Chapter 1042 – Vanishing Without a Trace
As a “dead end”, Mist End Valley had always been a relatively quiet place. The law of the jungle here was far crueler than any other region, so even the roars of profound beasts could scarcely be heard.
Every profound beast that existed in Mist End Valley had ice based powers and every human being that was exiled into this place was an Ice Phoenix disciple. Therefore, fire was almost non-existent in this place… much less the omnipresent divine flames of the Golden Crow!
The spreading sea of Golden Crow flames was without a doubt an atomic bomb in this deadly quiet valley. It instantly drew the fearful, shocked, angry or irritated howls of countless profound beasts.
The weaker profound beasts that were caught by the blast were either burned or killed outright, while the powerful ones were provoked into violent rampages. Outside the flames, the air was turbulent and snow was flying everywhere. Countless profound beasts surged to the center of the explosion as beastial roars and presences so terrifying they couldn’t be described ran rampant all over the place.
“Aaaaaaah…” Amidst the flames, Mu Yizhou let out a throaty howl and backed away continuously from Yun Che. It was obvious that he was being attacked by the profound beasts already. “Yun Che… have you gone insane!?”
“Heh… now there’s no telling who’s going to die first!!”
Yun Che laughed madly before choosing a random direction and running away at top speed.
Since he couldn’t shake off Mu Yizhou, the final plan he had in his mind was to alert the profound beasts and use them to delay him… or even better, kill him!
Although his quickest speed was inferior to Mu Yizhou’s, Extreme Mirage Lightning wasn’t the only technique he possessed! He also had Star God’s Broken Shadow and Moon Splitting Cascade!
Moreover, these ice type profound beasts were certainly going to lose their cool under the provocation of the Golden Crow flames, so escaping became a much easier task than it would’ve been otherwise.
All around him, the auras of profound beasts ran rampant like many storms… they came from the front, the sides, the back and even the sky…
Yun Che inhaled deeply and gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists tightly and narrowed his eyes…
Focus, clear my mind; the five senses, spirit sense, sensation… let’s do this!!
Not only did Yun Che slow down in the face of the profound beasts that were pouncing towards him from every direction, he even quickened his pace and left behind a dizzying trail of afterimages. When the afterimages vanished, he too had vanished into the flames.
The Heaven Smiting Sword had been put away. He wasn’t sure how many times he executed Star God’s Broken Shadow and Moon Splitting Cascade but he must’ve done it at least hundreds or even thousands of times during the five kilometers he travelled inside the sea of flames. The number of afterimages that were crushed by the violent profound beasts wase literally uncountable.
When he finally burst out of the fire enshrouded area, the first thing that entered his sight was a sea of alarmed profound beasts. They all charged madly towards him.
Yun Che leaped until he was at least three thousand meters in the air. But before he could stop himself, several Fierce Blizzard Hawks swooped towards him with deadly intent. Violent storms were surrounding his body even before the claws could reach him.
A blue, draconic shadow appeared as Yun Che’s eyes turned dark.
Dragon Soul Domain!
The deterrent force of the Dragon God’s might far exceeded that of a human being at the same level. Therefore, the world shaking dragon roar had caused the profound beasts beneath him to scamper away in fear and the six Fierce Blizzard Hawks near him to spasm in midair and fall down in a straight line. The storms that surrounded him quickly dissipated as well.
Without pausing for even a second, Yun Che flew forward and quickly vanished into the thick ice mist.
——————————
Ice Phoenix Sacred Hall.
Standing at the edge of the pond, Mu Xuanyin stared at the snow lotus at the center. Its petals were all gone. The only thing that was still flowing with life was its translucent, glowing stem.
“It’ll bloom again in nine thousand years.”
Mu Bingyun walked next to Mu Xuanyin with silent footsteps.
Mu Xuanyin didn’t say anything.
Mu Bingyun said softly after casting a glance at Mu Xuanyin, “Are you feeling better?”
Mu Bingyun’s eyes turned slightly. “You wish to take him away from that place?”
Mu Bingyun sighed quietly, “It’s been a full day and night. You know better than anyone what level he is right now; it’s simply impossible for him to survive three full days. If we don’t rescue him now… we may not even get a chance to regret the decision later.”
“Hmph!” Mu Xuanyin’s voice was cold. “You treat him so well, sister.”
Mu Bingyun gently shook her head. “I just don’t want you to feel regret over this.”
“He won’t die this easily,” Mu Xuanyin said coldly. “And so what if he dies? It is the punishment he should rightfully receive!”
“I didn’t dare ask yesterday but what on earth did Yun Che…”
“Do not ask or care about this matter any longer! If he manages to survive then I guess lady luck is on his side but if he dies then so be it!”
Although Mu Xuanyin’s aura wasn’t as scary as it was yesterday, it was still icy cold and merciless. It was obvious that her anger hadn’t yet completely faded because the crime Yun Che committed was something she absolutely couldn’t forgive. Mu Xuanyin turned away and left while brimming with intimidating coldness. “I will be heading to the Flame God Realm in a few days to deal with that flame dragon, so I will be spending a few days in seclusion. You will stay here and guard me and you aren’t allowed to go anywhere else, do you understand? You are especially forbidden… from approaching Mist End Valley!”
“…” Mu Bingyun didn’t say anything. A single sigh escaped her lips—it would appear that Yun Che’s crime really was too grave this time.
——————————
Plop!
Yun Che fell heavily onto a thick pile of snow while panting for breath. He then shut his mouth and suppressed his panting with all his might immediately, leaving only his chest still moving up and down intensely.
He was chased by the profound beasts for a full night and day and he had ran just as long. During this time, he didn’t brandish Heaven Smiting Sword even once as he ran and ran, away from the beasts.
The concentration of profound beasts in this place was just too high and every one of these creatures had developed terrifyingly acute senses, thanks to the cruel environment. Not even Hidden Flowing Lightning was able to hide him from detection. Hidden Flowing Lightning could only conceal his aura but not his body, so these profound beasts that were everywhere were able to spot him using sight alone. This was especially true for the snow hawks and giant falcons flying in the air, the thick ice mist was practically non-existent to these creatures.
After shaking off another wave of profound beasts with great difficulty and after sensing about and finding no dangerous presences in the area, Yun Che lay on the snow and didn’t get up for literally half a day. His entire body was limp and sore. Opportunities to pant like this only came three times a day and none of them ever lasted beyond fifteen minutes.
A while later, Yun Che struggled to his feet…
This can’t go on! There’s no way I’m going to last until the third day if it continues like this. No amount of profound energy recovery is going to hold up against this exhaustion rate. I may very well be completely drained tomorrow. I need to think of a different way.
Yun Che thought while doing his best to recover his wounds and profound energy using the Great Way of the Buddha. But just as he closed his eyes, the space between his brows suddenly twitched once for no particular reason. He immediately dropped flat without a second thought.
Riiip!!
The sharp sound of air being torn apart passed through the spot where Yun Che’s head was just a second ago. The sharp, icy wind had cut off a large chunk of his hair.
Yun Che rolled away from the place with sinking eyes. He stared fixedly at the white figure landing some distance away from him… It was none other than the white wolf he saw when he first came into Mist End Valley!
This white wolf had hidden itself inside snow just like he did and he had failed to detect his pounce until the final moment. It was obvious that this terrifying white wolf normally hunted this way.
His rare moment to catch a breath was extinguished by the white wolf just like that. Yun Che swiftly scanned the surroundings with his spiritual perception before deciding not to escape in an instant. He would kill this white wolf while generating as little noise as possible!
Yun Che moved his right hand to his chest and gripped the Cloud Butterfly Blade.
The white wolf’s eyes turned bloody as it opened its mouth and let out an extremely low growl. It was obvious that the wolf didn’t want to cause too much noise either. Great wariness had settled into its bloody pupils after it missed its sure hit attack. The standstill lasted for several seconds before it suddenly leaped towards Yun Che like lightning and aimed its sharp claws straight at his heart.
Agitated and at max concentration, Yun Che could see the trajectory of the white wolf’s pounce clearly. The instant the white wolf got close to him, his eyes turned cold as he swiped the Cloud Butterfly Blade accurately through its neck.
Yun Che appeared thirty meters away from where he had stood, before he turned around as quick as lightning. He was just about to commit the follow up attack when he suddenly looked flabbergasted.
The white wolf crashed into a giant ice covered rock far away from him in a straight line. The wolf’s head separated from its body instantly and lay still on the ground.
“…” Yun Che’s mouth was slightly agape. He stayed that way for several seconds before he finally, slowly, looked down at the Cloud Butterfly Blade in disbelief.
After being hunted for an entire day and night, Yun Che had less than forty percent profound energy left inside his tired body. Although he was sure that his blade had passed through the white wolf’s neck, it should’ve left behind a moderate wound at best… he never imagined that he would be able to cut off the its head entirely.
Considering the white wolf’s incredibly oppressive aura… it was very likely to be a low level Divine Soul Realm beast! With his current amount of profound energy, he would be lucky to cut through its flesh but this…
Even more amazing was the fact that he felt nothing, even after he cut through its entire neck.
Yun Che stepped forwards quickly and froze the white wolf’s head and body with frost profound energy, stopping the stench of blood from spreading. Then, he stared fixedly at the Cloud Butterfly Blade for a very long time.
He exhaled a bit of profound energy and an invisible, half foot long blade beam immediately extended from the hilt of the blade. He then moved the blade beam slowly towards a finger and discovered that his skin was hurting like it was burned even though the beam was still inches away from it.
“I can’t believe Palace Master Bingyun gave me something so terrifying…” Yun Che muttered. Despite his low profound strength, he was able to cut through the body of a low level Divine Soul Realm beast with unbelievable ease. If this was a Divine Soul Realm profound practitioner…
If he could find the opportunity to do so, then… maybe he could kill even a late stage Divine Soul Realm expert!
Yun Che suddenly recalled Mu Bingyun saying that this blade was one of the two weapons that was passed down within her family. Both she and Mu Xuanyin wielded a blade each and the other blade was called the “Sound Butterfly Blade”. Considering Mu Xuanyin and Mu Bingyun’s status in the Snow Song Realm… this blade might very well be the ultimate treasure in the entire realm, so of course it was deadly.
Naturally, a profound weapon made in the God Realm and a high rank one no less… far outstripped anything that might exist in the Blue Pole Star.
Having witnessed the Cloud Butterfly Blade’s terrifying power, Yun Che felt a bit more comfortable than he was a few moments ago. He hid his aura once more and leaned against the corner of a giant rock. He cast a glance at the white wolf’s dead body and frowned slightly.
His Hidden Flowing Lightning was an extremely high level profound concealment art already but even if he pushed it to the max there was no way he could hide his aura so completely that it might as well not exist. However, these white wolves were able to conceal themselves in snow less than thirty feet away from him. Although he was paying close attention to his surroundings using his spiritual senses, he wasn’t able to detect it at all until the moment it jumped out.
Just how did they conceal their presence so perfectly?
It was almost as if their aura had merged with the snow while they were hiding inside.
…………
…………
…Merge …aura!?
Yun Che suddenly looked up in great agitation. A strange inspiration had just flashed through his mind.
Temporary confusion appeared inside his eyes… he wanted to concentrate his thoughts immediately and seize this instant of inspiration but he also realized that he might never awaken again if his consciousness fell still in this terrifying valley. But if he didn’t try it, then the inspiration might pass him by forever.
A brief moment of mental struggle later, he ultimately made the risky choice and closed his eyes swiftly… Slowly, his breathing and aura grew stable as his consciousness sank and sank until he seemed to have forgotten even where he was right now.
High above the sky, a pair of frigid eyes penetrated many layers of thick mist to stare coldly at Yun Che.
She noticed that Yun Che had suddenly fallen silent. Very soon, his aura became gentle and his soul fell into a state of quietness… the boy had actually entered into a state of enlightenment!
Her eyebrows were raised as she exclaimed a little angrily, “This brat… how dare he submerge his consciousness in such a place. Is he hoping to die faster!?”
Although she was furious, she didn’t leave the valley. She cast a glance at the Cloud Butterfly Blade between Yun Che’s fingers and said coldly, “I can’t believe Bingyun actually gave him the Cloud Butterfly Blade. How absurd!”
Yun Che had entered an unbelievably wondrous state. He had no idea that someone was looking at him quietly. In fact, he couldn’t even sense the flow of time… so it was only natural that he didn’t notice a giant ice scaled beast approaching closer towards him.
Attention drawn by the approaching beast, Mu Xuanyin’s fingertip lit up with faint bluish light. However, it was at this moment she noticed that Yun Che’s body had blurred for a second. Then, he started fading away like a shadow…
In the end, he vanished completely without a trace.
“…!?” Great shock riddled Mu Xuanyin’s face. Although she could still sense Yun Che through her spirit senses—her disciple hadn’t moved an inch from the spot—his figure had turned completely invisible.
The giant ice scaled beast walked close to Yun Che and passed by him in leisurely fashion just thirty meters away. It never paused once or cast a glance to where Yun Che was. Very soon, it walked off in a different direction and vanished into the mist.
“Con… cealment!?”
Mu Xuanyin said softly. For the first time in a few thousand years, her eyes were riddled with deep shock and… absent mindedness.