Chapter 2037: Old Tricks

Entrusting his divine sense to the Abyssal Dust, Yun Che’s sensory range within the Mist Sea far exceeded even Hua Qingying’s, who was at the Divine Sovereign Realm. Although he had moved far from Hua Caili, he could still vaguely sense her presence through the Abyssal Dust. Finding a large black rock, Yun Che leaned against it, surveyed the surrounding profound beasts, concealed his aura, and waited quietly. When he closed his eyes, his soul sea replayed Hua Caili's astonishing and peerless sword strike.

"That was the Heaven Sundering Sword," Lisha's voice rang out, interrupting the repeated replay of that sword strike in his mind.

Yun Che opened his eyes, surprised. "You know about it?"

In the fragmented memories from Nixuan, the man named Mosu had clearly mentioned the "Ninety-Nine Heaven Sundering Swords," which instantly made him think of the Heaven Sundering Divine Kingdom.

"It's a sword created by Moe,"

As she spoke, more vague memories became clearer. She said in a very soft and slow voice, "Heaven Asking Sword... Heaven Pacifying Sword... Heaven Controlling Sword... Heaven Sundering Sword..."

"And... the Heaven Punishing Sword." Yun Che's gaze trembled. His greatest surprise wasn't that the Heaven Sundering Divine Kingdom actually cultivated the Heaven Sundering Sword, which was created by the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor, but rather the names of these sword forms. Heaven Asking, Heaven Pacifying, Heaven Controlling, Heaven Sundering, Heaven Punishing... it was as if they were incrementally pressuring the Heavenly Dao, until they would ultimately destroy it. The Four Creation Gods each had a mission bestowed upon them by the Ancestral God. The Life Creation God was for creation and protection of life, the Order Creation God for maintaining order, and the Elemental Creation God for balancing elements. So what about the Heaven Punishing Divine Emperor? Was his assigned mission "Punishing Heaven"?

"Only Moe could master the Heaven Punishing Sword; it was a gift from the Ancestral God, the pinnacle of all sword arts in the world." Lisha continued softly, "And the Heaven Asking Sword, Heaven Pacifying Sword, Heaven Controlling Sword, and Heaven Sundering Sword were all created by Moe."

"What you just replayed in your mind was the first of the ninety-nine forms of the Heaven Sundering Sword. Its form was decent, but its essence was less than one hundredth of the original. However, there's a fundamental difference between humans and gods. To be able to master even a trace of the Heaven Sundering Sword's divine intent with a mortal body is truly remarkable."

"In that case," Yun Che tentatively asked, "Could it be that... you also know the Heaven Sundering Sword?"

After a brief silence, she replied, "Xike preferred to act alone and had few close contacts. However, Nixuan, Moe, and I were close friends and shared everything without reservation. After Moe completed the Heaven Sundering Sword, he fully imparted it to Nixuan and me. It was ostensibly to seek flaws, but truly to show off."

Moe was too straightforward, and Nixuan and Lisha knew him too well. His "little tricks" were easily seen through.

"However, I do not wield the power of slaughter, and Nixuan also disliked sword arts. We merely imprinted it in our minds but never truly studied it."

Yun Che's mouth twitched... In reality, Nixuan had not only mastered the ninety-nine forms of the Heaven Sundering Sword but had also made a bet with Moe about it. It seemed that because of this, Moe was willing to put aside his pride and entrust Mosu to Nixuan.

"Then do you still remember the sword incantations?"

"I don't remember." Lisha's reply immediately disappointed Yun Che.

But immediately, she added, "I only remembered... the first sword."

"That's enough!" Yun Che's eyes lit up again. "Tell me right away. If you recall any other sword incantations later, imprint them into my soul sea as soon as possible."

Lisha advised, "To cultivate the Heaven Sundering Sword, one needs to use the Heaven Asking Sword, Heaven Pacifying Sword, and Heaven Controlling Sword as a foundation. You haven't yet..."

"That applies to others." Yun Che impolitely interrupted the Creation God. "Besides, my goal isn't to cultivate the Heaven Sundering Sword."

...Two hours later, Hua Caili, as sensed by Yun Che, finally stood up. She had expended a great deal of energy, but her injuries were not severe. Furthermore, the medicinal pills she carried for healing and restoring profound energy were top-tier even in the Divine Kingdom. In that time, her profound energy had recovered by nearly half. Yun Che, who had been quiet for a long time, also opened his eyes at this moment. It was time to begin. The Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword emerged, striking the ground with a powerful blow, causing the earth beneath his feet to collapse and shattered rocks to scatter. The abyssal beasts wandering nearby were immediately startled by the loud sound and charged wildly with instinctive roars. Facing one abyssal beast after another approaching from different directions, Yun Che not only didn't drive them away but instead released his profound energy, allowing the beasts' destructive power to strike his body.

*Splat!* *Boom!* An abyssal beast's claw, carrying monstrous power and arguably the most terrifying destructive blade in this world, instantly carved several deep, bone-revealing gashes on Yun Che's body... Behind him, another surge of destructive power tore several blood holes into his flesh. In an instant, Yun Che was covered in wounds and dripping with blood.

"You?" Lisha let out a soft cry of surprise.

With a heavy thud, Yun Che was violently sent flying, his body tearing a long, deep trench in the ground and leaving a shockingly long trail of blood. *Boom!*

Yama Emperor activated, and the suddenly erupting profound energy violently blasted the charging abyssal beasts away. The Heaven Smiting Sword flew back into his hand. Though covered in wounds, Yun Che remained expressionless. The flaming Heaven Smiting Sword, now held back by nothing, smashed into the abyssal beasts that had gravely injured him, one after another. With every strike, the earth would crack, and bones would shatter and scatter. When everything finally quieted down, this area, once filled with only deathly silence, had transformed into a chilling inferno permeated by a thick smell of blood.

Yun Che's body was soaked in blood—half his own crimson blood, half the abyssal beasts' dark, withered blood. His entire body was covered in countless wounds that made one's heart tremble.

"This number is far from enough." Yun Che murmured softly, then his divine sense spread with the Abyssal Dust, reaching out to abyssal beasts in more distant areas. Two *ke* (approximately half an hour) later... Yun Che leaned against a broken rock, beneath him a dark pool of blood congealed from abyssal beasts. In front of and behind him were scattered remnants of abyssal beast corpses, numbering in the dozens with a single glance. The surrounding Mist Sea ground seemed to have just endured a terrifying natural disaster; as far as the eye could see, there was no intact spot. A large vermilion sword was plunged into the ground, emitting an overly striking vermilion divine glow amidst the gloom and deathly silence.

*Hiss...* Yun Che gasped sharply... The unhindered abyssal beasts were too ferocious, causing his external injuries to be somewhat worse than he had anticipated. Fortunately, his face was not severely damaged, so he wouldn't be unrecognizable.

"Repeating old tricks." Lisha softly uttered four words. Aside from her initial soft cry of surprise, she had not made another sound. She was perfectly clear about Yun Che's injuries... the external wounds were horrifying, but the internal injuries were actually very light. It was essentially the same as when he had previously sought to gain Helian Lingzhu's sympathy.

"Whether you want someone to lower their guard against you, or you want to quickly bridge the distance between you," Yun Che's face was etched with pain, but a smile spread across his lips. "There's no faster or better way than... letting her save you once."

"Are you sure she'll save you?" Lisha asked.

"Yes." Yun Che replied without hesitation, "Because I've saved her... twice."

Lisha did not question his answer. She saw clearly that Yun Che's "brave rescue" in the Qilin Abyss Realm was merely a casual act to lay a groundwork that might be useful in the future; whereas his designed rescue in the Mist Sea earlier was a genuine setup.

"Then how are you so sure she'll come here?"

Yun Che replied unhurriedly, "She just got injured and expended a lot of energy, so she definitely won't continue deeper into the Mist Sea. Instead, she'll choose to temporarily retreat to the outer regions. And when a person doesn't have a clear direction, their body's movements will subconsciously follow their senses. Just like any living creature in darkness will subconsciously move towards the direction with faint light."

"In the area in front of her, I will secretly guide the flow of Abyssal Dust, causing the dust in one direction to slowly dissipate to the sides, thereby making that direction's dust thinner than elsewhere. Although very subtle, it will be enough to interfere with her senses. Furthermore, she herself will be completely unaware of this interference."

"If it's too obvious, Hua Qingying might notice it. If it's too subtle, it won't be able to invisibly influence Hua Caili's senses."

If the distance was too great, he couldn't guide the Abyssal Dust with his divine sense; if it was too close, Hua Qingying would easily detect him. It could be said that Hua Qingying's presence increased Yun Che's pressure hundredfold when dealing with Hua Caili, making him unable to leave even the slightest trace or flaw in any aspect. His injuries, the aura circulating from his severe wounds, the distribution of abyssal beast corpses, the traces of a life-or-death struggle... he was meticulous to the extreme in all these aspects.

But... to deceive the eyes of a Sword Immortal with the body of a Divine Master. In the Abyssal World, not to mention accomplishing it, simply having such a thought had never occurred to anyone before. Lisha stopped speaking, silently pondering Yun Che's words. In the past, she was the Life Creation God, the epitome of sacred beauty and pure goodness in the world. Awakening in the current world, she slowly recovered memories and cognition from what was like a blank slate. Lisha had said that after her awakening, her soul was empty, and her past memories and cognition were not only blurred but also completely detached. When she recalled them, it was as if she was peeking into someone else's memories. Yun Che hadn't taken these words too seriously. He thought... and perhaps Lisha herself thought, that once all her memories and cognition became clear, she would revert to being the former Life Creation God. But no one knew that when her past memories and cognition were completely detached, what influenced Lisha's nascent soul the most was actually Yun Che's perception. His every action and word were almost entirely re-carving Lisha's temperament, worldview, and understanding of the world... The extent of this influence far surpassed that of those detached memory fragments. It was impossible to predict where the former Life Creation God, in this world, would be led by Yun Che, who viewed all beings of the Abyss as enemies.

Within his perception, Hua Caili was getting closer and closer to him, and her direction of travel almost perfectly overlapped with the direction he was guiding her towards. His divine sense shifted, sweeping towards the abyssal beasts in the surrounding area.

The timing of the abyssal beasts' appearance also had to be just right... At this moment, his heartstrings suddenly stirred. It seemed there was a better option than the abyssal beasts. He raised his arm, and in his palm appeared a rather large gray crystal. Abyssal Crystals were rare and invaluable treasures for profound practitioners training in the outer regions of the Mist Sea. Among Divine King abyssal beasts, it was difficult to find even one. As for powerful abyssal beasts at the Divine Master Realm, it often took over a dozen of them to yield a single Abyssal Crystal, and most of those only weighed one or two *jin* (about 0.5-1 kg). The one in Yun Che's hand, however, weighed dozens of *jin*. Obtaining Abyssal Crystals was by no means easy for a demigod profound practitioner. But for Yun Che, it was simply too easy. Because he could precisely sense which abyssal beast had an Abyssal Crystal condensed within its body. When he collected Abyssal Crystals, he only needed to gather the abyssal beasts in the surrounding area that had crystals condensed within them, then breach their bodies and take them. The abyssal beasts would not resist, nor would they die, and even their breached bodies would be quickly repaired by the Abyssal Dust. Therefore, within the Sky Poison Pearl, the Abyssal Crystals he had collected had long since piled up like mountains. Later, when he occasionally encountered naturally condensed ordinary Abyssal Crystals, he didn't even bother to glance at them. With a flick of his finger, the Abyssal Crystal lightly floated down into the middle of a colossal abyssal beast's severed body, rolling a couple of times without a speck of foul blood, quietly reflecting a strange gray light. He exhaled softly, the color quickly draining from his face, and his aura became exceptionally weak. Hua Caili's steps were very slow, and her spirit remained tense, clearly not yet fully recovered from the previous peril.

She hadn't expected that merely venturing a little deeper would suddenly become so dangerous. In her half year in the Mist Sea, the most abyssal beasts she had disturbed at once was seven. This time, however, she had been surrounded by over twenty. Had it not been for that strange man named Yun Che who saved her, she might have perished there. This was what her aunt had told her... always act within your capabilities and never rush in. Yet, it was in such a desperate situation that she actually touched a trace of Heaven Sundering Sword intent and unleashed the first form of the Heaven Sundering Sword.

At this moment, the aura from ahead subtly changed. In the air, thick with Abyssal Dust, the stench of abyssal beast blood swirled. Her beautiful eyes instantly focused into sword qi, and the Glazed Cloud Sword silently appeared in her palm. As far as her eyes could see, there were widespread bloody remnants and traces of destruction. Judging by the Abyssal Dust emanating from the abyssal beast corpses, they hadn't been dead for long. Everything indicated that an extremely fierce battle had occurred here not long ago. Hua Caili fully reined in her aura and slowly stepped forward, her gaze suddenly catching a strange vermilion glow. It was a giant, edgeless sword, slanted into the scarred ground. Hua Caili recognized it at once; this was clearly the sword Yun Che had used when he saved her earlier... its vermilion sword aura was simply too distinctive. Could it be...? Her heart tightened slightly. For a moment, she forgot to conceal her aura and instantly moved forward. As she approached the Heaven Smiting Sword, a figure slumped on the ground, covered in blood, also entered her vision.

The pale profile, marked with scars, made her breath catch. It was him... Had he... died...? Just as she stood at a loss, the vermilion giant sword suddenly hummed and flew in front of Yun Che. Yun Che, who had been stiff as if dead, suddenly opened his eyes at that moment.

His weak gaze, however, carried the sharpness of a hungry eagle... But upon seeing Hua Caili, he suddenly froze, then his expression completely relaxed, and his arm, which he had struggled to lift, fell powerlessly. A hoarse voice escaped his lips: "It's you..."

"Are you... alright?" Seeing that he was still alive, Hua Caili let out a small sigh of relief.

Yun Che didn't answer, instead letting out a weak murmur: "You... aren't... following me, are you?" In the vast Mist Sea, meeting again less than three hours apart, it was no wonder the other party had such suspicions.

Hua Caili quickly shook her head and explained, "No, no, I wanted to temporarily return to the outer fringes of the Mist Sea, and I just happened to pass through here... really, I wasn't."

Seeing her explain so earnestly, a smile appeared on Yun Che's bloodless face. "I was just joking."