Chapter 191: Poisoning

Under Yun Che's care, Chu Yuechan's meridians had yet to recover, but her physical condition had significantly improved. The pallor of her face, once ashen, now held a faint flush of color. However, her entire body remained paralyzed, with only her right arm and hand capable of slight movement. In this extremely dangerous place, Yun Che stayed by her side without fail, dedicated to protecting her.

Chu Yuechan should not eat too much at each meal; a small bowl of fish soup was usually sufficient. After finishing her soup, Chu Yuechan gently closed her eyes and rested against Yun Che's chest, her expression serene and peaceful. She didn't even notice that this sense of security surpassed the tranquility she felt during her secluded cultivation in the sect's secret realm.

Over the past five months, she had spent the majority of her time sleeping, and even more time resting in Yun Che's embrace. From initial resistance to gradual adaptation, and then to complete habituation, this habit then unknowingly developed into dependence. However, Chu Yuechan was entirely unfamiliar with the concept of "dependence." Before Yun Che, she had never been alone with any man, let alone experienced any intimate contact. To be inseparable and in close physical proximity for nearly five months was simply unimaginable for the Chu Yuechan of the past.

No one knew the state of her heart as she faced Yun Che at that moment, not even she herself.

"Rest peacefully for a while," Yun Che said, gently patting Chu Yuechan's delicate back, his voice as soft as if he were lulling a baby to sleep. "Soon, we'll be able to leave this place. By then, all your power will be restored."

Not long after, Chu Yuechan's breathing became even and light as she drifted into a shallow slumber.

Yun Che put away the items beside him, picked up Chu Yuechan, and looked ahead. "Jasmine, how long have we been here?"

"Today is the one hundred forty-first day," Jasmine replied precisely.

"...That means the Azure Cloud Ranking Tournament is less than a month away," Yun Che murmured, a faint sense of anxiety rising in his heart. He had promised Lan Xueyao that he would return within six months. Now, more than five months had passed, and he was still trapped in this trial ground. He had adapted to the place, and completing this stage of the trial only required time. However, to leave, he still needed to kill over ten thousand profound beasts. These were not beasts that could be killed casually; each one was a genuine Spirit Profound Beast.

Moreover, after the second trial, there was still a third one.

Once out of the trial grounds, it would take a long time to traverse the Death Desert, and even traveling day and night from there, it would take at least five days to return to the Azure Cloud Imperial City.

If he didn't leave this place quickly, he would miss the Azure Cloud Ranking Tournament and fail to uphold his promise to Lan Xueyao.

"It seems I'll have to speed things up," Yun Che said, furrowing his brow. "I'll push myself to the limit and kill the remaining profound beasts within ten days!"

"Ten days? Humph, what a joke! To complete the trial, you still need to eliminate sixteen thousand profound beasts. To finish in ten days, you'd have to kill at least sixteen hundred every day! Your average over the past five months has been six hundred beasts daily, which is already your absolute limit. Killing the remaining sixteen thousand in ten days is utterly impossible. If you act rashly and lose your composure due to anxiety, you might even be counter-killed by a profound beast," Jasmine warned.

Yun Che was speechless.

"Roar!!"

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed from far behind him, causing Yun Che to frown. He muttered a curse under his breath: "Damn it! It's that guy again; he's like a persistent ghost!"

Without a second thought, Yun Che turned and ran. Soon after, a massive, one-horned profound beast bolted past his previous location, rushing after him with a gust of wind.

Despite staying here for nearly five months, spending every day battling profound beasts far stronger than himself, Yun Che's profound energy remained at the fourth level of the True Profound Realm. It wasn't that his profound energy showed no signs of breakthrough; rather, he had been deliberately suppressing it, preventing advancement. During a profound energy breakthrough, he would be immobile for a short period and could not be disturbed, as it could easily damage his profound veins. In this perilous endless wasteland, he would have no one to guard him during a breakthrough, and Chu Yuechan would also be in danger. Hence, he had been suppressing his profound energy breakthroughs.

Otherwise, given his daily battles against higher-ranked beasts and with all fifty-four profound entrances open, it would not be an exaggeration for his profound energy to have risen to the eighth level of the True Profound Realm within five months.

Although he hadn't broken through, his suppressed profound energy had grown increasingly dense. Even without the four divine powers, his profound energy far surpassed that of an average fourth-level True Profound practitioner.

The profound beast chasing him was an Overlord Monocorn Beast, a sixth-level Spirit Profound Beast with immense strength and an incredibly tough body. Coupled with its thick profound energy protection, Yun Che, even with Dragon Fault, would struggle to wound it. If Yun Che weren't carrying Chu Yuechan, he might be able to contend with it, but with one arm holding her, he could only wield his sword with one hand, making him no match for the Overlord Monocorn Beast.

Therefore, whenever he encountered this beast, Yun Che would always turn and flee.

Star God Broken Shadow was an instantaneous profound skill, not a sustained acceleration skill, so it didn't significantly increase Yun Che's movement speed. However, Yun Che usually carried an eight-thousand-pound heavy sword. When he wanted to escape, he simply tossed the heavy sword into the Sky Poison Pearl, feeling so light he almost floated. His movement became lightning-fast, shaking off the Overlord Monocorn Beast in mere moments.

Yun Che ran at full speed, the ground beneath his feet rapidly receding, widening the distance from the Overlord Monocorn Beast. Just then, Jasmine's warning sounded in his mind: "Be careful, there's a cliff ahead!"

As Jasmine's voice faded, a cliff appeared in Yun Che's vision. His brows furrowed, and he sharply reduced his speed, digging his feet into the ground. After a long slide, he narrowly stopped at the edge of the cliff. Immediately, he let out a silent sigh of relief.

Looking down, the cliff wasn't high, less than fifty zhang, and he could easily jump down. Below the cliff was not a dangerous area, but an extremely dense forest—perhaps "forest" was a more fitting term, as the sea of trees before him stretched to the sky, its edges completely out of sight even from his elevated position.

"A forest in a plains area?" Yun Che murmured casually, just about to jump down, when a dangerous gust of wind suddenly came from his right.

Yun Che's gaze darted sideways, and his right hand shot out like lightning, his two fingers firmly pinching something slender, smooth, and cold.

It was a Black-Lined Emperor Serpent, less than a foot long and only half a finger thick. Yun Che had tightly gripped its vital seven-inch point, and it writhed and struggled painfully, flicking its black forked tongue.

"A Black-Lined Emperor Serpent!" Yun Che, who knew all poisons in the world, recognized the venomous snake at a glance.

The Black-Lined Emperor Serpent was thin and short with a fragile body; an ordinary child could accidentally step on it and kill it. Yet, despite its fragility, this tiny snake was not only crowned with the title "Emperor" but was also a genuine Spirit Profound Beast! Though delicate, it possessed terrifying venom and speed. If bitten, any human or beast below the Spirit Profound Realm would die within ten breaths. Even those in the Spirit Profound Realm would struggle to survive more than half an hour without an antidote. Furthermore, its small size made it difficult to spot, and it moved like a black lightning bolt, making it impossible to guard against. Any Spirit Profound Beast, or even Earth Profound Beast, would steer clear of it, avoiding it at all costs.

With the Sky Poison Pearl, Yun Che wouldn't be harmed even if he were bitten. He stared at the Black-Lined Emperor Serpent, then suddenly turned to face the pursuing Overlord Monocorn Beast. He transferred the Black-Lined Emperor Serpent from his right hand to his left, instantly absorbing all its venom with the Sky Poison Pearl. Then, he tossed the snake away, took out his long-unused Tiger Soul Sword, and smeared the venom on its tip.

"...It seems this is the first time I've used poison since the Sky Poison Pearl's venom power waned," he mused, looking at the sword tip. His mind flashed back to the tragic scene of poison spreading across an entire city, leaving countless corpses in its wake. His eyes subtly dimmed for a moment before he moved like a gust of wind, charging proactively towards the Overlord Monocorn Beast.

Seeing the human who usually fled at its sight now charging directly at it, the Overlord Monocorn Beast paused in surprise. Then, with a roar, it bared its fangs and lunged at Yun Che.

The Overlord Monocorn Beast's claws slashed through a phantom image of Yun Che. Yun Che's true body shifted horizontally, rushing in from its left side. His Tiger Soul Sword, imbued with profound energy, fiercely cut into the beast's left flank, leaving a two-inch-long wound that drew blood.

Yun Che stopped, his Tiger Soul Sword already retracted, replaced by Dragon Fault.

Given the Overlord Monocorn Beast's massive body, such a small injury was negligible. The beast, having missed its lunge, turned around, its huge maw wide open, and lunged again. But halfway through its charge, its front leg suddenly buckled, and its entire body crashed heavily to the ground. It began to convulse, its limbs flailing, but it couldn't stand up. Gradually, painful roars escaped its mouth, and black blood slowly oozed from the small wound.

Yun Che rushed forward, one sword strike shattering its profound energy defense, which had become incredibly fragile under the corrosive effects of the potent venom. He then unleashed seven or eight consecutive strikes on its head until it breathed its last.

"I wonder when the Sky Poison Pearl's venom power will recover," Yun Che sighed involuntarily. With just a tiny bit of poison, he had effortlessly dealt with the Overlord Monocorn Beast, a creature he previously could only flee from. He knew the terrifying nature of poison better than anyone. In his past life, despite being under thirty, he had survived seven years of being hunted across the entire continent, relying solely on the Sky Poison Pearl's venom. Under the Sky Poison Pearl's divine poison, countless powerhouses, even peerless experts whose strength far surpassed Yun Che's, had perished by his hand.

"If the Sky Poison Pearl's venom power were still at its peak, with its toxic miasma spreading through this trial ground, let alone ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine profound beasts, even ten times that number could be poisoned to death overnight," Yun Che remarked, deeply moved.

As a Heavenly Profound Treasure, the Sky Poison Pearl's defying capabilities extended far beyond mere refinement.

Wait...toxic miasma?

Yun Che's spirits suddenly lifted. His gaze swept over the boundless forest below the cliff. A moment later, he slowly began to smile.

"Jasmine, do you believe that if luck is on our side, we can leave this place today?"