Chapter 668: Sudden Outbreak of Crisis

As night slowly fell, the Ice Cloud disciples finally dispersed, returning to their ice chambers to rest their minds, which had been strained for six months. But even though they were exhausted, they were destined to remain sleepless tonight. Yun Che's words echoed in their ears for a long time: within a few months, everyone below the Sovereign Profound Realm would reach the Monarch Profound Realm, and those in the Monarch Profound Realm would advance to the Tyrannical Profound Realm. Such words, even to the masters of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, would sound like a fantasy, or even a ridiculous joke. Yet, his resolute gaze made them involuntarily want to believe him, even though Yun Che hadn't revealed his "method."

If it could truly be achieved, then Ice Cloud Immortal Palace, even with only two thousand disciples, would become a sect positioned at an extremely high level across the entire Profound Sky Continent, almost second only to the Four Great Sacred Grounds and the Divine Phoenix Sect.

The sound transmission jade had remained silent, which slightly surprised Yun Che. The main Divine Phoenix army had suddenly gone silent, and other Divine Phoenix armies should have immediately rushed to Profound Sky Imperial City to investigate. Could it be that even the closest Divine Phoenix army was too far away to arrive before today?

No longer dwelling on it, Yun Che's gaze fell upon Ye Qingsheng, who lay unconscious at his feet, with only a faint breath remaining. He scoffed coldly, flipped his palm, and a fist-sized cluster of Golden Crow flames ignited. Even Ye Qingsheng at his peak wouldn't be able to withstand the Golden Crow flames for more than five breaths; for the current Ye Qingsheng, one breath would turn him to ashes.

"Wait!" Yun Che was about to unleash the Golden Crow flames when he was interrupted by Jasmine's voice. He quickly turned his palm back. "What is it? Does this person still have some use?"

"This person is indeed useless, but before you kill him, there's something I must remind you of," Jasmine said unhurriedly. "Both of these individuals have soul life imprints on them. Once they die, a segment of their memories from before death will be transmitted to the soul of the person who placed the imprint. Since these two are Ye Xinghan's lackeys, their memories before death will very likely be transmitted to Ye Xinghan!"

Yun Che froze, then his expression changed. Ye Qingsheng wasn't dead yet, but Ye Ziyi had already been burned to ashes by him. This meant Ye Xinghan must have already known everything that had happened. Not only would he know that Yun Che had returned alive, but he would also have a rough idea of his current power level.

Yun Che pressed his forehead hard, somewhat frantic. "You... why didn't you warn me earlier?!"

"Hmph!" Jasmine scoffed dismissively. "You acted rashly, and you blame me? If you had simply killed that old man in purple robes named Ye Ziyi, at most Ye Xinghan would know you're still alive. But if you had rashly killed Ye Qingsheng just now, don't forget, you performed Profound Vein Soul Absorption on him. If your Profound Vein Soul Absorption were exposed to Ye Xinghan, he could openly punish you as a 'demon!' At that point, you would have no choice but to obediently flee back to the Illusory Demon Realm!"

Jasmine's words secretly alarmed Yun Che. The Illusory Demon Realm was demonized in the Profound Sky Continent. If Ye Xinghan discovered his Profound Vein Soul Absorption, it wouldn't just be him; everything related to him, including the Profound Sky Imperial Family and the Ice Cloud Immortal Palace where he currently resided, would be forcibly demonized. Ye Xinghan could then, under the pretense of "exterminating demons," openly use the power of the Sun Moon Divine Hall to launch a siege!

"Before you kill him, use Profound Vein Soul Absorption to erase his soul life imprint!" Jasmine said coldly.

Yun Che extended his left arm, and his Profound Vein Soul Absorption shot out, instantly invading Ye Qingsheng's mind and soul. It cleared all imprints within him—not just the soul life imprint, but even his memories were completely wiped clean. Then, he flipped his palm, unleashed the Golden Crow flames, and in a flash, Ye Qingsheng's body was incinerated into nothingness.

Putting away his Profound Vein Soul Absorption, Yun Che's expression grew heavy. He had just told the Ice Cloud disciples that the current situation wasn't too pessimistic and that the Sun Moon Divine Hall shouldn't return anytime soon. But if Ye Xinghan knew he had returned alive, everything would be entirely different!

Three years ago on the Primordial Profound Ark, he had ruined Ye Xinghan's wicked plot to defile Feng Xue'er and had killed two of his women, Yue Ji and Mei Ji. Now, he had killed two of his guardians and ten of his lackeys.

As the young master of the Sun Moon Divine Hall, from childhood to adulthood, it was estimated that few dared to defy him even slightly. But Yun Che had done more than just offend him! Ye Xinghan must hate him to the bone. Now knowing that he was not dead, he would undoubtedly spare no effort to kill him, perhaps even losing his sanity.

"It seems there's big trouble coming here very soon," Jasmine said faintly. "If you don't want all the women here to die, you should immediately use the Primordial Profound Ark to take them as far away as possible."

"Even knowing it's the Sun Moon Divine Hall, they clearly don't want to flee," Yun Che mused. "Because if they flee, everything here will be destroyed, meaning the foundation and a thousand years of accumulation of Ice Cloud Immortal Palace will be completely lost. And if Ye Xinghan can't find me here, the next place he'll think of is Profound Sky Imperial City. At that time, Profound Sky Imperial City, which my princess wife desperately protected, wasn't breached by the Divine Phoenix army, but it would be destroyed by the Sun Moon Divine Hall because of me..."

Ye Xinghan not only knew he was alive but also clearly saw his current strength. By then, the people he brought or sent would undoubtedly be those in the Monarch Profound Realm, perhaps even several of them! Destroying Profound Sky Imperial City would be a mere flick of a finger for them.

Fleeing would never solve the problem.

"Hmph, then what?" Jasmine scoffed. "With your current strength, you're not qualified to contend with the Sun Moon Divine Hall alone! Unless you return to the Illusory Demon Realm and bring your Little Demon Empress over. With the Little Demon Empress's current strength, let alone the Sun Moon Divine Hall, even if the masters of the Four Sacred Grounds joined forces, they couldn't defeat her; at most, they could barely fight to a draw."

"Absolutely not!" Yun Che shook his head without hesitation. "Not to mention her identity and the constant threat of the Ming King. She already harbors deep hatred for the Four Great Sacred Grounds, and with her temper, if she really came here, she'd turn everything upside down! Even I wouldn't be able to control her."

"Furthermore, her power is exchanged for her lifespan!" Yun Che said with a deep frown. "If she were to use that level of power, her lifespan, which is already only three years, would definitely shorten further." Of course, there was an even more important point: returning to the Illusory Demon Realm just after coming back here, only to cling to the Little Demon Empress's leg—as a man, he simply couldn't do that!

Jasmine let out a dismissive snort. "So what? Are you going to watch them die, or die with them?"

"...I still have at least six hours to figure out how to deal with this," Yun Che said calmly.

"Six hours?"

"In Ye Qingsheng's memory, the fastest profound ark owned by the Sun Moon Divine Hall would take at least six hours to reach here!" Yun Che glanced at the sky. "Even if Ye Xinghan, in his fury, immediately piloted that profound ark here, he would still arrive after six hours. If I haven't figured out how to respond by then, I'll have no choice but to forcibly take them away with the Primordial Profound Ark."

"Speaking of which, you just said you were going to raise all their profound strength... are you planning to use the Tyrant Emperor Pellet?" Jasmine directly changed the subject. No one in this world knew Yun Che's capabilities better than Jasmine.

"Yes," Yun Che nodded. "To quickly raise their profound strength, this is the only method."

"The medicinal properties of the Tyrant Emperor Pellet are far beyond what they can refine; taking it rashly would be suicide. Are you planning to use the power of the Great Way of the Buddha to help them refine it one by one?"

"Of course, that's the only way," Yun Che said with a hint of helplessness. Two thousand Ice Cloud Immortal Palace disciples would indeed be a massive undertaking. Because the Tyrant Emperor Pellet was a treasure-grade existence even at the peak level of the Illusory Demon Realm, its medicinal power was no small matter. Even with Yun Che's current profound strength and the power of the fourth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha, refining it within others would be far from easy.

But to allow Ice Cloud Immortal Palace to make a qualitative leap in a short period and at least have the ability to protect themselves against the Sun Moon Divine Hall, this was the only method he could think of.

"You only have thirty-seven Tyrant Emperor Pellets on you right now, and there are two thousand Ice Cloud disciples here. Are you planning to go back to the Illusory Demon Realm for medicinal ingredients?"

"No need," Yun Che said with confidence. "The materials required to refine Tyrant Emperor Pellets are substances like Purgatory Rock, Demon Burning Vine, and Rakshasa Heartbreaker, which contain extremely high-level power but are volatile and difficult to control. Even the most skilled alchemists on this continent find it extremely difficult to refine the medicinal properties of even one of these ingredients; refining dozens simultaneously is nigh impossible. This is also why the Illusory Demon Royal Family can at most refine two Tyrant Emperor Pellets per century. Therefore, although these materials have extremely high energy levels, their difficulty in control means their prices are not exorbitant. At the Black Moon Merchant Guild, I can buy enough..." Yun Che's voice slightly deepened. "Anyway, I'll be making a trip to the Divine Phoenix Empire soon!"

"Two thousand Tyrant Emperor Pellets, and using the power of the Great Way of the Buddha to help them refine them one by one... you really care a great deal about this Ice Cloud Immortal Palace," Jasmine said with a light, noncommittal chuckle.

"After all, Ice Cloud Immortal Palace has shown me kindness," Yun Che said earnestly. "And I accepted the position of Palace Master upon Gong Yuxian's dying wish, so I should at least act like a Palace Master."

"Hmph..." Jasmine sneered dismissively. "It's clearly guilt towards Chu Yuechan! The only reason a great pervert like you would be so serious in this world could only be a woman!"

Jasmine's words struck Yun Che's heart and soul, making his breath hitch abruptly.

Another three years have passed... Little Fairy, where are you now?

Back then, he had entrusted the Black Moon Merchant Guild to search for Chu Yuechan across the entire continent. Now, three years later, he wondered if there had been any results.

All of Yun Che's worries were realized.

The moment Ye Ziyi died, an alert reached Ye Xinghan's mind, along with thirty breaths of his memories from before his death!

"Yun... Che..." Ye Xinghan slowly rose. He raised his hands, his splayed fingers twisted into an extremely contorted shape. His face and eyes were terrifyingly dark.

The change in his aura startled all dozens of guardians at his side. They had followed Ye Xinghan for many years and had never felt such terrifying rage and killing intent from him.

"Which profound ark did my father take to the Supreme Ocean Palace?" Ye Xinghan slowly spoke, his voice a low, devilish murmur.

Everyone was puzzled why Ye Xinghan asked this, and the Grand Guardian answered somewhat hesitantly, "It was... the Rainbow Sun Ark."

"So, the Sun Moon Sacred Ark is still in the palace!" Ye Xinghan's eyes suddenly narrowed. With new and old hatred surging, a murderous intent stronger than any he had ever felt in his life violently threatened to shatter his body. He knew he was losing his mind, but he had no intention of calming down. He turned around and said in an extremely low voice, "Immediately send for Elder Nine, Elder Eleven, Elder Fifteen, and Elder Seventeen to see me!"

"Also, I'm giving you half an hour to quickly prepare the Sun Moon Sacred Ark. I will personally make a trip to that lowly Profound Sky Continent!"