Chapter 241: Husband and Wife Battle (Part 2)

Yun Che stood with his upper body straight, his right leg bent forward, eyes closed, and hands positioned as if holding a sword. After maintaining this posture for a long time, he suddenly opened his eyes, let out a low shout, and brought his arms down in a chopping motion towards the front.

However, this series of movements was merely a sequence of actions, completely devoid of momentum or power.

"What are you doing?" Jasmine finally couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked.

Yun Che lowered his hands, let out a slight breath, and said, "Jasmine, how likely do you think I am to win against her in tomorrow's battle?"

"If it were anyone else, with the exact same profound energy and profound arts as you, then the possibility of defeating Xia Qingyue would be absolutely zero! Even at full power, they wouldn't last ten exchanges. But for you... there's a tiny, tiny possibility," Jasmine replied indifferently. "Because when you're about to lose, you always turn into a desperate madman who refuses to be defeated!"

"Hehe, thanks for the compliment." Yun Che grinned smugly.

"Compliment? That was sarcasm!" Jasmine corrected him seriously. "I can tell that you don't believe you can defeat Xia Qingyue, but you absolutely refuse to lose. So, when the time comes, I can't even predict what reckless moves you'll make. However, I must warn you, it's best not to forcefully use the Evil God's third realm. In the Dragon God Trial Grounds, you forcefully used the Evil God's second realm, and if your Great Way of the Buddha hadn't just broken through, you would have died there. You won't have such good fortune every time!"

"...It's not that I can't accept losing. If tomorrow's opponent were Ling Yun, or even Xiao Jie, I wouldn't mind losing, but only Qingyue... I absolutely cannot lose to her! This isn't just about winning or losing; it's about a man's dignity!"

"A man's dignity?"

"...This is grown-up business, children wouldn't understand." Yun Che grinned.

"Child? Hmph! What I know surpasses yours by a thousandfold!" Jasmine scoffed disdainfully. "You still haven't answered me, what were you practicing?"

"Nothing really, just trying to see if I could deduce the feeling of the Heaven Wolf's Second Sword based on the general principles of the Heaven Wolf Hell God Tome. But clearly, I was being too fanciful," Yun Che said helplessly. He had tried this form of exploration many times, each time gaining nothing.

"Jasmine, do you really have no impression at all of the Heaven Wolf's Second Sword?" Yun Che suddenly asked. Among all his current offensive profound skills, the Heaven Wolf Slash had the greatest power. And since the Heaven Wolf Slash was only the first sword of the Heaven Wolf Hell God Tome and already possessed such power, subsequent sword moves would undoubtedly have even more astonishing divine might.

"Back then, I just casually flipped through the Heaven Wolf Hell God Tome while watching my brother practice his sword, only remembering the general principles and the first sword..." As she spoke, Jasmine seemed to recall something, and after a slight pause, a series of images suddenly appeared in Yun Che's mind. In the images, a young man with a heroic posture, whose face was unclear, was wielding a heavy sword even larger than his own body. Each swing of the heavy sword caused the wind and clouds to change color and the earth to shake.

"This... is..."

"These are images from when my brother practiced his sword. Most of his heavy sword moves came from the Heaven Wolf Hell God Tome, but there are only movements, no profound arts. And I can't guarantee that I haven't misremembered or omitted anything in these images; whether you gain anything from them is up to you," Jasmine said irresponsibly.

Yun Che stopped speaking and immersed himself, silently observing the divine posture of that figure wielding the heavy sword in his mind, over and over again.

***

The next day, at the Heavenly Sword Villa's Sword Discourse Arena.

The sun had not yet risen, but the Sword Discourse Arena was already packed. Today marked the final day of this ranking tournament, and the finalists, unprecedentedly, were a boy and a girl, both only seventeen years old.

One was Yun Che, who had the lowest profound energy among all participating disciples, yet defeated opponents with far superior profound energy along the way, miraculously reaching the finals. Each of his matches carried a legendary aura. He was the first True Profound Realm participant in the history of the ranking tournament, and indeed, the first True Profound Realm participant to ever reach the finals!

The other was Xia Qingyue, who had revealed her true strength yesterday, defeating Ling Yun and astonishing the entire audience. After yesterday's battle, she had become known as the Cangfeng Empire's foremost prodigy, replacing Ling Yun as the top young talent, and was destined to become a renowned Emperor-level expert in Cangfeng in the future.

Heavenly Sword Villa, traditionally the main protagonist of these final battles, had this time become mere spectators. Ling Yuefeng arrived early but sat quietly in his seat, saying nothing. Ling Yun, who had been defeated yesterday, also appeared beside Ling Yuefeng, remaining silent as well. However, his expression was calm; at least on the surface, he didn't seem too shaken by yesterday's loss.

After all, it wasn't that he was too weak, but that his opponent was far stronger than anyone had anticipated.

Originally, there were two matches scheduled for the Sword Discourse Arena today. The first was the battle for third and fourth place, but this match ended directly with Ling Jie conceding defeat before it began. Ling Yun, who was originally expected to take first place, was now ranked third. Before the ranking tournament, there were many speculations about the top three ranks, but the only consensus was that Ling Yun would definitely be first. If it weren't for his battle with Xia Qingyue yesterday, no one would have imagined, let alone believed, such a result.

"For the final ranking battle of this tournament, Cangfeng Imperial Family's Yun Che versus Frozen Cloud Asgard's Xia Qingyue! Please ascend the Sword Discourse Arena!" Ling Wugou announced loudly from the center of the Sword Discourse Arena.

"Junior Brother Yun, you can do it!""Brother-in-law, go for it!"

Yun Che stood up and suddenly turned to the side, saying, "Yuanba, do you hope I win, or do you hope your sister wins?"

"Uh..." Xia Yuanba was stumped by the question. He scratched his head and said, "If brother-in-law wins, I'll be happy, of course. If sister wins, I'll also be happy, of course." As he spoke, Xia Yuanba's eyes shone brightly. "Whoa! A ranking tournament that I could only dream of before actually has my sister and brother-in-law competing for first place, it's just like a dream! But, if I had to choose... I still... still hope brother-in-law wins."

"Oh? Why?" Yun Che asked with a half-smile.

"Well, you see... because sister is a girl after all, and she's brother-in-law's wife, so it seems more reasonable for her to be defeated by brother-in-law," Xia Yuanba said, a little confused.

"Hahahaha." Yun Che laughed, reaching out to pat Xia Yuanba's shoulder. "Yuanba, well said! As men, it's fine to lose to others, but we absolutely, absolutely cannot lose to our own wives! Whether she's a tigress or a phoenix, you must firmly... uh, keep her beneath you!!"

Xia Yuanba blinked, then nodded blankly. Although he hadn't fully processed Yun Che's words, he somehow felt they made a lot of sense.

Yun Che's warped logic made Cang Yue smile faintly, but she didn't reproach him. Such arrogant and chauvinistic words would normally be off-putting to a woman, but coming from Yun Che, they didn't surprise or offend her at all; instead, they felt perfectly in line with his character.

Under the gaze of thousands, Yun Che walked to the center of the Sword Discourse Arena and stood opposite Xia Qingyue.

At this moment, Xia Qingyue's face was veiled, preventing him from seeing her features even from such a close distance. However, yesterday's fleeting glimpse was enough to etch her deeply into his heart. The two stood silently opposite each other. Apart from a select few in the entire arena, no one would have imagined that these two individuals, who appeared to have no possible connection, were actually a legitimate husband and wife.

Recalling their wedding procession, formal bows, and shared bed back then... At that time, she was the acknowledged prodigy of Flowing Cloud City, already taken in as a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard, while he was merely a profound-vein cripple, despised by everyone, a good-for-nothing with no future. The gap between them was like heaven and earth. But in just a few days of interaction, Yun Che had even opened a small crack in Xia Qingyue's cold heart. However, subsequent events led to their premature separation. When they met again, both their life paths and statuses had been completely overturned.

Back then, she was a heaven-favored daughter, showered with countless affections. Now, she received countless blessings from heaven, standing at a level that astonished and was unattainable for her peers.

In Xia Qingyue's eyes, that frail and weak boy who once possessed determined and deep eyes, and was somewhat audacious in front of her, had miraculously grown into a towering tree in less than two years. Back then, he could only be bullied by others, eventually being ruthlessly cast out of his home. Now, he could proudly stand on the highest level profound energy arena of the Cangfeng Empire, proclaiming his name to the peak experts of the entire empire.

As if by a wondrous twist of fate, this couple, who should have had no further connection, now stood together on this arena symbolizing the peak, with each other as their final opponent.

"Qingyue, do you know why I came to participate in this ranking tournament?" Yun Che spoke first, looking into Xia Qingyue's eyes with a slight smile.

Without waiting for Xia Qingyue to ask, Yun Che continued, "The first reason was to fulfill Senior Sister Xue Ruo's wish. I have already accomplished that. As for the second reason..."

Yun Che extended his right hand, and with a flash of grey light, the hilt of the Dragon Fault Sword was already in his grasp. The sword tip, adorned with a fierce dragon head, naturally drooped before piercing into the ground with a resounding thud. A heavy and domineering aura surged outwards like a tide.

"I'll tell you after I defeat you!"

The moment Dragon Fault appeared, without surprise, the might of this Heaven Profound Sword instantly awed the entire audience. In the Cangfeng Empire, there were seven widely known Heaven Profound weapons in total. Yet, this heavy sword was a Heaven Profound weapon no one had ever seen before!

"This aura... it's a Heaven Profound Artifact! And a high-grade one at that!"

"How can such a Heaven Profound Artifact exist in the Cangfeng Empire? Why have I never heard of it? Could it be a hidden treasure of the Cangfeng Imperial Family?"

"And it seems to be a heavy sword... A Heaven Profound heavy sword would likely be difficult for even a Heaven Profound Realm expert to wield. Can he possibly control it?"

"Heav... Heaven Profound heavy sword?" Ling Jie exclaimed in surprise, then secretly gritted his teeth. "No wonder he didn't ask me to compensate him after his Earth Profound heavy sword broke. It turns out he actually has a Heaven Profound heavy sword... This means, in yesterday's fight, he was still holding back and didn't use his full strength... Huh? Father, what's wrong? Eh? Big brother, your expression looks strange too."

Ling Yuefeng didn't reply. He quickly retrieved an ancient tome from his spatial ring, flipped to the first few pages, and after his gaze lingered for a moment, he looked up at the giant sword in Yun Che's hand and murmured, "According to the information we've gathered about Yun Che these past few days, he went to the Death God's Wilderness some time ago and only came out after five full months inside?"

"That's correct." Ling Yun nodded.

"It seems there's no mistake." Ling Yuefeng closed the tome and put it back into his spatial ring. "That sword is indeed Dragon Fault."