Chapter 816: Revisiting the Moon-Slaying Demon Lair

The Heavenly Sword Palace, the largest profound ark of the Heavenly Sword Villa, was several miles long.

At this moment, the profound ark was speeding back to the Heavenly Sword Villa, but the atmosphere inside was more oppressive than ever before.

"Sword Master, are your injuries alright?" a worried Sword Villa Elder asked. Three Sword Attendants were dead, and twenty-five Elders had perished, including seven of the top ten. Now, he, originally the fifth-ranked Elder, found himself the highest-ranking Elder under the Heavenly Sword Villa's Sword Master – a truly tragic and sorrowful turn of events.

Everything that had transpired on the Sea God Stage at the Supreme Ocean Palace today felt like the most absurd and terrifying nightmare.

"My injuries are not serious. From the start, she never intended to kill me; she didn't even strike a heavy blow," Xuanyuan Wentian said, pressing his left hand against his right arm. There was not a trace of relief in his voice as he spoke. Her actions were merely to ensure Yun Che would personally kill him in the future, effectively letting go of a tool that would still be useful later.

The single word "she" made all the Sword Villa Elders tremble. The fear that had never dissipated, like a demon awakened from the depths of their souls, sent shivers down their spines.

"Sword Master, that person... who exactly is she? How can such a terrifying individual exist in this world?" Xuanyuan Jue asked, utterly terrified. Before the Devil Sword Convention, he had furiously attacked, confident in his knowledge of Yun Che's "background," intending to kill him in public. Thinking back, the fact that he was still alive felt like a miraculous escape from death.

"I don't know," Xuanyuan Wentian said, shaking his head. His face was a deathly gray, completely devoid of his usual arrogance and dominance. "But she... she definitely isn't from this world!"

"Not... from this world?"

"That's not important at all." Xuanyuan Wentian frowned and looked at Xuanyuan Wendao. "Wendao, on the Sea God Stage, after she destroyed our Northern Region, she didn't continue to press me on who killed Xiao Ying in Flowing Cloud City back then... because she already knew it was you; she didn't need to ask."

"Wh-wh-what!?" Xuanyuan Wendao's face instantly went pale with shock.

"Hmph!" Xuanyuan Wentian gnashed his teeth. "When she asked, you were so scared you couldn't even stand steadily. With her terrifying cultivation level, how could she not have noticed!"

"Th-then what... what do we do... what do we do...?" Xuanyuan Wendao's body went limp with fear, his legs trembling.

"Hmph!" Xuanyuan Wentian's face darkened. "Who can you blame for all this? You can only blame yourself for being foolish and soft-hearted, arrogant and conceited, back then. When you saw that Xiao Ying was stubborn, you simply killed him off without soul-searching him or annihilating his entire family. Otherwise, there would be no Yun Che today, and no great disaster today."

"I... I..." Xuanyuan Wendao swayed precariously in terror, unable to utter a word.

"Sword Master, what happened back then cannot be entirely blamed on the Young Master," Xuanyuan Jue cautiously said. "Who could have imagined that a small figure from a tiny Flowing Cloud City would turn out to be Yun Qinghong's sworn brother? Even if it were this old man, upon hearing he had contact with Yun Qinghong, I wouldn't have believed truly useful information could be extracted from him, let alone wasted effort on soul-searching and annihilation. Besides, the Young Master is still young..."

"Enough! Stop making excuses for him." Xuanyuan Wentian's eyebrows furrowed so deeply they almost stood upright. "Wendao, after experiencing today's events, do you now understand why your father has pursued power at all costs his entire life? In this world, only with absolute power can one possess absolute authority, able to decide the fate and life or death of others at will... That person, simply because she possesses absolute power, made even me, Xuanyuan Wentian, feel like nothing but a dog that could be wantonly trampled!"

"Father, what do we do now... what do we do...? Are we... just waiting for death...?" Xuanyuan Wendao was completely at a loss. As the Young Master of the Sword Villa, he had never known what "danger" meant from birth until yesterday. Now, the most terrifying death threat in this world had suddenly fallen upon him.

"Wait for death? Why die?" Blood flowed from between Xuanyuan Wentian's fingers as he said fiercely, "Wendao, have you forgotten all my teachings since you were young? You are my son, Xuanyuan Wentian; you must live! Integrity, pride—they are all nonsense in the face of survival! Even if it means enduring all humiliation and losing all dignity, you must live, even if on your knees... because only by living can there be any possibility!"

Xuanyuan Wendao froze, then stammered, "Father, you mean..."

Xuanyuan Wentian took a deep breath. "Nineteen days from now, Princess Snow will be engaged to Yun Che... At that time, we, father and son, must personally attend, bringing the greatest gift, putting aside all pride... Regarding your killing of Xiao Ying back then, even if you have to kneel... kowtow tens of thousands of times... allow those from the Xiao family who seek revenge to humiliate and trample you like a dog... As long as it stops Yun Che from killing you, anything can be done! Anything can be endured!"

"A man's strength is not measured by how much capital he possesses, but by how much humiliation he can endure! If you can do these things, then I, your father, can confidently entrust the Heavenly Sword Villa to you immediately."

Xuanyuan Wentian's words made Xuanyuan Wendao's body tremble even more violently. He nodded, his eyes dazed. "Father, I... I understand..."

"...Jiuding, send someone to monitor Fen Juechen's movements at all times." Xuanyuan Wentian finished speaking and closed his eyes wearily.

"Yes, Sword Master," Xuanyuan Jiuding replied, his voice somber and weak.

Supreme Ocean Palace.

Returning to the Cloud Pavilion of the Supreme Elders, Yun Che carefully set Xiao Yun down. He then placed his right palm on Xiao Yun's forehead, slowly channeling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, gathered by the Great Way of the Buddha. Although Xiao Yun's soul was not severely damaged, it was greatly depleted; without assistance, he would remain unconscious for a long time. Yun Che wanted him to wake up early so he could take him back to Flowing Cloud City.

Jasmine glanced at him, then turned her face away, her back to him and to the visibly nervous Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue'er, who had entered with them.

Xia Yuanba's hands clenched and unclenched. He opened his mouth several times, unsure how to address Jasmine. After a long moment of anxious hesitation, he suddenly had an idea: although Yun Che said she was younger than him, she was, after all, Yun Che's master. This naturally made her a higher generation than Yun Che, regardless of age, and therefore a higher generation than him as well.

Xia Yuanba's mind was instantly made up. When he spoke, his voice was still filled with nervousness: "Se-Senior, this junior Xia..."

"Get out!" Jasmine said coldly, without turning her head.

Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue'er were both stunned, looking pitifully to Yun Che for help.

"Xue'er, go back to your father's place first; he must have a lot to say to you. Yuanba, please thank Senior Gu Cang on my behalf... *cough*, my master isn't quite used to seeing anyone other than me, and she might have something special to tell me," Yun Che said, rubbing his temples. Although Jasmine's personality had been quietly changing over the years, the only constant was her arrogance. Nothing on the Profound Sky Continent had ever been worthy of her regard; not just people, but even when speaking of the Dragon God's remnant soul or the Golden Crow's soul, her tone was clearly dismissive.

"Ah... alright, alright," Xia Yuanba nodded hastily. "Sister Xue'er, let's go out first."

"Mm-hmm..." Feng Xue'er obediently responded... Back on the Sea God Stage, Jasmine's aura and ruthless methods had repeatedly turned her face pale with fright.

Xia Yuanba and Feng Xue'er left, filled with nervousness. Yun Che said, his face full of resentment, "Jasmine, can't you be a little gentler? Yuanba is one thing, but what if you scare my Xue'er?"

"Hmph, their lives or deaths are none of my concern," Jasmine said dismissively.

Yun Che shrugged and looked Jasmine up and down, his eyes gleaming as he said, "Jasmine, your reconstructed body is truly identical to your previous one; there's absolutely no change at all. Hmm... oh, right, let me feel if the texture of your body is different from before."

"Scram!" Jasmine smacked Yun Che's outstretched hand away and even took two steps back, seemingly quite nervous. Then she raised an eyebrow and said with a stern face, "Because of your abnormal life force, the perfection of this new body of mine indeed exceeds expectations, and it will last longer than anticipated as well. There will be no problems for at least thirty years. As long as a complete Underworld Brahma Flower is found within these thirty years, there will be no future troubles."

"Jasmine, there's a question I want to ask you again: your strength... what level is it exactly?" Yun Che's face was serious. Remembering her earth-shattering actions on the Sea God Stage, his eyes unconsciously widened a bit. "The Heavenly Sword Villa is seventy to eighty thousand miles from here, and you actually... actually managed to..."

"That's because the space here is too fragile," Jasmine said with a hint of disdain.

"Space... too fragile?" Yun Che looked puzzled.

"This planet's spatial laws are extremely rudimentary," Jasmine explained, her voice completely calm, as if stating the most ordinary fact. "Let alone merely traversing seventy thousand miles through space, even instantly crossing a million miles through space would be effortless here. If it were in the world where I was born, the same feat would be utterly impossible with my current power."

Jasmine turned around. "To put it another way, with your current strength, you could cause large swaths of space to collapse with a single sword strike without even using your full power. But if you were in a world with highly developed spatial laws, like the one where I was born, even if your profound energy were ten times stronger, unleashing your full power wouldn't even cause a tiny ripple, let alone a spatial collapse."

Yun Che opened his mouth, stunned. At the same time, he noticed that Jasmine had said, "with my current power..."

"Then... what percentage of your peak power do you have now?"

Jasmine glanced at her snow-white, jade-like hand, then gently clenched her fist. "Less than one tenth," she stated.

"!" Yun Che gasped silently. Less than one tenth of her power was already so terrifying. How powerful would Jasmine be at her full strength? Was the world she came from full of such monsters?

"However, with my body reconstructed, my power will naturally recover quickly," Jasmine said lightly, with no hint of joy in her diamond-like eyes. "Given my current physical state, it will only take about a year for my power to fully recover."

"Then..."

Only one word escaped him. The rest of Yun Che's words caught in his throat, unable to be spoken. He wanted to ask Jasmine, now that she had a reconstructed body and no longer needed to be forcibly bound to his life, where would she go next? Would she return to the home she had left seven years ago, or...

He dared not ask.

Fearing the answer he dreaded to hear.

"Then... why did you say you needed to stay one more day at the Supreme Ocean Palace?" Yun Che asked another question, but his tone had become unnaturally stiff.

Jasmine slowly turned her gaze south, her pale moon-like eyebrows subtly furrowed. "I need to visit the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest again."

"Now that I have a reconstructed body and am no longer merely a soul form, the devil energy in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest will have no effect on me. I must go and see what kind of thing can release such high-level dark aura."