Chapter 824: Dangerous Premonition

“Why?” Yun Che asked, puzzled. “What secret is hidden there? Is it extremely dangerous?”

Jasmine’s words clearly indicated that whatever was hidden beneath the Absolute Cloud Cliff was far from ordinary.

“It’s more than just dangerous,” Jasmine stated sternly. “I cannot tell you what is hidden beneath the Absolute Cloud Cliff. Its terrifying nature is far beyond anything you can imagine.”

Yun Che was speechless.

Jasmine glanced at Yun Che, her voice softening slightly. “I haven’t told you about the source of darkness in the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, nor the secrets at the bottom of Absolute Cloud Cliff. It’s not because I don’t want to or distrust you, but rather…”

Jasmine looked up, her gaze becoming unprecedentedly solemn. “I once thought this world was just an ordinary, perhaps even a lower-tier, existence among the trillions of planets in the vast universe. Had I not known that the Heretic God’s seed had fallen here, I wouldn’t have come. But as I gradually learned about some of the hidden aspects of this world, I realized it is far from simple. Its complexity and mystery completely surpass my imagination, even shattering my understanding on several occasions.”

Yun Che was instantly stunned.

“If these secrets were ever to leak out and become known to those in the God Realm, then this world you inhabit would be plunged into endless calamity,” Jasmine said, closing her eyes. “Therefore, some things are better known only by me.”

After a brief silence, Jasmine softly added, “If I can’t even tell you, then it’s certainly impossible for anyone else to know.”

Although countless curiosities and doubts still lingered in Yun Che’s heart, Jasmine’s words—especially her last statement—left him with no further questions. His discomfort and sense of loss vanished, and he nodded solemnly. “I understand! From now on, no matter what, I will never approach the Absolute Cloud Cliff. Even if I end up there for some special reason, I will absolutely, unequivocally not attempt to investigate the secrets below… I promise, I will keep my word to you, Jasmine.”

“Good,” Jasmine murmured, a slight sense of relief in her heart. Yun Che had indeed never gone back on his promises to her, especially when he risked his life to obtain the Underworld Ghost Udumbara, enduring soul-separation agony that no ordinary person would experience even over a hundred lifetimes.

“The Azure Cloud Continent is too far. Even for me, traveling there and back takes considerable effort. And you still haven’t recovered your profound strength from your injuries, and in another ten-odd days, it’s… Hmph. As for your engagement banquet, I’ll take you to the Azure Cloud Continent after you’ve finished with all these chaotic matters. That way, you won’t be distracted by two women, overwhelmed, and wasting my effort. Hmph.”

Jasmine’s tone started off flat, but by the end, it was quite exasperated. After speaking, she put her small hands behind her back and walked away, looking indignant.

Yun Che stood dumbfounded, his mouth agape. Jasmine had always maintained a serious, cold, and aloof demeanor, seemingly detached from the world. Yet, considering recent events… it seemed every time she suddenly became indignant, it was when discussing the women around him.

“Could it be… she’s actually… jealous…?” Yun Che’s eyes glazed over as he muttered to himself.

***

A grim, shadow-shrouded place.

“Aaaargh…”“Ugh…”“Arrrgh!”

Heavy gasps were followed by a piercing roar. The entire desolate ridge trembled with the shout, countless flying profound beasts fled in terror, and at the center of the ridge, an extremely dark mist slowly ascended.

Beneath the mist, a figure stood holding a jet-black sword.

Fen Juechen was enveloped in dark mist… This mist was several times deeper and denser than before. Most terrifying was his aura, as dark as the Nine Netherworld Springs of hell.

His devil blood had awakened.

He felt his power surge wildly, and his profound energy attribute became a purer darkness. His emotions neared collapse several times during the awakening, but his incredibly tenacious willpower suppressed them.

He clutched the Heaven Smiting Divine Sword—also known as the Moon Slaughter Devil Sword—which was also shrouded in dark mist. He gasped heavily, and blood continuously dripped from his trembling arms… This was because his body had not yet been fully tempered by the awakened devil blood and was struggling to withstand the wildly surging dark profound energy.

The blood dripping from his body was a horrifying dark red, not the bright red of normal humans.

“XuanYuan Wentian…” For Fen Juechen, the physical pain, even if it intensified tenfold, was nothing compared to the exhilaration of his surging power. “The first one I’ll kill… is… you!!”

XuanYuan Wentian was the culprit responsible for the destruction of the Eternal Night Royal Family!

The devil blood’s awakening continued, and the dark mist around him surged ceaselessly, swirling above him and refusing to dissipate. Gradually, it coalesced into a grinning demonic face…

Unbeknownst to Fen Juechen, beneath the hilt of the Heaven Smiting Divine Sword, a pair of dark, narrow eyes slowly appeared, then vanished just as suddenly.

***

Over the next ten-odd days, Yun Che dedicated himself to healing. The severe injuries he sustained from his fierce battle with the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign were now fully recovered. Even his greatly overdrawn profound energy was completely restored yesterday, and nearly ninety percent of his dormant Phoenix and Golden Crow bloodlines had reawakened.

This morning, Yun Che woke early, preparing to leave the Frozen Cloud Asgard… because today was the day of his engagement to Feng Xue’er, a date brazenly set by Feng Hengkong at the Devil Sword Convention.

Yun Che did not immediately head to Divine Phoenix City. Instead, he first went to Imperial City. He had expected Cang Yue to accompany him, but she gently declined.

“My husband,” Cang Yue explained, “the monarchs of the other five nations will certainly attend in person. But while I am the Emperor of Blue Wind, I am also your primary wife. Sister Xue’er holds an incredibly esteemed position in Divine Phoenix. If I were to appear at your engagement banquet with her, the Divine Phoenix Imperial Family might feel somewhat uncomfortable. Therefore, it’s better if I don’t attend personally.”

“However, I’ve already prepared the congratulatory gift and sent someone to deliver it to the Divine Phoenix Imperial Family several days ago.” Cang Yue smiled, her brow devoid of any jealousy or reluctance, filled instead with gentle grace. “I will definitely be there for the day of your grand wedding with Sister Xue’er. And if you and Sister Xue’er are willing to choose Imperial City as the wedding venue, that would be even better.”

“Alright then.” Yun Che knew that Cang Yue’s reluctance wasn’t due to not wanting to go, nor was it solely for the Divine Phoenix Imperial Family, but rather out of consideration for Feng Xue’er’s feelings. He embraced Cang Yue and softly said, “In two or three days at most, I’ll bring Xue’er back. At that time, I’ll take both of you to the Illusory Demon Realm, and my parents will surely love you both very much.”

“Mm, I’ve also wanted to meet them, and… the Little Demon Empress you often talk about,” Cang Yue whispered with a smile in his ear.

Yun Che left the imperial palace, ascended into the air, and appeared beside Jasmine. Without turning her head, Jasmine spoke with an air of defiance, “Are you done? Let’s go then.”

With that, she gripped Yun Che’s arm with her left hand and tore open space with her right.

Instantly, Yun Che’s vision spun. Before he could react, the scene before him had completely changed. From the familiar Blue Wind Imperial City, they were now in Divine Phoenix City. Judging by the Black Moon Merchant Guild building, which reached high into the clouds, they were in the central area of Divine Phoenix City.

The speed and precision were no less impressive than the Primordial Profound Ark.

“When can I do that?” Yun Che asked, filled with envy.

“You? It’s far too early,” Jasmine said unkindly. “Simply tearing space requires immense power. As for spatial travel, the immense profound energy consumption is secondary; the core requirement is a complete mastery of spatial laws. Spatial laws are fundamentally incomparable to other elemental laws. To truly master them, it takes at least thousands, or even tens of thousands, of years of comprehension and practice.”

Yun Che cast a frustrated glance at Jasmine, his look clearly conveying… *You’re clearly younger than me!*

“Go on,” Jasmine said faintly, looking down. “Judging by the atmosphere, those ‘distinguished guests’ have probably already filled Divine Phoenix City.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

“No interest!” Jasmine scoffed, then added, “But I’ll stay in Divine Phoenix City.”

“Oh,” Yun Che replied. Given Jasmine’s temperament, she rarely bothered to meet even those close to him, let alone an engagement banquet sure to be crowded with countless guests. However, it was still early, so he wasn’t in a hurry to go to Phoenix City. After a moment’s thought, he asked, “Jasmine, there’s something I’ve always been curious about. What kind of power do you usually use? From when we first met until the Devil Sword Convention, every time you attacked… well, you instantly sliced your target. And despite such immense power, I never felt any profound energy aura.”

“Is your power not profound energy? Is it… some other, higher-level force?”

From their first encounter, when she killed people from the Xiao Sect, the Blazing Dragon, the Flood Dragon, Mu Tianbei… she always sliced her targets apart in an instant, with incredibly clean cuts. When she killed people at the Devil Sword Convention, a red line would flash, and opponents would be torn to pieces… The imposing aura was terrifying, yet there was almost no detectable profound energy fluctuation.

In contrast, whether Yun Che fought bare-handed, with profound flames, or with his heavy sword, every strike would split the earth and shatter the heavens, causing a tremendous commotion. His attacks would rupture opponents’ organs, make their blood boil, or outright obliterate them with a single sword stroke… The impact of his attacks was a world apart from Jasmine’s, as if they wielded two entirely different types of power.

“Of course it’s profound energy!” Jasmine rolled her eyes, then her gaze grew somewhat somber. “It’s just that my power isn’t meant for combat or merely harming people. Its sole purpose is killing! That’s why it’s quite unique.”

“…Killing?” Yun Che was taken aback.

“The increase in profound energy is essentially an increase in the density of profound qi within the profound veins; it can also be understood as the compression of profound qi,” Jasmine explained calmly. “Each minor realm advancement means further compression and densification of profound qi. Once compressed to a certain extent, a qualitative change occurs… which is the advancement to a major realm.”

Yun Che nodded slightly.

Jasmine raised her hand. It was small and delicate, as tender and flawless as white snow. Just looking at that tiny hand, no one could imagine that a mere wave could unleash world-destroying power. “My profound art causes my profound energy to undergo extreme compression again at the moment of release, reducing the destructive range but exponentially increasing its power.”

After speaking, Jasmine clenched her small hand in the air, and two iron blocks of the same size appeared in her palm. With a change of her gesture, one block turned into a square shape, and the other into a needle shape. She then simultaneously threw both towards a clock tower in front of them.

*Bang!**Pierce!*

The square iron piece struck and cracked the stone wall of the clock tower before falling to the ground. The needle-shaped iron piece, however, directly pierced through the stone wall and embedded itself into the wall on the opposite side.

“Both iron blocks were identical in composition and weight, and the force I threw them with was exactly the same,” Jasmine explained, retracting her delicate hand. “But the first merely shattered the stone wall, essentially wounding the target. The second, although it didn’t cause as much outward damage and made far less noise, resulted in instant death! Do you understand now? This is my Star God’s power, and it also dictates that I am destined to… have my hands stained with blood.”

“So that’s how it is!” Yun Che exclaimed, his face full of astonishment. “This way, you can unleash far greater power with the same amount of profound qi, and in many situations, significantly reduce profound energy consumption. There’s actually such a powerful and wondrous profound art! Jasmine, you once said you’d teach me your ‘Star God Arts.’ Is this the profound art you were referring to?”

Jasmine had indeed said that. At the time, Yun Che hadn’t been particularly moved, but now, his face was full of anticipation and excitement. However, Jasmine slowly shook her head in response. “Years ago, I did think that. But recently, I’ve changed my mind.”

“Why?” Yun Che raised an eyebrow. “Is it because my current cultivation level isn’t high enough to practice such an advanced profound art?”

“Not at all.” Yun Che could rapidly comprehend even extremely high-level profound arts like the ‘Great Way of the Buddha’ and the ‘Heaven Wolf Imperial God Record,’ so Jasmine naturally didn’t think he couldn’t grasp the Star God Arts. She slowly explained, “My power is focused on ‘instant annihilation.’ Even my Star God’s Broken Shadow is designed to complement ‘instant annihilation.’ Your fighting style, however, is always fierce and direct. Compared to mine, we are two completely opposing extremes, especially since you use a heavy sword as your weapon. Therefore, if I were to force you to practice my Star God Arts, it would not only be unhelpful but could very likely distort your growth.”

“Don’t forget, your original intention for pursuing profound energy was ‘protection,’ not slaughter!” Jasmine stated firmly, looking into his eyes. Deep within her gaze was a hazy, indecipherable color that Yun Che couldn’t understand.

The eagerness in Yun Che’s eyes gradually faded, and he nodded gently. “Mm, I understand.”

“You may go. Don’t call me unless it’s an emergency,” Jasmine said, turning her back and closing her eyes, no longer speaking.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Yun Che felt that Jasmine was a little off today.

Normally, even though Jasmine always tried to project a cold, aloof, and superior demeanor, it never put any pressure on Yun Che, let alone intimidated him, because he understood her personality too well.

But today, Jasmine inexplicably gave him a feeling… a feeling of “heaviness.” This feeling wasn’t clear or definable, and Jasmine’s words and actions were no different from usual… yet he inexplicably had this sensation.