Chapter 49: Evil God's Seed · Fire (Part 1)

Yun Che's cultivation method was simple, yet also extremely harsh and dangerous.

He used the immense force of a waterfall to completely scatter his profound energy, severely damaging his vitality. Then, on the verge of exhaustion, he pushed and tore at the limits of his profound energy and physical body.

By breaking through these limits, he would make further progress.

However, a single misstep during this process would instantly result in death!

Afterward, he immersed himself in a medicinal liquid made from Devil Skull Vine. The Devil Skull Vine was highly toxic and violently stimulated his body. Even after Yun Che's consciousness became dormant, the cells on his skin surface continued to convulse, contract, and activate under the stimulation, accelerating wound healing and further pushing his physical strength to its absolute limit. As for the vine's toxicity, Yun Che possessed the Sky Poison Pearl, rendering him immune to its effects.

For the past few days, he had cultivated relentlessly in this extreme manner, like a madman oblivious to his own life.

“Hmph, if you’re so determined to cultivate like this, I certainly won’t stop you,” Jasmine said with a proud, delicate voice. “So, how long do you intend to train here?”

“Of course, until I conquer this waterfall!” Yun Che declared resolutely, a glimmer of determination in his eyes. “If I can’t even conquer a waterfall, what hope do I have of conquering my true objectives?”

“Alright, then I’ll watch how long it takes you to conquer this waterfall. Before that…” Jasmine’s small face turned away, a hint of awkwardness on her cheeks. “Go immediately and buy me a new set of clothes! That includes underwear, outerwear, shoes, and hair ties!”

“...Is that really necessary? I think this outfit looks quite nice,” Yun Che said, scrutinizing Jasmine with a serious expression.

“If you don’t go buy them, I’ll get angry,” Jasmine threatened, immediately radiating a chilling killing intent.

“Alright, I’ll go once my profound energy has recovered.”

Yun Che settled into the medicinal pool, calming his mind and senses as he felt his severely depleted profound veins gradually replenish. After a moment, he suddenly asked, “Jasmine, before you entered the Sky Poison Pearl last time, you seemed to avoid answering a question… Where exactly are you from? Are you a princess of some imperial royal family?”

Jasmine stood up, her expression calm. “I am indeed a princess, but not a royal one. As for where I come from… it’s a place you couldn’t possibly know, even if I told you. It’s very, very far from here!”

Jasmine clearly didn’t want to answer him completely. Yun Che thought for a moment, then said, “If it’s so far away, why did you come to Flowing Cloud City? Were you perhaps driven there by your pursuers?”

Jasmine’s delicate eyebrows furrowed, and she said coldly, “All those who pursued me are dead. However, I didn’t anticipate that they possessed such a ‘forbidden’ poison, which allowed them to unknowingly strike me! The reason I came to this place was to search for the five Evil God Secret Realms mentioned in the memory imprint within the Evil God’s blood. One of these secret realms was roughly located in the eastern part of the Azure Wind Empire. While I was searching, the potent poison suddenly flared up… you already know what happened afterward.”

“Five Evil God Secret Realms?” Yun Che asked, his face filled with surprise.

“The Evil God’s memory imprint states that the Profound Sky Continent was created by him. On this continent, he established five resting places. Before his demise, he left five ‘seeds’ in each of these locations. He specifically stated…” Jasmine glanced at Yun Che, “…only someone who inherits his power can find them!”

“So, only I can find them?” Yun Che immediately felt a surge of excitement. He quickly asked, “What exactly are these five ‘seeds’? Are they powerful, and how can I find them?”

“Hmph, how would I know that?!” Jasmine retorted with an air of superiority. “But since they were left by the Evil God, they surely aren’t weak. However, you should put away those frivolous thoughts for now. The Evil God’s secret realms undoubtedly exist in areas with extremely high power levels—far beyond your current reach! Only when you can look down upon the entire Azure Wind Empire should you even begin to consider them.”

Yun Che had no choice but to fall silent, shelving his thoughts as he quietly recovered his profound energy.

Seven days had passed. Xiao Kuangyun was almost certainly no longer in Green Forest Town. Yun Che took a new set of clothes from the Sky Poison Pearl, changed, and returned to Green Forest Town with a single objective: to buy Jasmine a new outfit.

However, Yun Che ultimately returned empty-handed…

This is how it unfolded:

“Jasmine, what do you think of this outfit? It looks quite nice.”

“No! I never wear purple!”

“Then, what about this one…?”

“These clothes are so crude! How could I possibly wear something so inferior?”

“...This is just a remote town. The clothes here are already the most luxurious in the entire town. It’s the same if you just make do with them…”

“I would rather wear nothing than wear clothes this crude! I don’t want any of these!”

“...Once I’ve conquered the waterfall, I’ll go to New Moon City. They definitely have better clothes there. If you don’t want anything from here, you’ll have to wait until then.”

“Hmph!”

“Or… how about some panties first?”

“You… are… asking… for… death… Do you want me to kill you right now?!”

Unbeknownst to them, four months quietly slipped by.

Red Dragon Mountain Range, Mountain Waterfall.

Winter had quietly arrived, and the waterfall’s water grew increasingly icy and bone-chilling. Yet, beneath the thundering curtain of water, a young man stood upright. Bare-chested and with eyes tightly closed, he allowed the cold, violent currents to crash against his body, his expression unwavering, as if he were an unmoving boulder. Inside him, profound energy surged desperately, resisting the water’s impact… until the very last trace was completely depleted.

Boom…

The young man’s body began to sway, then finally, unable to support himself any longer, he was slammed into the turbulent pool below.

Struggling, he climbed from the pool to the shore, gasping for breath. Yun Che then made his way to a small, recently dug pool, submerging himself in its waters. He grabbed several black herbal pills from the edge of the pool and popped them into his mouth. These were low-grade Profound Recovery Pills he had refined himself from Iron Sand Vine gathered nearby, designed to slightly accelerate profound energy recovery for a limited time.

After consuming the Profound Recovery Pills, Yun Che let out a long sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and entered a meditative state. With all fifty-four profound openings fully active, his severely depleted profound energy rapidly began to recover.

For these past few months, he had remained by the waterfall, repeatedly pushing past his limits. The Devil Skull Vine liquid prevented his body from suffering permanent damage during these intense sessions.

Jasmine watched him from a distance, silent. She had long grown accustomed to Yun Che’s reckless cultivation methods. She had initially believed he could only endure such intense training for a few days at most. Yet, to her immense astonishment, he had maintained this routine every single day for four entire months, never stopping or slacking. However, his frenzied cultivation was not without reason; whenever he felt his body was overly burdened or severely damaged, he would immediately return to the pool infused with Devil Skull Vine, allowing his injured body to slowly recover and strengthen. As time passed, the quantity of Devil Skull Vine he collected daily increased, and the concentration of the Devil Skull Vine liquid grew thicker. It became so potent that even a practitioner at the Elementary Profound Realm would instantly perish after just five or six seconds of immersion.

An hour and a half later, Yun Che opened his eyes, hopped out of the small pool, dried himself, and then ravenously devoured a roasted rabbit leg left from his previous meal.

“You lasted twenty-three seconds this time, a slight improvement from before,” Jasmine stated indifferently, her tiny arms crossed over her chest as she approached him.

“At this rate, in another month and a half, you’ll be able to break through to Elementary Profound Realm Level Five. This speed is quite good, I suppose.”

Starting from nothing, he reached Elementary Profound Level One in seven days, Level Two in one month, Level Three in two and a half months, and then, just ten days ago, broke through to Level Four. To say this speed was merely “good” would be a gross understatement. In the entire history of profound cultivation within the Azure Wind Empire, such a pace was truly unprecedented.

With all fifty-four profound openings now fully activated, coupled with his intimate knowledge of the body’s and profound veins’ structure and cultivation methods, and his relentless, round-the-clock efforts, such astonishing progress was truly no exaggeration!

Now, not only was his profound energy incomparably stronger than four months prior, but his body had also become incredibly resilient. While the enhancement of his protective profound energy contributed somewhat, the greater reason for his physical toughness was the countless impacts from the waterfall and the constant immersion in Devil Skull Vine liquid over these past few months. Although his profound energy was currently only at Elementary Profound Realm Level Four, his physical strength might even surpass that of a Level Six practitioner.

“So… when are you going to teach me profound skills?” Yun Che mumbled between bites, chewing heartily. “You’ve been calling yourself my master for four months, and you still haven’t taught me anything.”

“You clearly understand the fundamentals of profound cultivation perfectly well; there’s no need for me to teach you that,” Jasmine said, her small face stern as she assumed the demeanor of a master. “What you need to do now is consolidate your Elementary Profound Realm. Once you break through and reach the Nascent Profound Realm, I will naturally teach you profound skills.”

At this point, Jasmine’s gaze subtly shifted, and her voice dropped to a whisper: “Someone’s coming.”

“People come by every day, don’t they?” Yun Che remarked casually.

“There are five of them, and all are at the Sky Profound Realm. One of them is even a Half-step King Profound practitioner!” Jasmine’s brow furrowed slightly, her voice growing subtly grave.

“Wh—what?!” Yun Che nearly bit his tongue, gasping in disbelief.

Sky Profound Realm? How could profound practitioners of the Sky Profound Realm appear in the Red Dragon Mountain Range, right next to this small Green Forest Town? Sky Profound practitioners were figures on the same level as Chu Yueli—transcendent beings revered at the pinnacle of the Azure Wind Empire!

And a Half-step King Profound practitioner was a super-expert whose profound energy had reached the peak of Sky Profound Realm Level Ten, just half a step away from the King Profound Realm! They were ultimate beings whose strength could rival the top ten in the entire Azure Wind Empire!

Such individuals typically hailed from colossal sects and held extremely high status within them. They were rarely seen by ordinary people. So, how could five of them appear all at once in such a remote, insignificant place?