Chapter 1040 – Enemies Meet
In a region with a great density of profound beasts, the unending cries of all kinds of beasts present across the place could be heard even from distant places. However, inside Mist End Valley, there was nothing like that, as the whole area was completely silent.
When even the snowstorm came to a standstill, the place became extremely quiet, so much so that it could make a person’s heart stop beating in anxiety.
Having fallen into Mist End Valley, Yun Che was leaning against a thick and wizened tree, with his legs sunk deep into the snow. The first thing he did after falling here, was to immediately restrain his aura with Hidden Flowing Lightning. Afterwards, he didn’t move in the slightest and perceived everything in his surroundings with his sight and spirit sense.
Due to the icy mist being spread all over the place, it was only possible to see up to a few dozen meters away. The mist inside the valley was immensely denser than ordinary mis. Not only did it restrict sight but also spirit sense to a great extent. However, it wasn’t a completely bad thing either.
The fearsome calmness was so eerie that it could leave people absolutely terrified. He sensed danger from all directions, which made him realize that Mu Bingyun’s description of Mist End Valley was definitely not fear-mongering. This was a ghastly place where the slightest bit of carelessness would cost your life.
“*Sigh*… This is life, huh.” Yun Che lightly let out a breath. In the morning, he was still feeling complacent about winning against Mu Xuanyin with his surprise attack… His plan might have turned out to be a success but he still had to face such an outcome.
Staying still for a good while, Yun Che started to walk forward prudently. But just after talking a couple of steps, he suddenly felt his leg stepping on something hard. Pausing in his tracks for a bit, he lifted his leg and kicked the thing out of the snow…
It was actually a stiff corpse.
In this cold environment, it was difficult for a corpse to rot. As such, it was not possible to make out when the person really died. Based on how deeply they were buried, it must not have been that long. The body was gnawed and bitten to an indescribably miserable state and only the head was in a somewhat intact condition. One could clearly notice the expression of terror and despair on the face, as well as the relief of being set free.
His outer garments were in tatters. A piece of his robe was hanging around his shoulder, with a small pattern of Ice Phoenix carved on it. And this Ice Phoenix pattern represented the… Ice Phoenix Divine Hall!
The person turned out to be a disciple from the Divine Hall!
The Divine Hall only allowed those disciples in whose profound powers had at least reached the Divine Tribulation Realm. But a person with such strength had unexpectedly died such a sad and miserable death.
Yun Che took a step backward and lightly breathed in.
Just as Mu Bingyun said, what he would rely on the most in this fearsome place was Hidden Flowing Lightning which could conceal his aura… Besides that, the extremely severe cold energy in here would quicken his profound power recovery rate, instead of influencing him negatively. Since all the profound beasts in the valley had the ice-attribute, their threat towards him would reduce by a large margin. These couple of things were also the factors he was relying on.
It was far more difficult to overcome the difference of Divine Way’s profound power,compared to that of the Mortal Way. When he was in the Sky Profound Continent, he relied on Evil God’s power to directly raise his strength by two great realms. But upon reaching the fifth level of Sovereign Profound Realm, he had to forcibly use Rumbling Heaven to outmatch Ji Hanfeng, who was at the sixth level of Divine Origin Realm. Now that he had reached the first level of Divine Origin Realm, his ability to stride past realms was most likely limited to the first level of Divine Soul Realm.
No… Following the transformation of his meridians and his newly gained understanding on sensation, he might be able to do even better.
But if he were to come across a profound beast at the late stage of Divine Soul Realm, then he would be only left with the choice to flee with all his might.
And if unfortunately he ran into some Divine Tribulation Realm profound beast… it might be extremely hard to even run away alive.
Yun Che began to carefully move ahead. He was currently in a rather open area and so the thing he needed to do first and foremost was to find a relatively hidden place, that would be suitable for him to hide himself. Then, he would exert his all to keep his aura restrained… After all, the thing he needed to do at the moment wasn’t to find a way out within three days but to stay alive during this period.
And the safest method to go about that was to make use of Hidden Flowing Lightning to quietly spend his time in hiding, so as to keep out of danger.
Sensing the dangerous aura drifting in the air, Yun Che didn’t to make any sound while walking forward. Having walked some distance, he didn’t perceive the aura of any other living being. Suddenly, Yun Che couldn’t help but come to a halt… His feet sensed an unharmonious feeling that was difficult to put into words.
Sensation…
Even before Yun Che’s brain could process the information, his body had already retreated backwards with the speed of lightning.
Whoom!!
The thick accumulated snow flew up as a white figure burst out of the layer of snow, after which a cold gleam flashed as it slashed through the air, producing an incomparably ear-piercing cry… The gleam passed less than three inches away from Yun Che’s face.
As he flipped backwards and landed on the ground, Yun Che’s back heavily smashed against a thick three. He subconsciously brought his right hand to his face and traced the cuts from where drops of blood were slowly flowing out. Although the other party failed in coming into contact with his body, the sharp wind generated by the extremely fast cold gleam still managed to leave three deep bloody marks on his face.
If it wasn’t for him understanding and greatly raising his “sensation” under Mu Xuanyin’s guidance and his body instinctively responding at once as a result, that fearsome cold gleam might have gouged out his eyes just now.
It was a snow-white wolf with crimson eyes that had appeared before him. It was giving off a pungent smell of blood, amidst the ruthless and fierce aura emanating from it. The cold gleam that had just flashed past was in fact its claws on which a red and cold light was flickering from time to time.
Its whole body was snow-white, similar to a Winterfrost Direwolf but there was no doubt that it was a different species. It was half the size but the ferocity of its aura was at least ten times more than a Winterfrost Direwolf. The prickling sensation of danger at his throat warned him that although the snow-white wolf might not look menacing due to its small physique… it was a beast at Divine Soul Realm!
Such a terrifying white wolf… Yun Che shivered in fear inwardly. This wolf had jumped out of a place that was less than fifteen meters away from him but he didn’t sense its existence at all until the wolf itself decided to come out.
To hunt by lying hidden in the snow, with its aura perfectly concealed… The first profound beast he had come across had actually turned out to be such a fearsome creature. Was it due to him being out of luck… or were the profound beasts surviving in the cruel environment of Mist End Valley all such terrifying fellows?
The fearsome white wolf had failed in his first attempt and ended up landing quite a distance away. Very soon, he turned around to face Yun Che but didn’t continue to attack. A vigilant look had surfaced in its eyes that were releasing dense, blood-red rays of light. Yun Che made a grabbing gesture with his hands unconsciously… but at once abandoned the idea of summoning the Heaven Smiting Sword.
I can’t use it… Just an attack from that sword would cause a large-scale destruction that would attract the attention of other profound beasts in the surroundings. If that were to happen, I’d die for sure.
Yun Che flipped over his palm and the Cloud Butterfly Knife, given to him by Mu Bingyun, appeared right at its center… Although it was disseminating a dreadful aura, he didn’t feel too strong a sense of threat from it, so it should be suitable to deal with the situation at hand!
Having sorted out his thoughts, Yun Che was fully prepared to attack and forcefully kill the white wolf. But the moment his profound aura erupted, he felt a faint, odd feeling on his back. The flow of the profound aura around him instantly reversed and he flashed far away with Moon Splitting Cascade.
Ssswoosh!!
Along with the similar tearing sound of air from before, one more white figure broke through the layer of snow as it pounced in Yun Che’s direction. At almost the same time, the first white wolf that had been standing still during this short period, also made its move as it pounced towards Yun Che, without any hesitation.
Thump!
As Yun Che immediately used instantaneous movement, the surprise attack from the white wolf behind ended in failure. Due the distinct ability of Moon Splitting Cascade to leave behind one’s aura, the first white wolf didn’t charge in the direction of his landing point either but instead assaulted his afterimage, just like the wolf on the other side.
The afterimage in his previous location was ripped into pieces and dropped a tiny fragment of ice-crystal.
Activating Extreme Mirage Lightning under his feet, Yun Che’s real body had already escaped into the distance like a thunderbolt and entered inside the dense, icy mist.
He didn’t have the confidence to face even a single white wolf head-on, without the Heaven Smiting Sword. Now that there were two of them… there was no way he wouldn’t choose to run away, unless he was a complete idiot.
The two white wolves didn’t crane their necks and let out a long howl, as one would expect from wicked wolves. These terrifying profound beasts directly chased after Yun Che, running at a speed that make them seem as though they were two streaks of lightning sweeping past the ground.
So fast!
Yun Che was inwardly frightened upon sensing the auras of the wolves in hot pursuit. It was certainly true that running about such a place with all one’s might was extremely dangerous but he was left with no choice in this situation; he couldn’t even slow down a bit. He could only brace himself and dash as fast as possible inside the dense mist, aiming for the unknown place ahead.
Tens of breaths later, the two white wolves that were pursuing closely behind him slowed down all of a sudden. Afterwards, they seemed to have forcefully brought themselves to a halt and then disappeared from Yun Che’s perception zone.
Yun Che at once let out a breath in relaxation but his brows raised all a sudden… That’s odd! Judging from their astonishing hunting style, the two white wolves had an extremely high spirit sense and wisdom. Their abrupt stopping in their tracks might not be due to giving up on the chase. It was also possible that… they were approaching some prohibited, dangerous place!
The moment it popped up in his mind, Yun Che quickly stopped running any further and restrained his aura at the fastest speed.
And the instant he was about to come to a standstill, he sensed an extremely great oppressive feeling, as of a mountain collapsing, coming from ahead.
Inside the pale-white, dense mist, a dozens of meters tall gigantic white figure slowly revealed itself.
Yun Che immediately looked above… to find a snow-white giant monkey, big as a small mountain, standing some distance in front of him!
Like the white wolves from before, its eyes were also as red as thick blood. The moment it discovered Yun Che, it precipitously released an incomparably fiendish aura. Its muscular arms, which looked like heavy hammers that could weigh down the sky, firmly smashed down towards him.
Attacking without uttering so much as a word… It seemed to be the sole rule for survival in this misty world.
Yun Che knitted his brows. He leapt up sideways as he instantly opened Evil God’s barrier.
Boom-Bang!!
An enormous sound, as if the sky collapsing and the ground sinking, reverberated throughout the area. The accumulated snow, layers of ice and trees were all sent several thousand meters high into the sky because of the huge shock generated by the monkey’s attack. Yun Che immediately lost his balance in midair and the remnant shockwaves forcefully carried him far, far into the distance, as if he had been swept away by a storm.
But fortunately, due to being under the protection of Evil God barrier, he didn’t suffer any injuries, even if his vision turned black because of the intense shock. He didn’t dare stay any longer at the place. Gnashing his teeth, he escaped as far as possible by borrowing the power of the storm generated by the giant monkey and once again disappeared in the dense mist, in the blink of an eye.
A series of deafening roars could be heard from behind but as the giant monkey was clearly not enough fast, the voice quickly became more and more distant. Yun Che ran with all he had to a sufficiently safe distance but before he could gasp for breath, a storm which was followed by a screech, assaulted him all of a sudden from above his head.
Yun Che raised his head… The reflection of a giant hawk speedily enlarged in his eyes. Its opened snow-white wings were tens of meters long and dazzlingly magnificent. The cold gleam reflecting on its bent claws was so strong that it penetrated his eyes and directly pricked his soul.
“Hong’er!”
Yun Che’s pupils shrank all of a sudden; he had basically no other choice left at this time. The Heaven Smiting Sword at once appeared in his hands, Golden Crow’s Flames ignited around the blade and he launched a direct attack towards the giant hawk.
“Destroying Sky Decimating Earth!!”
Boom!!
As the golden flames burst into the sky, the giant hawk looking down from above let out a screech. It lost control on its white wings and was sent flying away into the sky because of the shock. A muffled sound escaped Yun Che’s mouth. As though he had been hammered hard in the chest, he fell down along with the Heaven Smiting Sword and got heavily smashed on the ground. The impact of his fall was so great that it produced a booming sound.
Pfft…
Before he could even get up, Yun Che spit out a mouthful of blood. However, as someone possessing the Buddha Heart Divine Meridians, the profound energy in his body managed to still remain in an calm and ordered state. High in the sky, the giant hawk that had been shocked away by his attack kept on hovering for a short while. Its ice-cold eyes locked onto his position and rushed down like a shooting star. Its claws were precisely targeted at his heart, while flying rapidly to the ground and sweeping up a disastrous hailstorm behind it.
This truly is… a hellish place… I can’t even take a breather…
Yun Che cursed in his heart as his body immediately reacted to the incoming assault. He no longer dared to confront it head-on and instantaneously moved out of the way with Moon Splitting Cascade. At the same time, he opened the Evil God barrier.
When he moved to a different location, a voice suddenly drifted into his ears…
The voice of a human!
“It’s really a Fierce Blizzard Hawk!”
“It has landed on the ground… Let’s make use of this opportunity and seal its movements, to obtain the profound core in its body!”
As the giant hawk’s terrifying storm swept past the ground, it kicked up the ice and snow, causing the the whole sky to be covered with them. But it didn’t show any signs of flying up into the sky once again, because its body had been firmly pierced by a blue light that quickly froze its huge body. Trying to struggle out of its predicament, the long cries it was letting out earlier had turned into mournful sounds now.
Yun Che escaped to a far away place, feeling startled in his heart. He just now experienced the terror of this giant hawk but it surprisingly ended up getting so easily sealed by someone else…
This aura… Could it be someone at the peak of Divine Soul Realm?
In the icy mist, two vague figures could be seen coming closer at a fast speed. The one in the front thrust his sword into the giant hawk and instantly pierced its body, which Yun Che wasn’t able to hurt even after unleashing all his power against it. Following the eruption of the profound energy along the sword, the huge body of the hawk got enveloped in a thick layer of ice. It completely stopped struggling when the layer of ice spread throughout its body, which also lead to a rapid loss of its vitality.
“Oh great! I’d expect no less from Senior Brother Yizhou.” The person in the back excitedly shouted as he quickly got near the frozen giant hawk. “This profound core can absolutely help us in surviving for a very long time…”
Senior Brother Yizhou?
Hearing this way of address, Yun Che immediately turned his head to the side. His gaze penetrated through the layers of dense mist and fell on the person in the front… whom he had actually seen before.
Mu Yizhou!!
Why is he here!?
As Yun Che got a clear look of him, the other party also caught sight of the him. His eyes suddenly widened and he turned around at once, not bothering about the Fierce Blizzard Hawk he had just hunted. After remaining in a state of shock for a long while, his face began to show various emotions, such as fury, hate, and excitement…
“Is it you… Yun Che? Yes—it’s you!!!”
The abrupt change in his eyes and voice gave off an impression as though he had suddenly met an absolutely irreconcilable foe!