Chapter 190: Endless Pursuit

Cang Yue smiled faintly and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Fen. Cang Yue is perfectly well, so there's no need for you to worry. May I ask the purpose of your visit today?"

Earlier, Cang Shuo had stated very plainly that Fen Juecheng's sole purpose in coming was to see her. Yet, Cang Yue acted as if she hadn't understood.

Fen Juecheng also smiled slightly, speaking gently and directly, "I heard that Her Royal Highness has been training at various profound-energy academies for the past two years. While I worried about you, I also admired you greatly. Although I dreamed of seeing you more often, I feared disturbing Your Highness, so I kept my feelings suppressed. Now that I can finally see Your Highness again, I am truly overjoyed. Your Highness is even more beautiful and dignified than two years ago; the legendary celestial immortals could be no more so. In my eyes, Your Highness's beauty is a heaven-sent treasure to the Cangfeng Royal Family, and indeed, to the entire Cangfeng Empire."

As he spoke, Fen Juecheng's admiration and infatuation were openly displayed, stark and undisguised. Princess Cang Yue, however, seemed to completely overlook it, simply offering a faint smile in return: "Young Master Fen, you praise me too highly. Cang Yue is not worthy."

"I thank Young Master Fen for his compliments on behalf of my sister. I fully agree that she is a treasure of our royal family," Cang Shuo said with a smile. His gaze shifted, subtly signaling to a servant behind him. The servant immediately understood, stepped forward, and pretended to whisper something into his ear.

"Oh?" Cang Shuo's eyes showed surprise. Then, he apologized to Fen Juecheng, "Young Master Fen, I've just remembered an urgent matter I haven't dealt with yet, so I must excuse myself for a moment... Imperial Sister, Young Master Fen hasn't visited the palace in a long time, why don't you show him around?"

"Cang Yue must regretfully decline." As soon as Cang Shuo finished speaking, Cang Yue directly refused, "It's not that Cang Yue is unwilling, but Father Emperor previously sent a decree instructing me to come to his bedchamber at this hour to discuss important matters. I dare not disobey Father Emperor's command. I hope my Imperial Brother and Young Master Fen will not take offense. Cang Yue will excuse herself now."

With that, Cang Yue gave a slight nod and walked out of Lanyue Palace without hesitation.

Cang Shuo frowned deeply, but Fen Juecheng merely smiled faintly. As Cang Yue walked past him, he suddenly turned and said, "Your Royal Highness, when I arrived at the palace, I coincidentally heard that you seem to be actively searching for a rare flower called the 'Soul-Burning Flower.' I wonder if Your Highness has found it yet? If not, I happen to know where a Soul-Burning Flower can be found."

Fen Juecheng's arrival made Cang Yue feel uneasy and uncomfortable all over; she simply wanted to leave as quickly as possible. His words, however, made her body stiffen, her departing steps halted rigidly. She turned around and, in as calm a voice as possible, said, "Is what Young Master Fen said true? Cang Yue is indeed searching for the Soul-Burning Flower. If Young Master Fen knows where it can be found, I would be deeply grateful if you would share the information."

Fen Juecheng smiled slightly, "Of course, I wouldn't refuse Princess Cang Yue's request. The Soul-Burning Flower I know of happens to be located within my Flaming Heaven Sect's training grounds—the Blazing Sun Heavenly Domain."

Cang Yue's heart skipped a beat. Suppressing her excitement, she said, "That's wonderful. I wonder if your esteemed sect would consider transferring that Soul-Burning Flower to our royal family? You can name any price or conditions for the transfer."

Fen Juecheng's eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed almost covetously at Cang Yue's exquisitely beautiful and dignified face and figure. He lowered his voice, "I cannot make that decision. Within the Blazing Sun Heavenly Domain, only one Soul-Burning Flower grows every thousand years. Our entire sect regards it as a supreme treasure and would absolutely never transfer it to outsiders. However..."

Fen Juecheng paused, then smiled even more leisurely, "If the person who wants the Soul-Burning Flower is an insider of our sect, and truly desperately needs this flower, plus with my personal plea as the future Sect Master, I believe my father and the elders are not stubborn or rigid individuals, and they will certainly make an exception."

Fen Juecheng's words sounded gentle and subtle, yet they carried a hint of coercion beneath their directness. He was implying that an outsider would either have to become an internal member of the Flaming Heaven Sect, become a disciple, or marry into the Flaming Heaven Sect.

Cang Yue's chest rose and fell slightly. But then, she slowly shook her head, "Since the Soul-Burning Flower is so precious to your esteemed sect, Cang Yue will not press the matter. Thank you, Young Master Fen, for the information. Farewell."

Cang Yue's swift and resolute reaction took Fen Juecheng by surprise. His expression stiffened, and as he watched her departing back, his eyebrows slowly furrowed.

"My imperial sister is still as stubborn as ever," Cang Shuo commented. Facing Fen Juecheng at this moment, his words and demeanor subtly conveyed a hint of respect.

"She's even more stubborn than before. At least back then, even when she refused, she was quite tactful. Now, she's so unyielding, as if telling me not to harbor any illusions," Fen Juecheng said with a self-deprecating, yet seemingly annoyed, laugh.

"Young Master Fen, you don't need to be so pessimistic," Cang Shuo quickly consoled him. "Considering your strength, appearance, and status, no young talent in the entire Cangfeng Empire can compare. Cang Yue is still young; she hasn't fully understood some things yet. I believe that soon, without you even needing to pursue her, she will come to you on her own. Speaking of which," Cang Shuo hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I do know something about why Cang Yue's attitude suddenly became so resolute."

"Oh?" Fen Juecheng's gaze shifted.

Cang Shuo explained, "According to what I know, Cang Yue has not only been searching everywhere for the Soul-Burning Flower lately, but also for a person—someone she personally brought back from New Moon City. It's said that in the months after she brought him back, she grew very close to him... But Young Master Fen, rest assured, that person disappeared five months ago. It seems he foolishly entered the Deathly Wilderness and never came out again. After his disappearance, I heard from the palace maids around Cang Yue that she cried several times and couldn't eat or sleep properly..."

"What was that person's name?!"

"Yun Che... He's very young, only seventeen this year, but his talent is extraordinary. Both Cang Lin and I tried to bring him into our respective factions."

"Hmph!" Fen Juecheng's eyebrows knitted tightly, and an astonishingly dense murderous aura surged from his entire body. "Someone actually dared to covet the woman I desire... He'd better be dead. Otherwise, I will make him wish he were dead!"

The sudden burst of anger from Fen Juecheng made Cang Shuo tremble. Cang Shuo's personal guards' eyes widened in shock, as Fen Juecheng's profound energy aura had clearly reached the Earth Profound Realm!

Dragon God's Trial Realm, Endless Plain.

This was Yun Che's fifth month here.

Ahead, a small stream babbled, its water crystal clear to the bottom. In the transparent water, fish of various colors and shapes swam joyfully.

Yun Che gently placed Chu Yuechan on the soft grass beside the stream. Then, he squatted by the bank, smiling as he watched the fish in the water. "Little Fairy, we have fish soup again... Hmm, what flavor fish soup should we have today?"

As his voice trailed off, Yun Che's left hand swiftly plunged into the water, snatching a large fish nearly a foot long. Just then, a river stone to his right suddenly flipped, and a giant crab, half the size of Yun Che's body, shot up. Its massive, pitch-black pincers opened wide, snapping fiercely towards Yun Che's neck. The barbs on the pincers glinted menacingly; they could snap even steel, let alone a person's neck.

Yun Che tossed the fish from his left hand onto the grass. Without lifting his head, his right hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the edge of the crab's pincer. With a forceful tug, he flung the entire killer crab violently towards a nearby river stone.

Yun Che's arm strength was terrifyingly immense. With a loud "bang," the river stone shattered into pieces, and the killer crab was knocked half-unconscious. This commotion also stirred up a hornet's nest; over a dozen killer crabs simultaneously sprang up, their massive pincers like open guillotines, glinting with cold light as they slashed. Yun Che swiftly drew Dragon Fault, his body moving, instantly flashing into three figures at different positions, indistinguishable to the naked eye. The eight-thousand-pound Dragon Fault felt like a light feather in his hands. In just a few breaths, he unleashed over a dozen strikes, each a heavy blow to the back of a killer crab.

Killer crabs were dangerous profound beasts of the Spirit Profound Realm Level Two, possessing terrifying pincers and exceptionally hard shells that ordinary Spirit Profound Realm practitioners struggled to damage. However, with a round of heavy blows from Yun Che, thirteen overlapping explosive sounds erupted, and all thirteen killer crabs' back shells shattered. Violent profound energy instantly surged in, severing their life forces.

With a flick of his wrist, Dragon Fault returned to Yun Che's back. To fully adapt to the weight of Dragon Fault, he had kept it strapped to his back ever since he cultivated Star God's Broken Shadow to the second level.

"Eighty-three thousand nine hundred forty-seven." As the thirteen killer crabs perished, the number in Yun Che's mind updated. Looking at the dead crabs lying belly-up on the ground, Yun Che stroked his chin and mumbled, "I wonder if these big crabs can be made into soup..."

Yun Che ultimately abandoned that tempting idea. He carried the fish back to Chu Yuechan, then set up a makeshift stove on the grass, added stream water and fish, and started a fire... If the Phoenix God Beast knew that the most frequent use of Phoenix blood after Yun Che obtained it was to cook meals with Phoenix Flames, it might be so enraged it would burn Yun Che to ashes.

No sooner had the fire started than trouble ensued. The grass beneath his feet stirred unnaturally. Before whatever was underground could emerge, Yun Che's hand plunged violently into the earth, yanking out a Spirit Profound Beast, an armored earth dragon, that was about to attack. In just a few swift motions, he tied its body into a dead knot and threw it far away. Poor armored earth dragon—a dignified low-level Spirit Profound Beast whose body was as hard as refined steel, yet in Yun Che's hands, it was like a common hemp rope. Although Yun Che's profound energy level was low, his arm strength was incomparable to even high-level Spirit Profound practitioners.

The armored earth dragon, tied into a dead knot, twitched wildly on the grass, but soon its blood flow reversed, and it could no longer move.

"Eighty-three thousand nine hundred forty-eight," Yun Che murmured. No sooner had he finished than his arm suddenly swung upwards, a stream of Phoenix Flames shot out, blasting down two Storm Eagles that were just beginning to dive from above.

Now, after five months of thorough integration, his Phoenix Break no longer required him to wield his heavy sword; he could unleash it simply by swinging his arm. This was because his arm could also be regarded as a heavy sword.

With the intense heat of the Phoenix Flames, the fish soup was stewed to perfection in less than sixty breaths.

Serving the fish soup, Yun Che carefully blew on it to cool it. He then came to the Little Fairy's side, supported her upper body, and brought the small bowl to her lips. "Here, it's not hot anymore."

Chu Yuechan opened her beautiful eyes, parted her tender lips, and with very little effort, drank the fish soup little by little. Just as she took her first sip, strange cries echoed from the sky. Six bizarre, large birds with long tails and greenish bodies swooped down from different directions, aiming directly for Yun Che.

Yun Che did not lift his head. With an upward flick of his left hand, Dragon Fault was already in his grasp. He pinpointed the positions of the six green birds, and Dragon Fault swung six times in two breaths. By the third breath, Dragon Fault was back on his back.

Amidst chaotic bird cries, six Phoenix Breaks shot skyward, precisely striking the six incoming green birds, blasting them away one by one. Throughout this entire process, not a single drop of fish soup spilled from the small bowl, Chu Yuechan remained undisturbed, and her snow-white lips did not leave the bowl. By the time all six large birds fell, half of the fish soup in the bowl had already been consumed.

They had encountered such situations daily for five months and were long accustomed to them. She completely trusted Yun Che to perfectly fend off any attack.

For five months, they had endured constant attacks from various profound beasts, sometimes many, sometimes few, but almost never ceasing. The Ancient Azure Dragon's earlier statement about "sleepless nights and restless meals" contained no exaggeration or intimidation whatsoever.

The difficulty of this trial stage was more than ten times higher than the first. Its terror wasn't due to the excessively high levels of the profound beasts, nor their astonishing numbers, but rather the relentless attacks! Profound beasts could strike at any moment from the ground, underground, water, or air. Even a single second of mental relaxation could be fatal. In such circumstances, enduring for a day or two might be easy, and three or four days barely manageable, but any longer, even if the body held up, the mind would break down. If it were an ordinary person, even with twice Yun Che's profound energy, it would be almost impossible to persevere.

Yet, for Yun Che, the difficulty of this trial was no higher than the first stage.

This was because his previous life had been spent in constant pursuit. While the profound beast hunts in the Endless Plain were terrifying, in his past life, he had endured the pursuit of all the supreme sects and ultimate powerhouses in the world! And it had lasted for a full seven years. Over those seven years, his alertness, perception, reaction speed, and anti-pursuit capabilities were forged to an utterly terrifying degree.

After his rebirth, he hadn't had many opportunities to display these abilities. But amidst the endless profound beast hunts in this boundless wilderness, these abilities were reawakened.