Chapter 129: You Sure?

Li Mo's exchange with Feng Yue could only be described as utterly miserable.

During their seven-move sparring session, Li Mo used seven different sword techniques and fell seven times. His sword never even touched a corner of Feng Yue's clothes. Feng Yue's profound energy level was a full seven ranks higher than Li Mo's, with a major realm separating them. Feng Yue seemed to have forgotten, or perhaps simply didn't care, that this was a combat assessment. He relentlessly overwhelmed Li Mo with his profound energy throughout the entire process, a faint smile clearly visible on his face, as if he relished the feeling of rampant dominance.

After seven moves, Li Mo's clothes were tattered, and falling seven times had left him with multiple minor injuries.

"Seven moves are up, stop," Instructor Qi said. He then looked at Li Mo and commented, "Your moves were somewhat timid, but your profound energy control is decent. A barely passing grade. You can report to the Outer Palace tomorrow morning."

"Ah!" Li Mo exclaimed, his face breaking into a look of ecstasy. In his joy, he completely forgot his pain, bowing repeatedly to Instructor Qi, overcome with happiness. "Thank you, Instructor, for your generosity. Thank you, Instructor..."

After profusely thanking him, Li Mo happily departed under the envious gazes of the other profound practitioners.

"Next: Chen Yue!"

The second examinee fared no better than Li Mo. He was knocked down by Feng Yue almost immediately, and after seven moves, he was bruised and swollen.

As the combat assessment continued, the subsequent examinees grew increasingly apprehensive, as each person who sparred with Feng Yue suffered a worse fate than the last. Many of them had observed previous assessments in the past few days. The senior disciples acting as opponents generally never counterattacked, instead focusing on defense to allow the examinees to fully display their profound energy. Their occasional counterattacks merely served to push the opponent away. However, Feng Yue showed no mercy in his moves. For every one of the seven moves an examinee made, he retaliated with all seven, and almost every strike was guaranteed to injure his opponent. He didn't seem to be there to assist with the assessment; rather, he appeared to be enjoying the thrill of dominating and crushing others.

This pattern changed only when Ao Yan stepped up.

As soon as Ao Yan ascended, he immediately unleashed a large amount of profound energy. With an astonishing aura that billowed like wind and clouds, his very first move forced Feng Yue to take a small step back, drawing widespread cheers and gasps of amazement from the onlookers. After seven moves, Ao Yan handled the situation with remarkable composure. Not only was he not injured, but he wasn't even pushed back once by Feng Yue.

"Oh, very good," Feng Yue said, smiling and nodding after the seven moves. He turned to the elder and remarked, "Instructor Qi, this is a rare genius. Not only is his profound energy level impressive, but his control and execution of profound energy are truly divine. To reach this level at his age is truly one in ten thousand."

"You flatter me, Senior Brother," Ao Yan said with a look of humility, but his eyes were filled with triumph.

"He is indeed a rare talent. Ao Yan, you have also passed. Report to the Profound Palace tomorrow," Instructor Qi nodded.

Yun Che raised an eyebrow, a silent sneer on his face. *The eye contact between Ao Yan and Feng Yue is quite intriguing.*

"Thank you, Instructor Qi," Ao Yan said, bowing calmly. As he descended the platform and passed by Feng Yue, he quickly whispered in a very low voice, "Cousin, help me teach Yun Xiaofan and Yun Che a lesson. Make it as humiliating as possible for them... Tonight, the eighteen pleasure houses in the imperial city are yours to choose from."

Feng Yue's eyes immediately lit up. He slowly licked his lips with his tongue, a sinister smile creeping onto his face.

"Next, Yun Xiaofan."

"Phew, finally my turn," Yun Xiaofan whispered, clearly nervous.

"Be careful," Yun Che whispered, "This Feng Yue is not a good person."

"Yes, I will," Yun Xiaofan nodded. He gathered his profound energy, jumped onto the elevated platform, and stood before Feng Yue. "Senior Brother Feng Yue, please guide me."

"Oh? Yun Xiaofan?" Feng Yue's gaze, fixed on the naive-looking youth before him, turned playful and dangerous. He smiled faintly and said, "Judging by your age, you must only be fifteen, right? What a pity... Make your move, let me see what you're capable of."

The phrase "What a pity..." from Feng Yue puzzled Yun Xiaofan, but he didn't dare say much. He crossed his hands in front of him, profound energy surging through his body. On his palms, two clusters of purple lightning slowly converged, crackling.

"Oh, so you have lightning-attributed profound arts, not bad," Feng Yue said with a chuckle, casually extending his right hand.

"Thundering Palm!"

Yun Xiaofan brought his palms together, unleashing his family's lightning-attributed profound art combined with a lightning-attributed profound skill, directly charging at Feng Yue. Yun Xiaofan's profound energy was only at the second level of the Elementary Profound Realm, a full eleven levels below Feng Yue. While his attack would have been extraordinary among profound practitioners of his own level, it posed no threat whatsoever to Feng Yue. Just as Yun Xiaofan was about to reach Feng Yue, Feng Yue's figure suddenly flickered, and he actively closed in on Yun Xiaofan. His elbow effortlessly broke through Yun Xiaofan's protective profound energy, striking heavily against his chest... The moment of impact, a faint, almost imperceptible sinister smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

*Crack!*

A clear sound of bones breaking echoed in everyone's ears. The lightning glow Yun Xiaofan had gathered in his hands instantly dissipated, and his body flew backward like a discarded sandbag, spitting out a mouthful of blood in mid-air before crashing heavily off the platform. A stir immediately erupted around them, and everyone's eyes widened in shock at the unexpected sight. Yun Che's expression darkened, and he quickly rushed to Yun Xiaofan's side. Yun Xiaofan lay on the ground, his face pale, his lips covered in blood. Three ribs on his left chest were broken, making it impossible for him to stand.

Fury flared within Yun Che. He turned to Feng Yue and said in a deep voice, "Feng Yue! This is just an assessment, how could you strike so brutally!!"

Feng Yue spread his hands, adopting a very innocent expression. "How was I to know his profound energy was so low? I saw he had lightning-attributed profound arts and thought he could take a hit. Turns out... tsk tsk, how disappointing."

On the other side, Ao Yan smirked coldly. *Yun Xiaofan, this is the price for your disrespect towards me... So, next up is Yun Che. How dare he steal my thunder... I'll make sure you never enter the Azure Wind Profound Palace in your life.*

"Feng Yue, your strike was too heavy!" Instructor Qi also frowned, speaking sternly.

"It is true that this disciple did not exercise proper restraint," Feng Yue said, turning to Instructor Qi. "However, I do not regret it. In this Profound Palace, one of the quickest ways to improve profound energy is to spar with strong practitioners, and getting injured is therefore entirely normal. While I may have slightly misjudged, it also allows them to realize and adapt to this point sooner. Compared to the injuries sustained during sparring with our Central Palace disciples, his injuries are nothing. If he can't even endure this level of injury, then he's not qualified to enter our Azure Wind Profound Palace."

Instructor Qi frowned, but said no more.

"Heh, it takes some nerve to say something so grandiloquent." Catching sight of the cold smirk on Ao Yan's face and recalling the unusual eye contact between them earlier, Yun Che understood everything. This was clearly Ao Yan's revenge on Yun Xiaofan, carried out through Feng Yue... all because Yun Xiaofan had insulted him earlier. Since Yun Xiaofan had been targeted, he knew he wouldn't be spared either.

Just as he was about to speak, a trembling hand suddenly rested on his. Yun Xiaofan gritted his teeth, struggling to sit up, groaning in pain. "Big Brother Yun... I... I'm fine... The assessment isn't over, I'm fine... fine..." Through his struggle, Yun Xiaofan's upper body actually forced itself upright. With internal injuries and three broken ribs, the willpower and pain he must have endured to accomplish this motion were immense. The moment his upper body rose, Yun Che clearly saw two streams of hot tears flowing from his eyes... He understood that, in his current condition, it was impossible for him to continue the assessment. Failing to participate meant he wouldn't be able to enter the Azure Wind Profound Palace, and his dream, along with the hopes of his entire family, would be shattered. How could his heart not break and his tears not fall?

"Xiaofan, this incident wasn't your fault, so there's no reason for you to be disqualified from entering the Azure Wind Profound Palace because of it. Don't move around now, or you'll truly lose your chance to enter the palace if your body is ruined!" Yun Che gently pushed Yun Xiaofan's struggling upper body back down, took out a Medium Rejuvenation Pill, placed it in his mouth, then stepped forward and leaped in front of Feng Yue.

"My name is Yun Che. This time, I will accept your 'assessment'," Yun Che said, his voice flat and his eyes calm as water, devoid of any emotion.

"Oh? So you're Yun Che, the top scorer in this group's profound energy test?" Feng Yue looked Yun Che up and down, narrowing his eyes. Regarding the severe injury he had just inflicted upon Yun Xiaofan, he showed not the slightest concern.

"That's right," Yun Che said calmly. "Before we begin, I have a question to confirm with you. You just said that in the Azure Wind Profound Palace, severe injuries from sparring are normal, correct? So, if I accidentally injure you, will I bear no responsibility?"

Yun Che's words stunned everyone, including Feng Yue, who then burst into loud, wild laughter. "You... injure me? Haha... Hahahaha! That's the biggest joke I've heard all year. Good, very good. It's rare to see someone so confident. Then by all means, try to injure me. Forget injuring me, even if you kill me, that would be your skill, and no one would blame you... Hahahaha," he finished, finding himself utterly hilarious and bursting into another round of mocking laughter.

"Then I'm relieved," Yun Che smiled faintly, his gaze gradually sharpening.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's begin." Feng Yue crossed his arms, looking at Yun Che as if he were an idiot. He spoke arrogantly and disdainfully, "Since you're so deluded about injuring me, I'll give you a chance. I'll stand right here without moving, allowing you to attack me three times. If I move or get injured, I'll walk backward whenever I see you from now on. But if I stand still for three moves and you can't injure me, heh heh, then you'll obediently get out of this Azure Wind Profound Palace. And before you leave, I might even give you a 'big gift'."

Yun Che's previously serious eyebrows instantly relaxed. He tapped his nose, a half-smile playing on his lips, and asked, "Are you sure?"