Chapter 1031: Poisoning

"Insane?" Mu Hanyi smiled faintly. "You are far more naive than I imagined. I am merely doing what a truly ambitious person should do. Even if my Imperial Father and brothers all die due to the Sect Master's wrath, they will surely understand me on their journey to the underworld. After all, these are all things Imperial Father taught me."

"At the same time... you forced my hand!!!"

His previously calm tone suddenly turned sharp, and his face twisted into a terrifying grimace. Here, he could finally cast off all pretense without restraint: "Do you know how much I've sacrificed to become the Sect Master's personal disciple?!"

"I possess talent envied by all, but I never dared to slack off even slightly because of it. Others cultivated for three or four hours a day, but since the age of five, I have cultivated for at least nine hours daily! Every day, I cultivated until my body was covered in wounds. To temper my body, I don't know how many times I nearly froze to death in cold pools!"

"After entering the Ice Phoenix Divine Sect, I dared not slack off even for a single breath or moment! Though I am a prince, I knelt countless times in the sect to seek guidance. To win people over, I countless times bestowed favors upon those potentially useful commoners! To obtain more essence blood from Mu Yunzhi to enrich my bloodline, I even... even shamelessly became her plaything in bed!!"

Thinking of Mu Yunzhi, who was broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, and had a face like a burly man, Yun Che was dumbfounded, and his stomach churned.

It truly wasn't easy for Mu Hanyi to become the Ice Phoenix's top disciple along the way!

Mu Hanyi's breathing grew heavier, and his expression became increasingly ferocious. In his agitated, wild eyes, malevolent spirits seemed to dance: "I had already succeeded... I had already succeeded! I was about to become the Sect Master's personal disciple. I would possess the most esteemed status and a future envied by all! The Sect Master would bestow Fengxue upon me, and my motherland would return to its peak because of this. With my talent, my wisdom, my efforts, and my renown, in the future, I could even become the successor Great Realm King, governing the entire Snow Song Realm, becoming the revered ruler of a realm to whom all beings would bow, my name forever inscribed in Snow Song history, capable of anything within the Snow Song Realm, and able to kill that old hag Mu Yunzhi using the most cruel methods without any qualms..."

Yun Che: "..."

"Everything was within my grasp. As long as I worked hard, all of this would come true. You wouldn't have to die, no one would have to die! But you... it was you... who ruined everything!!"

Mu Hanyi's long-suppressed resentment burst forth wildly. His voice became hoarse and distorted, his roars like those of a beast: "You stole the fruit of my life's efforts, you stole my Fengxue, you stole everything from me!!"

"But fortunately, all of this was merely a test from heaven. So quickly, the chance to reclaim everything was delivered to me... and such a perfect opportunity!"

Mu Hanyi panted heavily. He slowly raised his palm towards Yun Che: "Do you know how perfect all of this is? You shook off your guards; no one will know where you went or with whom. And I left through a secret passage in my sleeping quarters. This means no one knows I've left my chambers. Everyone will believe that when you 'broke into' the treasure vault and died by its mechanisms, I was soundly sleeping in my chambers."

"I've even thought of how you 'broke in.' It's just that... my poor imperial sister will have to be sacrificed."

"You!" Yun Che gritted his teeth. Mu Hanyi's words clearly meant that after killing Yun Che and leaving, he would transmit a message to lure Feng Hanjin out and then kill her!

Because the profound array of the secret passage could only be activated by the blood of the Ice Wind Imperial Family, Mu Hanyi intended to create the illusion that Yun Che had killed Feng Hanjin and then used her blood to infiltrate the treasure vault!

"If I become the Great Realm King in the future, what is this small sacrifice?"

Mu Hanyi slowly stepped forward, and a cold blue light already shimmered on his raised palm: "How much I hate you! These past few days, I've dreamt of dismembering you a thousand times. But now... how I pity you. You obtained everything I yearned for, yet in just half a month, you're about to lose your life along with it all. Heh, it's a net loss."

The blue light on Mu Hanyi's palm rapidly condensed, quickly reaching a level sufficient to deliver a fatal blow to Yun Che. His steps brought him within ten paces of Yun Che: "To be fair, you are a clever person. I wanted to kill you and reclaim everything, but I had more than once thought that I might never find an opportunity to kill you without leaving a trace or future repercussions. I never expected that heaven would pity me and deliver this perfect opportunity to me so quickly."

"Upon arriving in Ice Wind, you must have been racking your brain trying to find the Qilin horn, right? At such a time, all I had to do was give a slight hint, and of course, you were overjoyed. How could you possibly let such a perfect opportunity slip away? You obediently walked right into my trap."

"Next life, you must firmly remember one thing: don't be so impatient in your actions; use your brain more!"

Yun Che: "..."

"I've said all I needed to say. You can die in peace." Mu Hanyi slowly spread his five fingers, his features grotesquely twisted with satisfaction: "Don't worry, I won't let you die too painfully. Otherwise, your appearance when you die from the mechanisms might not look perfect!"

Before his voice faded, Mu Hanyi shot forward, his five fingers, gleaming with blue light, aiming directly for Yun Che's throat.

With the power of a Divine Tribulation Realm mid-stage practitioner, Yun Che was two and a half major realms below him. Even a glancing blow would be fatal.

A chilling aura of death approached him. Yun Che's eyes suddenly glinted, becoming incredibly cold and deep.

Star God Broken Shadow!

Bang!!!

Mu Hanyi's palm instantly tore through Yun Che's afterimage, slamming hard against the barrier. The barrier's blue light trembled slightly, but showed no signs of shattering; not even a single crack appeared.

Utterly unexpecting his attack to be evaded by Yun Che, Mu Hanyi was clearly stunned for a moment. And at that very instant, a faint blue dragon shadow flashed within the barrier, accompanied by a world-shaking dragon's roar that terrified the heavens and earth.

ROAR!!!!!!!!!

Dragon God Domain!!

The Dragon God Domain, Yun Che's only terrifying domain that could suppress enemies across three major realms. Let alone those in the Divine Tribulation Realm, even profound practitioners in the Divine Spirit Realm could not fully resist it.

The absolute might emanating from the Dragon God's true soul struck Mu Hanyi's soul as if by a world-shattering hammer. His vision instantly went blank, and an unprecedented sense of lowliness and fear rapidly surged within his mind.

Meanwhile, Yun Che lightning-fast dashed forward. His left hand reached out, and a green glow from the Sky Poison Pearl in his palm flashed. A cluster of red dots, like cotton or liquid, flew out from the Sky Poison Pearl, striking Mu Hanyi's face. As soon as these red dots touched Mu Hanyi, they seemed to come alive, furiously pouring into his skin and seven orifices, vanishing in an instant.

The Dragon God Domain dissipated. Yun Che executed a backflip, landing on the other edge of the barrier. As he landed, his body swayed slightly, and he felt a dizzy spell—to ensure foolproof success, he had poured out all his soul power without reservation this time. Although the Dragon God Domain only lasted for a few breaths, it had greatly depleted his soul power.

However, a chilling faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Mu Hanyi's pupils quickly refocused from their state of terror. But as soon as he turned, he suddenly dropped to his knees violently. His face was instantly contorted with extreme pain and horror. His entire body then collapsed, writhing and convulsing wildly, and he let out hoarse, mournful shrieks, as if enduring the greatest agony in the world.

"Ah... ah... ahhh... you... you... did... what... ahhh..."

"It's the Breath of the Horned Dragon," Yun Che said coldly.

"...Ugh!" Those four cold words caused Mu Hanyi's pupils to suddenly dilate tenfold. Sanguine blood vessels instantly spread across the whites of his eyes. Everyone in the Ice Phoenix Divine Sect knew that the Breath of the Horned Dragon was what nearly killed Mu Bingyun. Its terrifying toxicity had almost claimed the life of even a peerless Divine Sovereign Realm expert like Mu Bingyun, so how could he possibly endure it?

"No... impossible... you're lying... you're lying!!!"

Pain and fear churned in Mu Hanyi's soul like countless devils. With a hoarse roar, he tried to lunge at Yun Che, but as soon as he circulated his profound energy, the toxicity of the Breath of the Horned Dragon immediately erupted with greater intensity. He instantly crumpled like a beast shot through the heart, violently falling to the ground amidst desperate howls, curling into a fetal position, twitching and rolling in extreme agony.

His formerly fair skin rapidly became covered with a dark, reddish hue. His profound energy and life aura rapidly dissipated like rushing water.

The terrifying toxicity of the Horned Dragon's Breath was clearly laid bare before Yun Che's eyes.

A Divine Tribulation Realm profound practitioner, once the top young genius in the Snow Song Realm, under the potent poison of the Breath of the Horned Dragon, was utterly powerless, like an infant worm.

"It seems things aren't developing as you expected."

Yun Che slowly approached, his indifferent gaze devoid of pity: "Mu Hanyi, I have to admit, you're an excellent pretender. On you, I always sensed only a slight hint of regret and self-deprecation, never an ounce of unwillingness or resentment. Especially on the way to the Ice Wind Empire, your 'heartfelt confessions' even made me genuinely believe for a few moments that your magnanimity allowed you to accept everything with equanimity."

"To perfectly conceal one's emotions to such an extent, even I absolutely cannot do it."

"Unfortunately, no matter how flawlessly you performed, I wouldn't be naive enough to believe you truly held no resentment towards me. Nor would I be foolish enough to follow someone who resents me to such a deserted place without any backup plans."

His footsteps brought him in front of Mu Hanyi. Yun Che leaned down slightly and mocked: "It seems I'm not the impatient one after all; it's you."

"Next life, you must firmly remember one thing: don't be so impatient in your actions; use your brain more!"

Mu Hanyi's earlier words of mockery towards Yun Che were returned to him exactly as they were.

"You... ah... ah..." The blood vessels in Mu Hanyi's eyes were so numerous they seemed about to burst. His struggles grew weaker and weaker, and the immense pain made him almost unable to speak coherent words.

"This place is indeed perfect for killing, whether it's you killing me or me killing you." Yun Che said coldly, "Mu Hanyi, you've chosen quite a perfect grave site for yourself. Otherwise, I would have had to expend much more effort and thought to find an opportunity and reason to eliminate a viper like you, who could strike at any time!"