravity
Chapter 187: An Endless Plain
RRRumble…
Along with the collapse of the Stone Dragon General, the enormous stone gate in which it came from slowly opened. Subsequently, the Primordial Azure Dragon’s pleased voice came from overhead:
“Very good. Young human, you have allowed me to see a shocking result. In these ten thousand years that I’ve stayed on this continent, you are the first person to pass this stage of the trial. During these ten thousand years of wait, I have regretted multiple times about leaving a trace of my soul and strength on this piece of land, because the level of strength within this continent is just too low; it made me gradually realize that the trial I had left behind was something that humans on this continent could never pass… Fortunately, I met you.”
“You have already passed the first stage of the trial. Not only did you pass with a two-fold difficulty level, you also accomplished this while being tied down; you have allowed me to see the greatest of hope. The second stage’s trial ground gate has already opened. After making sufficient preparations, go in the opened stone gate and you will enter the second stage’s trial ground. I wish you good fortune.”
The opened stone gate was the second trial’s gate.
The first stage of the trial was so terrifying that the second and the third stage were bound to be even more challenging… It was unknown as to what degree of brutality awaited.
The Frozen Soul Barrier was still in place because Yun Che had eliminated the Stone Dragon General in a span of fifteen minutes.
“It’s finally alright now.” Yun Che went back to Chu Yuechan’s side and helped her adjust to a more comfortable laying position. He extended his hand, slowly guided his profound energy into her body, and helped her circulate her internal energy and blood.
Chu Yuechan’s half opened eyes blankly stared at him for a long while. Then, she softly asked: “How did you recover from your injuries and regain your strength so fast?”
Yun Che did not want to lie to her, so he replied immediately: “The profound art I cultivate is capable of speeding up the recovery of my injuries and can restore my strength.”
“Can you tell me the name of this profound art?” Chu Yuechan asked softly. At her level, profound arts that piqued her interest were indeed not many. She knew many profound arts that could speed up the recovery of injuries and restore strength like Recovery Arts, Nine Cycle Recovery Arts, the Divine Art of the Fleeting Flowers and Snowy Moon, and so on. But the injuries Yun Che had received were severe. It was extremely clear to her that he had used up too much power, so much that it had been critically overused to the point that it affected his lifespan… Yet it only took six hours to fully recover. Even added together, all the powerful recovery profound arts that she knew of were incapable of displaying such a shocking result.
Yun Che slightly hesitated but still said it out loud: “You probably have never heard of this profound art’s name. It is called the Great Way of the Buddha.”
“Great Way of the Buddha…” Chu Yuechan pondered lightly as her eyes flashed with confusion. She indeed had never heard of this art before.
“A profound strength at the middle of the True Profound Realm… in such a short period of time… slaughtered a thousand opponents of the same level… And even easily executed an enemy whose level far surpassed his own by a whole great realm… Even though your profound strength matches your age and you can only be considered an ordinary genius, your innate talent in using your profound strength… Perhaps even Xia Qingyue… is inferior… Your master must be… a very extraordinary person.”
It was the first time she said that many words, and Chu Yuechan was already out of breath. For her, who treasured words more than gold, to suddenly say so much, also revealed how much Yun Che had shocked her.
“Mn, I have two masters and they’re both very extraordinary.” Yun Che nodded as he smiled: “One of my masters taught me medical arts and how to to be human. The other master taught me all kinds of profound arts. Both of them gave me a new lease in life; without them, the current me would not exist.”
Chu Yuechan closed her eyes and spoke no more. She relaxed and then the feeling of weakness and exhaustion came at the same time. Not long after, she fell fast asleep.
With completely destroyed profound veins and meridians that were almost all broken, it undoubtedly took an enormous amount of perseverance to have remained conscious for so long. And what made Yun Che exceptionally happy, was the fact that he no longer felt the desire to die from her body.
Yun Che did not immediately enter the second stage’s gate. Instead, he calmly watched over Chu Yuechan at her side. Dragon Fault was still in his hands, and had not disappeared along with the Stone Dragon General when it died.
When Chu Yuechan awoke, it was already the morning of the second day. Although her body was still weak after being treated by a night of Yun Che’s profound energy flow and warmth, her complexion had already improved greatly.
“Here, drink some water first.” Yun Che lifted Chu Yuechan’s upper body and allowed her to lean against his chest. After passing the water over her lips, he watched her take small little sips. Perhaps he had never thought that there would come a day in which he would be holding this Little Fairy, who was at summit of the Blue Wind Empire, and helping her drink water in the same way one would carefully feed an infant. Chu Yuechan herself would never have thought of this happening either… And at this moment, even Chu Yuechan herself was not aware that she had not strongly rejected Yun Che’s intimate touch, but instead had a very strange sense of security. But all of this was summed up to be because of her completely crippled body; it was fundamentally impossible for her to take care of herself, and she didn’t even have the ability to resist.
In her current state, Chu Yuechan could only eat plain watery food. Fortunately, Yun Che had purchased a few grains at an inn before entering the Wasteland of Death. He boiled a little pot of porridge using the phoenix flame and then helped her drink it. After all preparations were in order, he lifted Chu Yuechan and headed toward the gate of the trial’s second stage.
After slowly entering the stone gate, his vision became pitch-black. Then, he took two more steps forward and it suddenly lightened up; it was as if it only took two steps to completely step over from one world into another.
What appeared before his eyes was a vast expanse of an endless plain. Grass covered the ground and there were also trees that gave shade; even the faint sound of running water could be heard. There were short hills in the distance that rose and fell. Occasionally, the cries of all kinds of birds and animals could be heard.
This place’s refreshingly delightful atmosphere and smells were also completely different than the previous location’s. Yun Che turned around and still saw the endless plain; there were simply no signs of any mountain walls or stone gates. He immediately understood then, that he did not walk through some stone gate, but rather a transportation formation.
“This is… the next trial ground? It doesn’t seem… to have any hint of danger.” Chu Yuechang said softly.
It was also at this time that the Primordial Azure Dragon’s voice sounded.
“Young human, welcome. This place, is the Dragon God Trial’s second trial ground. This trial ground has no limit, and also has no exit. You can only leave this place after you have successfully completed the trial. Or perhaps you would be buried here before completing the trial.”
“There are an innumerable amount of profound beasts here in this endless plain. The level of the profound beasts here have all been adjusted with your strength as the benchmark. Also, as a result of the two-fold difficulty level you have to bear, every single profound beast here is not lower than the Spirit Profound Realm. As for some of the more powerful profound beasts, their strength far surpasses the Stone Dragon General that you had killed.”
“To these profound beasts, this place is an endless paradise. But to you, this place is extremely dangerous; it is an abyss filled with
countless shadows of death. This is because once the profound beasts here sense your aura, they would all immediately unleash an endless barrage of attacks. At the same time, under my soul’s guidance, profound beasts near you would all be led in your direction. You would be hunted at all times by profound beasts and would never be able to sleep soundly or eat in peace.”
Yun Che: “…”
Yun Che did not have any obvious reactions to all of that, but the Primordial Azure Dragon’s following words almost made Yun Che spit out a mouthful of blood.
“And your objective in clearing this second stage of the trial is also very easy. It is to kill ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine profound beasts, within one year!”
Chapter 188: Burning Heaven’s Young Master
While being hunted by countless profound beasts, he had to kill ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine profound beasts, and these profound beasts’ levels were all higher than his. This trial’s difficulty and troll level wasn’t even just cruel. It was practically at a crazy and unreasonable stage.
What made Yun Che the most angry was…… You might as well add one more to it to make it a round number, okay?! What’s the meaning of insisting on 99999!
The Primordial Azure Dragon’s voice fell, and the surrounding atmosphere suddenly turned from fresh to gloomy.
The howls of innumerable profound beasts sounded from far away. Surrounding Yun Che, the shadows of a dozen or so profound beasts also started to move. Their aura kept Yun Che firmly fixed, and then they all rushed towards where he was.
Out of all the profound auras these profound beasts were releasing, none of them were below the Spirit Profound Realm.
In the blink of an eye, Yun Che was already surrounded by a large number of profound beasts. The Primordial Azure Dragon’s voice said that the profound beasts here would actively move towards Yun Che under the guidance of its aura. When they discover him, they would then commence a do or die hunt. These words were obviously not said in jest!
Yun Che quickly drew out Dragon Fault with one hand and rushed towards these profound beasts. As Dragon Fault danced, it brought about waves of surging phoenix fire, causing the surrounding profound beasts to back away again and again. However, the strength of these profound beasts far outmatched the Stone Dragon Warriors he had defeated in the first stage of the trial. When ten of them charged over, the pressure far exceeded the attack from a few hundred Stone Dragon Warriors. Also, following Yun Che’s kills, the number of profound beasts did not decrease. Rather, they quickly increased. At every moment, there were large amounts of profound beasts rushing over from the surroundings.
In a few dozen breaths of time, the pressure on Yun Che was already enough to nearly cause him to suffocate. In another dozen breaths, he was already surrounded all around by peril. He firmly protected Chu Yuechan and beseeched Jasmine for help, “Jasmine, what do we do now!”
“There’s only one way.” Jasmine said calmly.
Yun Che’s spirit was roused, “What way?”
“Of course it’s to escape!” Jasmine got angry, “If you don’t want to escape, do you want to wait to die here! Did this princess teach you the Star God’s Broken Shadow just to set you up to fail!”
“…”
“Haah!!”
The flames on Yun Che’s body exploded and a scaled down version of the Star Scorching Demon Lotus blossomed layer by layer, forcing back the formidable crowd of profound beasts around him. Taking advantage of the flame’s cover, he leapt up high. Dashing for a distance with the Empyrean Dance of the Phoenix Wing, he then used the Star God’s Broken Shadow for a few times consecutively, and finally broke away from being encircled within the profound beasts. He withdrew Dragon Fault into the Sky Poison Pearl, and suddenly, his body became extremely light. Following which, he concentrated his profound energy into the bottom of his legs and rushed away madly; all while holding Chu Yuechan.
“The trial this time, be it the strength of the opponents, the level of danger, or the amount of time needed, it will all be far greater than the first stage of the trial.” Jasmine said with a heavy voice, “Even though you have to kill 99999 profound beasts to pass the trial this time, with the degree of scariness here, the moment you touch a single profound beast, it will alarm the rest of the profound beasts nearby. Then, you will fall into dangerous circumstances —— Besides, you’re also bringing a useless woman around! Therefore, most of the time you spend in here will not be on killing, but on escaping!”
“These few months, all your training has been concentrated on your heavy sword and the Great Way of the Buddha, but you haven’t attended to the Star God’s Broken Shadow I’d taught you! If you want to get past his trial, you’ll first have to ensure that you have the ability to survive. If you want to preserve your life in this dangerous place that’s filled with profound beasts, you’ll have to train your Star God’s Broken Shadow to the second stage, ‘Twin Shadows’, in the shortest amount of time possible!”
“I’ll give you a month’s time. Within this month, you have to stop at the safest place, and unless it’s absolutely necessary, do not attack any profound beasts. This way, you’ll at least, be much safer. Within this period of time, you have to train your Star God’s Broken Shadow to at least the second stage.”
“Since it was possible for you to reach the second stage for the Great Way of the Buddha in such a short time with your perception, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you! When you can fluctuate to form the second shadow, and be more capable of escaping and saving your own life, you can then begin to kill these profound beasts….. Do you understand!”
“….Understood.” Yun Che wasn’t opposed to Jasmine’s words in the least. After being surrounded by a dozen profound beasts, and feeling the immense pressure and danger he was in, it made him still have lingering fears even until now.
There was one line that Jasmine had spoken that wasn’t wrong at all….. If he wanted to pass this stage of the trial, the first thing he had to do was to protect his own life!
———————————————
Blue Wind Imperial City, Moon Embracing Palace.
Dressed in her finest clothes, Princess Cang Yue stood beside the Lotus Pond and stared at her own incomparably beautiful reflection. Her eyes were fixated, and nobody knew what she was thinking of.
A palace maid walked in quickly, bowing slightly while saying respectfully, “Princess, Blue Moon Profound Palace’s Palace Master Qin requests an audience.”
Cang Yue’s gaze moved from the water’s surface, “Bring him in.”
Not long after, Qin Wushang walked in by himself and bowed to Cang Yue, “Qin Wushang pays his respects to Your Highness.”
“Qin Wushang may spare the formalities…. Palace Chief Qin, did you come this time because you have information on Yun Che?” Cang Yue’s, who was also Lan Xueruo, voice was clearly urgent.
Qin Wushang shook his head slowly and then sighed, “Ashamedly, until today, I still have yet to find the least bit of information on him….. Sigh, Princess, please forgive my bluntness. The Wasteland of Death is a place even I would not casually step into. Five months ago, many people saw him enter, but since then, nobody has seen him come out. The number of geniuses who have died there is simply too many. Five whole months…… Sigh, princess, you should stop being so attached to him.”
“No….. Absolutely not! I believe that he’ll definitely be fine!” Cang Yue’s voice began to tremble slightly. Even though she had always been striving to repress them, she still lost control of her emotions and her eyes began to grow misty, “He promised me before….. He’s definitely be safe and sound…… He’ll definitely return within half a year…… He’ll definitely be fine….. It’s definitely because he doesn’t want to be found…. It must be…..”