Chapter 1148: Coercion

Wu Guike almost laughed at the sight of someone at the first level of the Divine Tribulation Realm—the absolute lowest on the battlefield—who possessed zero soul beads. He had no intention of making a move; killing such a person would yield no soul beads, entail no loss, and merely diminish his own standing.

To his surprise, this "mosquito" in his eyes flew directly towards him. Instead of fleeing upon seeing Wu Guike, the figure descended from the sky right in front of him, letting out a low shout even before landing: "Wu Guike!"

Wu Guike narrowed his eyes, a hint of amusement in his smile. "Where did you crawl out from, rat, daring to address this young master by name? Are you tired of living?!"

In the Black Yaksha Realm, he had only known "Ling Yun" and was completely unaware that Yun Che was one and the same. He hadn't even met Yun Che, having been scared away by "Little Jasmine" before their paths could cross. This encounter had also cost him a hard-earned Nine-Star Buddha God Jade and an Ethereal Stone personally bestowed by his father.

They had crossed paths twice before. Yun Che had noticed him, but Wu Guike held no recollection of Yun Che. After all, the incredibly arrogant son of the Divine Martial Realm King, destined for fame in the Eastern Divine Region at this Profound God Convention, would never deign to acknowledge "trash" whose profound energy was merely at the first level of the Divine Tribulation Realm.

Wu Guike's voice suddenly turned sinister, a tone that would have terrified anyone else. Yet, Yun Che's expression seemed even grimmer. With time of the essence, he wasted no unnecessary words, roaring directly, "Wu Guike, I've come to make a deal with you!"

"A deal? You?" Wu Guike responded as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke.

"Enough talk! Look at this!"

Yun Che grabbed and flicked his arm, sending a small, stone-like object hurtling towards Wu Guike.

"Oh?" Wu Guike casually pinched the object, finding it quite amusing. *Heh, is this guy an idiot? Not only is there so much trash, but even fools can participate. This Profound God Convention truly isn't all that impressive.*

As he lifted his finger, Wu Guike's expression instantly changed, and his heart gave a violent lurch... Clasped between his fingers was, unmistakably, a profound image stone.

His alarm, of course, wasn't due to Yun Che, but rather... two years ago in the Black Yaksha Realm, he had been thoroughly ensnared by "Little Jasmine," the Sirius Star God Princess Cai Zhi, using two profound image stones. That incident had not only cost him dearly but had also given him the greatest frights of his life, one after another.

Ever since then, profound image stones had cast a significant shadow over his mind; every time he saw one, his heart would race, and he had yet to fully recover from the lingering trauma.

"Take a good look at what's inside!" Yun Che stated grimly, his imposing aura undiminished even when facing Wu Guike.

Wu Guike's brows furrowed slightly. The lingering trauma from profound image stones combined with Yun Che's peculiar attitude instilled a sense of unease. Instead of disdainfully crushing the stone, he injected profound energy and swept it with his spiritual sense.

After a few moments of silence, Wu Guike's face dramatically changed. His body swayed, and his pupils, now sharply constricted, fixed on Yun Che. "You... Where did you get this?!"

This profound image stone was one of two Yun Che had retrieved from the corpse of Lei Qianfeng, the Black Yaksha Realm King, years ago. The images it contained depicted the Divine Martial Sect hunting wood spirits, coveting royal wood spirits, and collecting women from the lower realms to serve as cultivation vessels. Much of this was narrated by Wu Guike himself, whose face, figure, voice, and expressions were captured with absolute clarity.

As Wu Guike roared, the profound image stone in his hand disintegrated into powder under his uncontrolled profound energy. Yet, his contorted expression remained utterly tense, for this was merely a preliminary battlefield where everything was a projection!

Only true objects and beings could be projected here, and even if a projection was utterly destroyed, it would have no effect whatsoever on the real entity or item.

Ever since Cai Zhi had scared him half to death, he had endured nightmares for months. Now, a nightmare far more terrifying than any he had experienced was vividly before him. Wu Guike, who just moments ago had acted like a judge, controlling lives and toying with others' dignity, his arrogance on full display, was now deathly pale, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

No one understood the ramifications of these profound image stone images being leaked better than he did.

"I have no obligation to explain that to you," Yun Che stated grimly, knowing Wu Guike wouldn't believe him if he claimed to have simply found it. "I'm sure you, Young Master Wu, wouldn't want the contents of this profound image stone to become public. My request is very simple, and you can easily fulfill it."

Lowering his voice, Yun Che stared directly into Wu Guike's contorted face. "Let me kill you once! I need to enter the second round of preliminaries!"

This was the last hope that had suddenly occurred to him after hearing that cruel Heavenly Sound.

To avoid expulsion from the Heaven Smiting Divine Realm, he had to break into the top ten in the battle zone.

In his current state, achieving that was a pipe dream.

But, if he could kill Wu Guike just once...

Wu Guike currently held 6.5 million soul beads, placing him first in their battle zone. Killing him just once would directly plunder thirty percent of his soul beads—nearly two million!

That would catapult him into the top ten... no, the top five!

In terms of raw power, even with all his trump cards revealed, a hundred of him wouldn't be a match for Wu Guike. However, he held a significant piece of leverage over Wu Guike: the two profound image stones he had found on Lei Qianfeng's corpse.

When he had accidentally stumbled upon these two profound image stones, Yun Che had primarily been surprised and never imagined they would prove useful. Yet, in this sudden and desperate situation, they had become his last hope.

Divine Tribulation Realm, first level... and he wants to enter the second round of preliminaries?!

Wu Guike wanted to laugh, but the humor was lost. His mouth twitched. "Someone as useless as you... worthy of such a thing?!"

"Hmph, whether I'm worthy or not is none of your concern. You should worry more about yourself." Yun Che showed no anger; in fact, he laughed. "Wu Guike, the son of the Divine Martial Realm's Great Realm King—what an esteemed status. Your profound cultivation is, of course, beyond doubt. At this Profound God Convention, which gathers all the top young talents of the Eastern Divine Region, you can even rank among the top twenty. What a formidable achievement! You, Wu Guike, will soon be world-renowned, famous to all, with boundless glory. It's even possible you'll become the pride of this generation of the Divine Martial Realm, admired by the entire realm, favored by your father. After ten thousand years, inheriting the position of Great Realm King isn't out of the question."

"But, if the contents of this profound image stone were suddenly to leak out and become known to the world, what do you suppose would happen?"

With those words, which meticulously painted a picture of glory and an infinitely bright future within his grasp, only to then suddenly kick him into a frozen hell—Yun Che's lips curved into a smile, the kind typically seen on the most cunning of villains.

"You... you dare!!" Every muscle on Wu Guike's face twitched. The last time he had been threatened, by "Little Jasmine," he had no choice but to concede, as she was the Sirius Star God, a transcendent being even his father held in reverence.

But now, this "trash" he wouldn't normally even deign to look at was threatening him... This was undoubtedly a thousand times more infuriating and humiliating than his previous experience.

"Then you're welcome to test whether I dare or not!" Yun Che's aura and gaze remained unflinching.

"You..." Wu Guike's chest heaved, and his anger twisted into a laugh. "Heh... heh heh heh... How utterly ridiculous, that even a piece of trash dares to threaten me... Yun Che, hmph! Do you believe I could effortlessly kill your entire family, wipe out your entire clan, tear you limb from limb, and make your life a living hell?"

"I believe it! Of course, I do. Young Master Wu, you certainly possess such power." Yun Che also smiled. "But before that, I'm afraid your Divine Martial Realm would face universal condemnation and sanctions from the King Realms. And as the instigator who brought your Divine Martial Realm to such a plight, I fear you'd be too busy to save yourself, reviled by your entire realm, and having your skin flayed, legs broken, and profound energy crippled by your father would be the least of your worries..."

"You!! Shut up!!"

Yun Che's words were like the most malicious curses, chilling Wu Guike to the bone. He knew perfectly well that if the images in the profound image stone were truly exposed, those "malicious curses" could absolutely come to pass!

His hands clenched tightly, profound energy swirling, wishing he could tear Yun Che into a thousand pieces. Yet, this was merely a battlefield, a projection! Killing Yun Che a thousand or even ten thousand times here would be utterly pointless.

Not even a single soul bead would be lost!

"Sigh." Yun Che sighed, shaking his head unhurriedly. "It seems Young Master Wu is quite displeased with this deal. That's odd. It's only me killing you once. With your six and a half million soul beads, even losing thirty percent would still leave you in first place on this battlefield. At most, your overall ranking might drop slightly, but it won't prevent you from entering the second round of preliminaries. And this round's ranking is merely a preliminary one, completely unrelated to the true peak rankings that follow."

"In other words, you would suffer no loss whatsoever, and you'd save the Divine Martial Realm's reputation and your own future. What a fantastic deal! For me to propose this is practically giving you an enormous advantage for free, and you're still unwilling to agree?"

Yun Che tilted his head, his face full of pity. "The dignified son of the Divine Martial Realm King—I thought that even if he wasn't particularly brilliant, he wouldn't at least be an imbecile. Who would have thought... Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"Bull...shit!" Wu Guike was so enraged his entire body trembled, blood rushing to his head. "You... you piece of trash... you good-for-nothing... you think you're worthy..."

"Hmph!" Yun Che sneered, no longer bothering to listen. He suddenly turned around. "Very well, if that's your wish, Young Master Wu, then so be it. Heh... I guarantee that within three days... no, within three hours, Young Master Wu's reputation will reach new heights, hahahaha."

With a loud laugh, Yun Che completely ignored Wu Guike, rose into the air, and swiftly flew away.

"Stop!!"

A fierce roar, and a powerful wave of profound energy suddenly descended from above, instantly pressing down on Yun Che like a colossal mountain, pinning him firmly in the air. Wu Guike's figure flickered, instantly appearing before Yun Che, his eyes as sinister as a demon's.

Yun Che, however, showed no fear. He leisurely spread his arms, a mocking expression on his face. "If you wish to kill me, Young Master Wu, feel free. I absolutely won't resist, hmph!"