Chapter 810: Blood-stained Jasmine (III)

“...Yes, the Samsara Mirror is indeed on him.” At this point, it was useless for Xuanyuan Wentian to try and conceal it any longer. He had never imagined that his meticulous plan would fall apart at the last moment, nor that the reason for its collapse would be Yun Che’s own voluntary revelation!

His heart was filled with extreme hatred... but he didn't know whether to resent Yun Che's human-defying foolishness or his own misjudgment of Yun Che's character.

“And it has been on him for over twenty years,” Xuanyuan Wentian said, his brow furrowed in resentment. “No one would have thought that twenty-three years ago, before Yun Qinghong and his wife fled back to the Illusory Demon Realm, they actually left the Samsara Mirror on Yun Che, who was just an infant at the time. When Yun Che returned to the Illusory Demon Realm and married the Little Demon Empress, she not only didn't reclaim the Samsara Mirror but instead gave it to Yun Che as part of her dowry... Now, it's on him.”

The gazes of everyone from the Four Sacred Grounds changed as they looked at Yun Che. Even Huangji Wuyu and Qu Fengyi, who had previously averted their eyes, now fixed their stares and even their auras firmly on Yun Che.

“So that's how it is, that's truly excellent,” Ye Meixie said with a faint smile. He then lifted his foot and slowly walked towards Yun Che. This movement caused the expressions of the other three Sacred Grounds to subtly change, but fortunately, Ye Meixie only took four steps before stopping again. Facing Xuanyuan Wentian, he said expressionlessly, “Sword Master Xuanyuan, I've changed my mind about how to deal with Yun Che. Setting aside his identity as a demon, he doesn't seem to have much grievance with your Heavenly Might Sword Region, but with my Sun Moon Divine Hall, he has an irreconcilable enmity! Let me take him back to the Sun Moon Divine Hall for disposal.”

“Wrong!”

Qu Fengyi, the Sea Emperor, who had been silent and rarely spoke, slowly stepped forward at this moment. His face was icy cold, and he only stopped casually when he was as close to Yun Che as Ye Meixie was. “Ye Meixie, have you forgotten whose territory this is? Since he was captured in my Sea God Hall, he should naturally be handled by my Sea God Hall. Why bother moving troops and traveling great distances to bring him to the Sword Region or Divine Hall!”

“...” Huangji Wuyu smiled without speaking, but his footsteps had already brought him silently to thirty paces behind Yun Che. His aura, ethereal as a wisp of smoke, was firmly locked onto Yun Che.

Four individuals, the Four Sacred Masters, supreme across the Profound Sky Continent, now formed a clear encirclement around Yun Che, a junior in his early twenties. Although their positions were different, their distance from Yun Che was exactly the same, as if measured... If any one of them were to make a move, the other three would react instantly.

“Hahahahaha!” Surrounded by the Four Sacred Masters, Yun Che was perhaps the first person in the history of the Profound Sky Continent, apart from Ye Mufeng, to experience this. Yet, there was not a trace of fear in his expression; instead, he laughed mockingly. “Truly worthy of being the Four Sacred Grounds! Just for a Samsara Mirror, your dignified facades instantly transformed into ugly, grasping countenances!”

The Four Sacred Masters remained unfazed. Being one or two thousand years old, they weren't about to blush because of Yun Che's taunt. Their minds were entirely focused on each other.

Xuanyuan Wentian's expression shifted repeatedly, finally settling into a grim look before suddenly easing. “Don't blame me for keeping secrets. Of course, everyone desires something like the Samsara Mirror; if it were you, you'd surely do the same as I did. However, since things have come to this, if we harm our camaraderie over a mere Samsara Mirror, wouldn't we become the laughingstock of the world?”

“What? Does Sword Master Xuanyuan have some brilliant proposal?” Ye Meixie asked, his tone unfriendly.

Xuanyuan Wentian said, his face unchanging, “How about this: since this is the Supreme Ocean Hall, we will hold Yun Che here. After acquiring the Samsara Mirror, we can then jointly study its secrets.”

Huangji Wuyu, Qu Fengyi, and Ye Meixie exchanged glances, pondered briefly, and then nodded in unison. “Then let it be so for now. However, if anyone harbors ulterior motives and attempts to monopolize the Samsara Mirror, don't blame me for disregarding our relationship!”

The four men's voices were very low, making it difficult for those nearby to hear clearly, but Yun Che, standing in the middle, heard every word. He sneered, “What a truly splendid idea. You're clearly plotting to seize someone else's possession, yet you speak with such grandiloquence and self-righteousness, as if it rightfully belongs to you. So, the four illustrious so-called Sacred Masters apparently lack even the most basic sense of... shame.”

“Hahahahaha,” Ye Meixie burst into laughter. “Go ahead and enjoy your verbal sparring; after today, you won't even have the chance to speak!”

Just as Yun Che was about to retort, he suddenly felt an aura that was incredibly familiar yet carried a hint of unfamiliarity. This aura made his heart tremble, and in an instant, all his anger, resentment, worry, and all his internal calculations and deliberations vanished without a trace.

The gloom of the entire world completely dissipated.

He no longer paid attention to Ye Meixie, turning instead to face Huangji Wuyu and Qu Fengyi, his voice becoming remarkably flat. “The Heavenly Might Sword Region caused the death of my grandfather, nearly killed my parents, and almost destroyed Xiao Yun's entire family! The Sun Moon Divine Hall also participated in this, and Ye Xinghan of the Sun Moon Divine Hall has tried to harm me multiple times; he is someone I am destined to kill in this lifetime. Therefore, I already have an irreconcilable vendetta with the Heavenly Might Sword Region and the Sun Moon Divine Hall.”

“Sacred Emperor of the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, you held Yuanba in exceptionally high regard, even willing to entrust the Heavenly Saint Divine Ark to him, so I have always held a degree of gratitude and respect for you. Sea Emperor of the Supreme Ocean Hall, your Hall has guarded the Demon Slaughtering Blood Cave for generations, which is admirable. Your permission for me to enter the Demon Slaughtering Blood Cave also instilled a certain amount of gratitude in me...”

Qu Fengyi's face was rigid and cold, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. “Yun Che, are you perhaps deluding yourself into thinking I will pardon you?”

“Pardon? Heh...” Yun Che's smile was faint and cold. “I have no enmity or grievance with your Supreme Ocean Hall. What is there for you to pardon me for? On my first day in the Sea God Hall, I saw an unrivaled and majestic Sea Emperor. Today, however, I see a merciless face revealing greed and ugliness. If anyone needs pardoning, it should be me pardoning you!”

“You seek death!” Qu Fengyi growled in anger, and the space before him distorted violently.

“No need to get angry,” Huangji Wuyu said, raising a hand and smiling faintly. “Yun Che, since you've brought the Samsara Mirror to the Profound Sky Continent, we are determined to obtain it. In the hands of you demon folk, it's merely a waste of heavenly treasure. But you don't need to worry too much. Once you hand over the Samsara Mirror and your profound energy is crippled... for Yuanba's sake, I can spare your life.”

“Is that so? Then I must thank you for your great mercy!” Yun Che said softly, his heart turning utterly cold. He no longer harbored any illusions about Huangji Wuyu and Qu Fengyi. His gaze swept over their faces, and in a voice several times colder than before, he pronounced, “Huangji Wuyu, Qu Fengyi, engrave every word, every single syllable you've spoken today, firmly into your minds!”

Earlier, he had addressed them as Sacred Emperor and Sea Emperor; now, he called them by their names.

“And Xuanyuan Wentian, Ye Meixie! I, Yun Che, am a person who repays kindness and avenges wrongs! I hope you never regret this!”

“Hahahahaha...” Ye Meixie burst into wild laughter. “A mere turtle in a jar, yet you continue to spout such wild boasts. I, Ye Meixie, have lived for nearly two thousand years and have never seen anyone so arrogant and conceited. Yun Che, in my entire life, I have never known how to write the word 'regret.' I'm very curious, by what means will you make me regret this? By relying on that master of yours called 'Old Man Seizing Heaven,' hahahaha!”

“My master is indeed not Old Man Seizing Heaven,” Yun Che said slowly. “But it seems none of you have ever managed to find out who my master is. Aren't you afraid... that my master is even more formidable than Old Man Seizing Heaven?”

“Heheheh...” Xuanyuan Wentian also began to laugh. “Yun Che, I always thought you were exceptionally cunning, but it turns out your greatest skill is laughable bluster. Although I still don't know who your master is, if we ever meet, considering that the disciple he taught brought back the Samsara Mirror, I might consider bestowing upon him... death by this Sword Master's blade.”

“Hmph, just you!?”

A cold sneer, a young girl's voice, every word piercingly cold. Just three short words, yet they struck the Four Sacred Masters like three peals of thunder in their ears. Because this voice resonated directly beside them, penetrating their very souls, yet they couldn't detect where it originated, nor could they sense even the slightest trace of the speaker's aura... It was as if it came from an invisible phantom, causing the Four Sacred Masters to react with an instantaneous, almost unprecedented feeling of chills down their spines!

“Who? Who is it!”“Who is speaking!!”

The Four Sacred Masters simultaneously roared, their profound energy surging, and their spiritual senses instantly spread outwards. Their sudden and intense reaction startled everyone nearby.

“Who's playing tricks!” Xuanyuan Wentian's spiritual sense swept across an area of several miles, but he found no unusual aura. As the supreme sword master of the Profound Sky Continent, an unparalleled figure, no one had ever escaped his spiritual sense, nor had anyone been able to “play tricks” in front of him. Yet, the sudden voice of the young girl that resonated in his ear had given him, for the first time, a sensation of his hair standing on end.

“Get out here!”

Xuanyuan Wentian let out a fierce roar, and sword qi immediately surged around him, piercing the space into a thousand holes. At this moment, all four seemed to sense something, simultaneously looking at Yun Che, and their expressions instantly froze.

Before Yun Che, a small, exquisite red figure slowly appeared... No, they saw it clearly: this red figure was distinctly stepping out of thin air, walking slowly. Her long, crimson dress swayed lightly, like fluttering petals.

With her appearance, the entire Sea God Platform fell completely silent, and everyone held their breath, as if everything in the world had been utterly locked down the moment she manifested.

She was small and delicate, appearing to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old, yet her face was beautiful beyond measure... with skin like ice and bones like jade, exquisitely perfect, making it impossible to avert one's gaze, or even believe one's own eyes.

Her beauty was not like Feng Xue'er's, which was ethereal and dreamlike, but rather a captivating, bewitching strangeness that stole souls. Clad in a red dress, even her long hair, which cascaded to her waist, was a vibrant crimson, adding a touch of mystery and allure to her extreme exoticism.

Everyone present was a top profound practitioner in the Profound Sky Continent, possessing a resilience of mind unattainable by ordinary people. They had never considered themselves to have a pedophilic tendency, but staring blankly at the red-clad girl who had emerged from the void, a raging fire ignited within their hearts and beneath their lower abdomens. Their once powerful wills were gradually nearing collapse under the surge of bestial desire... Some of those with weaker wills unconsciously stepped forward, their eyes releasing an unconcealable lewdness. At that moment, in their very souls, if they could violate this girl—so beautiful and enchanting that she drove people to madness and loss of control—they would willingly accept ruin and even sudden, violent death.

However, the instant their eyes met hers, all those desires were instantly doused, as if by the world's most bone-chillingly cold water from an icy pool, vanishing without a trace. Only profound dread and a shrinking sensation remained.

Those were red pupils... as scarlet as fresh blood.

Before seeing her, no one would have believed that a girl who appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old could possess such ultimate allure.

Nor would anyone have believed that a girl of only twelve or thirteen could evoke such piercing, soul-chilling coldness and danger.

“Jasmine, you... succeeded!?” Yun Che exclaimed, a touch of excitement in his low voice.

As Jasmine had said, the body is born from the soul. The Jasmine before him was identical to the Jasmine he knew so intimately. Outwardly, there was no difference from her soul body, which had persisted for seven years.

The only difference was that his spiritual and life connections with her were completely severed; he could no longer sense her presence or emotions.

Although he felt a slight loss and reluctance, he was mostly overjoyed that Jasmine had regained her freedom and a new life.

Not only had she succeeded, but the time taken was much shorter than anticipated.

“I arrived when the Demon Sword Convention began,” Jasmine said softly. “Because of the co-existence of the Dragon God's body and the power of the Desolate God, your life force far surpasses the mortal realm, which allowed me to reconstruct my body nearly twice as fast as I expected... Otherwise, I would have missed this particularly good show!”

With her last sentence, Jasmine's eyes narrowed, emitting a terrifying murderous aura as if from the deepest hell. She raised her hand, looking at her palm, which was even more delicate than white snow, and softly murmured, “It's been seven years... It's been a long time since I've stained my hands with blood.”