Chapter 2044: Answer

The strange glow of the Abyss Crystal rapidly approached his pupils; within moments it was within arm's reach. The excitement in the black-clothed man's eyes was so intense it felt tangible.

But just then, the scene before him suddenly distorted. A massive, irresistible force, seemingly from nowhere, violently pulled him to the left.

Terrified, he had no time to react before his head hit the ground hard. The arm that had been mere inches from the Abyss Crystal a moment ago was now brutally stomped upon by a foot.

Simultaneously, he heard another person's cry of alarm. The broadsword he had wielded flew far away, and his body was dragged over at the same time. One arm from each of them lay twisted and overlapping, pinned firmly to the ground by the same foot.

In their utter horror, both men's profound energy surged, but before it could erupt, they felt as if countless mountains had crashed down upon them. Their recently lifted arms were slammed back to the ground, and their heads sank halfway into the soil, unable to rise even an inch.

With immense difficulty, they twisted their heads, their gaze tracing the long leg pinning their arms, until it barely met Yun Che's cold, condescending stare.

"You..." Their pupils constricted in disbelief. They simply could not believe that the man before them clearly only possessed a profound strength at level three of the Divine Master Realm.

"State your names and origins," Yun Che said, his voice devoid of emotion.

Neither responded, whether from unwillingness or because they were still reeling in shock.

Yun Che's lips curved downwards. Without any visible movement from him, two overlapping cracking sounds suddenly rang out, and both men's arms snapped simultaneously, accompanied by equally horrifying screams.

The screams did not evoke even a hint of emotion in Yun Che, who calmly stated, "I'll give you one more chance to answer."

The overwhelming pressure, fear, and intense pain rapidly shattered their will. The man on the right stammered frantically, "I... my name is Han Quan, and this is my junior brother Liu Jing... We are from the Overlord Sword Sect of Fuyan Realm... please... please, brother..."

"Very good," the cold voice interrupted his trembling plea of pain. "Since you're reasonably cooperative, I'll grant you a swift end. Die!"

The broadsword that had been knocked away flew into Yun Che's hand, and with a ruthless killing intent, he prepared to strike at their heads.

"Brother... Senior, spare us!" Han Quan shrieked desperately, "It was our greed that blinded us; we failed to recognize a master! Please, Senior, forgive our worthless lives!!"

Under the shadow of death, his scream almost tore his throat. The bone-chilling killing intent seemed to halt mid-air, suspended by his desperate cries.

Yun Che turned his head and asked Hua Caiqi, "Sister Qu, how should these two be dealt with?"

Yun Che's action startled Han Quan and Liu Jing, who then realized that the girl was actually in charge. Han Quan immediately disregarded everything else, twisting his neck to shout, "Fairy, spare us! Our Overlord Sword Sect is one of the three guardian sects of Fuyan Realm; we are absolutely not evildoers, we beg..."

"Absolutely not evildoers?" Yun Che scoffed, "It seems you need me to remind you of the ugly faces you made moments ago when you intended to kill and rob us."

"No, no!" Han Quan quickly roared, "As members of the Overlord Sword Sect, even when in the Mist Sea, we would never arbitrarily commit murder. Such an Abyss Crystal is truly unique; it was difficult for us to suppress our greed. As for attempting to kill, that was merely... merely a verbal threat, we would never have truly acted upon it."

Not hearing a decisive word from the girl, Han Quan's hope surged. He hastily continued, "Fairy, your divine presence is transcendent; how could your hands be stained with our foul blood? After we leave, our entire Overlord Sword Sect will surely remember your great kindness and that of this senior, and we will repay it a thousandfold in the future."

Yun Che remained still, silently watching Hua Caiqi.

Hua Caiqi briefly shifted her gaze, then quickly looked away, softly saying, "Regardless of their true intentions, they ultimately didn't harm us in the slightest. Let them go."

"But..." Yun Che frowned, then let out a seemingly helpless sigh. He abruptly withdrew his foot from their arms, and the killing intent dissipated. Turning away, he coldly ordered, "Now, get out."

The two men scrambled to their feet, their expressions dazed, still unable to believe that they had truly been let go.

"If you had only encountered me, you would already be corpses. Once you're far away, don't forget who saved your miserable lives."

The voice in their ears made their bodies tremble as if waking from a dream. Han Quan stammered, "Yes... yes! Fairy, we will never forget your life-saving kindness. If you ever have a command in the future, we will repay it with our lives."

As they spoke, they tentatively backed away. Only after retreating about ten steps did they clutch their broken arms and scurry away like frightened dogs.

Hua Caiqi opened her eyes. She looked at Yun Che, about to speak, then hesitated.

She had realized what Yun Che was doing.

"Keep this state," Yun Che said. "We shouldn't have to wait much longer."

Hua Caiqi opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing.

Indeed, they did not have to wait long. In less than fifteen minutes, a wave of intensely malevolent energy rapidly surged towards them.

Boom!

Three figures descended, shaking the Mist Sea's ground and carving a long crack that narrowly reached Yun Che's toes.

Inside the barrier, Hua Caiqi's eyelashes trembled slightly, and a lost thought whispered in her heart: *It's like this again, just as expected.*

Among the three, Han Quan and Liu Jing stood on either side, each with a broken arm hanging limply, bloodstains covering them. But gone was the humble terror from their faces when they begged for mercy; instead, they bore ferocious, savage expressions.

Standing between them was a middle-aged man in black robes. Behind him was a nine-foot greatsword, unsharpened and unglittering, yet it radiated a suffocating authority in its stillness.

Half-step Divine Extinction... Yun Che briefly glanced at the middle-aged man.

"Martial Uncle, it's them!"

"Look at that Abyss Crystal! We weren't exaggerating at all."

The middle-aged man, with a cultivation reaching half-step Divine Extinction, was undoubtedly at the pinnacle of his realm. Even so, his gaze lingered on the Abyss Crystal for several breaths. Greed, dormant for countless years, stirred like a reawakened viper, violently churning in his soul sea.

Maintaining a calm demeanor, he coldly said, "A mere level three Divine Master? And you two fell into his hands?"

"Martial Uncle, this person's cultivation is extremely bizarre," Han Quan panted. "When he fought us just now, he was clearly a level three Divine Master, but his power was probably comparable to a level eight... or even level nine Divine Master. Martial Uncle, please do not be careless."

"Comparable to an eighth-level Divine Master?" The middle-aged man directly scoffed. "You can make up such nonsense! You were probably ambushed and are too ashamed to admit it."

Han Quan and Liu Jing wanted to deny it, but then Yun Che's cold voice cut in, "Is this how your Overlord Sword Sect repays life-saving kindness?"

"Life-saving kindness? Ha ha ha ha!" Han Quan's gaze shifted, and he laughed sinisterly, "In my entire life, I've never seen fools like you, actually letting us go just like that."

"Today, I'll teach you a good lesson." He removed his hand from his broken arm, his pale face becoming even more ferocious. "You broke one of my arms; soon, I'll use this very hand to tear you apart completely! When you reach the Underworld, don't forget to thank me for the lesson I taught you today!"

The middle-aged man raised a hand, stopping Han Quan's howling. His gaze swept past Yun Che, then settled on Hua Caiqi. "Where are you two from?"

Though it was just a glance, and her face was not fully revealed, Hua Caiqi's subtle divine aura completely surpassed that of the most esteemed daughters of Realm Kings and imperial princesses he had ever seen. If he wasn't blind, he knew her origins were absolutely extraordinary.

"Hmph, never mind." Without waiting for an answer, or perhaps not daring to hear one, his tone abruptly shifted, and killing intent suddenly congealed in his eyes. "Since you know we are from the Overlord Sword Sect, death is your only path. If you must blame something, blame your own foolishness."

Knowing that their origins must be astonishing only solidified the need to silence them.

There were no rules within the Mist Sea, but there were outside it.

If one acted in the Mist Sea, they must eliminate all traces. Otherwise, if word got out, damage to one's reputation would be a minor concern; one could never know if the resulting retaliation would be a fight to the death or an absolute catastrophe.

Without any hesitation, the moment his voice fell, his palm shot out like an eagle's talon, directly gripping Yun Che. Where his fingers reached, continuous black streaks rippled through space.

A biting, sinister wind assailed him. Yun Che leaned his upper body back, his arm half-raised in the air, seemingly suppressed and unable to move.

And just as the eagle's talon was only half a foot from his chest...

Bang!!

The dull thud instantly deafened Han Quan and Liu Jing, leaving only a prolonged ringing in their ears.

Their gazes rapidly shifted from ferocity to a horror as if they had fallen into an icy abyss.

Their Martial Uncle's body, which had been lunging towards Yun Che, instantly arched violently backward. A massive bloody hole burst open in his back, scattering bone fragments everywhere.

The middle-aged man's pupils completely lost their color. In the suddenly grayscale world before his eyes, he could only vaguely discern the faint, chilling smile on Yun Che's face.

Yun Che's palm twisted, and the greatsword from the middle-aged man's back landed in his hand. A brilliant blue icy glow erupted along the blade, which then ruthlessly pierced the man's body, sending him flying far away with a massive roar until he was deeply impaled into the Mist Sea ground.

The chief elder of the Overlord Sword Sect, a powerful expert who had stepped into the half-step Divine Extinction realm, was in an instant pierced by his own beloved sword and pinned to the ground like a dead dog.

His eyes rapidly unfocused amidst his trembling, and a hoarse, shaky sound escaped his lips: "Half... god..."

With his cultivation, even if facing a demigod, he shouldn't have been in a deathly state in an instant.

But alas, possessing a cultivation of half-step Divine Extinction, how could he bother to be wary of a mere level three Divine Master?

He had used sixty percent of his power, leaving no room for error.

Yun Che, however, unleashed his full power in an instant, cutting off the man's vitality before he even had a chance to regret.

High in the air, a strange glint suddenly appeared in Hua Qingying's eyes.

One moment there was no fluctuation, the next he could erupt to such an extent.

This level of profound energy control...

Could it be...

He actually possesses a Divine Spark of over eighty percent?!

Considering his many other peculiarities, Hua Qingying was not surprised by this in the slightest.

"Ma... Ma... Martial Uncle..."

Han Quan and Liu Jing trembled like sieves, their legs shaking so much they could collapse at any moment.

A figure flickered in the corner of their eyes; Yun Che was now standing beside them, his face devoid of joy or anger, without even a hint of mockery.

In that instant, feeling as if their hearts had been bitten by venomous snakes, they let out a strange cry and collapsed onto the ground in almost identical postures.

Their faces were ashen white, their lips rapidly opening and closing, yet they couldn't utter a single sound, only the chattering of their teeth.

Yun Che glanced at Hua Caiqi but did not ask for her opinion again. Instead, he stretched out his hand, and with a flash of icy light, easily turned the two utterly terrified Divine Masters into ice sculptures... which then silently scattered, turning into endless dust, leaving no trace of blood.

Walking to the barrier, Yun Che leisurely put away the Abyss Crystal and asked, "Now, have you found the answer?"

Hua Caiqi stood up, pondered for a moment, then weakly said, "Is it... kindness?"

Yun Che smiled. "Yes, but not entirely."

Without letting Hua Caiqi ponder further, he directly stated, "The question your father gave you—what is most precious and most contemptible in the world—the answer to both is 'sentiment and righteousness'."

"Sentiment... and righteousness..." Hua Caiqi softly repeated these words, which were utterly common and simple, yet now left her somewhat bewildered.

Yun Che turned his gaze slightly and slowly said, "Kindness is a form of sentiment and righteousness. Some regard it as divine, a refreshing spring, wishing they could repay it with an ocean. Others, however... as you've seen, you offer them life-saving grace, yet they mock your foolishness and try to take your life in return."

Hua Caiqi was speechless.

"Familial love is a form of sentiment and righteousness. Some value it more than their own lives, willing to die for it a thousand times over; others... use their own flesh and blood as tools when useful, discard them like worn-out shoes when useless, and kill them like weeds when envious."

"Trust is a form of sentiment and righteousness. Some willingly commit themselves entirely for it, choosing death over betrayal; others, however, will use it as a weapon to stab them in the back."

"Then there's the sentiment between master and disciple. How many revere their master as a father, honoring them throughout their lives; yet how many deceive their master, betray their ancestors, or kill their master to achieve their path?"

"And the bond of close friendship... the bond between fellow disciples... the bond between men and women... all are like this."

Hua Caiqi listened intently. After a long pause, she softly said, "I actually understand all this, it's just..."

"You've encountered incidents like today's more than once, haven't you?" Yun Che suddenly asked.

Hua Caiqi flinched, her head lowering even further. "Yes..."

Yun Che continued, "Then, what if today, after you let them go, they brought someone back whom we couldn't handle? What do you think our fate would be? And would they be as merciful as you?"

"I know," Hua Caiqi said, closing her eyes, her voice growing softer. "But they are not Abyss Beasts; they are living people. They have parents, wives, and children, and they've only grown to this point through layers of cruel competition... Every time I encounter such a situation, I always wonder if they were truly just temporarily blinded and not genuinely evil people... then I can't bring myself to kill them."

She softly added, "My aunt often says that foolish kindness is not true kindness, but foolishness. But I..."

Taking a long breath, she opened her beautiful eyes, as if telling herself, "It's alright. My experience is still shallow; I will... grow little by little."

Yun Che, however, looked at her and shook his head with particular seriousness. "Indeed, it takes growth to go from a benevolent person who sees saving all living beings as a glory and responsibility, to one who can calmly bury tens of thousands of lives without batting an eye. But this process of growth can be very painful... perhaps more painful than you can imagine."

"But you don't need to."

"I believe your father and aunt's teachings were merely guiding you to see human nature more clearly, not to make you 'grow' into someone as cold and ruthless as me. They would surely prefer you to always maintain your current beautiful, pure heart."

Facing Hua Caiqi's astonished eyes, he spoke with what seemed like profound meaning, "Growth is the thorny path that all mortals must tread. But you, you merely need to ascend the high platform already built for you, and with increasingly clear eyes, gaze down upon all beings in the mortal world."

Hua Qingying was speechless.

She couldn't help but be astonished once more, surprised that such words could come from someone only thirty years old.