Chapter 133 – Straight into the Inner Palace
“Palace Chief Qin, why have you come here?” Instructor Qi immediately rushed to escort him and solicitously asked.
Qin Wushang laughed, but did not reply, and turned his gaze to Yun Che instead. After giving him a once over, he said, “Yun Che, you just said that you wanted to challenge Murong Yi three months later, is this true? If it was something you just said without thinking through the matter, it is still not too late to take back your words now.”
In regards to Qin Wushang calling him by name, Yun Che wasn’t surprised at all. He nodded and replied, “Of course it’s real. Murong Yi has also agreed. Since Palace Chief Qin also happens to be here, I’d like to ask of you to bear witness for us. Within Blue Wind Profound Palace, I believe there is no one who has more authority than Palace Chief Qin to be a witness.”
After the other newly admitted disciples came to know of Qin Wushang’s identity as Palace Chief, most of them revealed expressions of reverence, yet Yun Che’s expression seemingly did not change. His gaze was calm and his speech was neither servile nor overbearing. “May Palace Chief Qin coincidentally bear witness for us” this sentence was spoken in an incomparably natural tone, as if he wasn’t speaking to the earth-shaking Blue Wind Imperial City’s Palace Chief, but a normal passer-by on the road. This sort of reaction made Qin Wushang feel slightly surprised. He nodded while laughing and said, “With Profound strength at the tenth level of Nascent Profound Realm, you’re challenging a ninth ranker of the True Profound Realm; it’s my first time encountering such an interesting matter in all my years at Blue Wind Profound Palace. Not bad, young man. You have courage and drive. If you are certain that you’re not playing around here, I am quite willing to be your witness.”
“Murong Yi, you’ve just agreed too. About this, do you have any other questions?” Qin Wushang asked Murong Yi.
Murong Yi laughed, but it was a very contemptuous laugh. He said respectfully, “Reporting to Palace Chief, although agreeing to a little rat’s challenge is very demeaning, but he wounded my cousin first. After Sikong Du prevented me from taking up for my cousin, he still came to me of his own accord to get abused. I have no reason not to agree. And with Palace Chief bearing witness yourself, I won’t be afraid that he’ll take back his words after he’s beaten into a sorry state!”
“Very well.” Qin Wushang nodded as he revealed a hint of a smile on his face, “It’s settled then. The appointed date will be ten o’ clock in morning three months from now, and the location will be right here. At that time, I will be here personally. Yun Che, if you lose, you won’t retaliate no matter how Murong Yi decides to punish you, and you can’t let anyone hinder him either. This is what you’ve said personally. You cannot go back on your words.”
“Of course.” Yun Che replied without any hesitation. Then, he narrowed his eyes and stared at Murong Yi, saying, “But what if I win?”
“You win? Haha…… HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Murong Yi laughed loudly and the audience also burst into raucous laughter. For a new disciple at the Nascent Profound Realm to challenge Murong Yi of the Inner Palace….. and think of winning? This was practically the biggest joke under the heavens.
Murong Yi laughed until he was rocking back and forth and was unable to catch his breath for a long while. It was only after laughing for a long time did he stutter out in the midst of his laughter, “I, lose? HAHAHAHA…. I will lose? If I…. lose, I’ll accept your punishment! Whatever you make me do, I’ll do. HAHAHAHAHA!”
“I won’t need that.” Towards his face filled with sneers, Yun Che also began laughing, “If you lose, I only need you to agree to three conditions, three conditions you definitely cannot reject, do you dare?”
“Dare! There isn’t anything I wouldn’t dare to do! Let alone three things, even if it’s thirty things or three hundred things, I still wouldn’t frown upon that.” Murong Yi shouted out straight away without any hesitation. Rather than believing that Yun Che could possibly beat him, he would rather believe that hogs could climb trees. But there was a niggling doubt in his heart; it was strange that Palace chief Qin Wushang would suddenly have interest in witnessing this sort of thing that didn’t concern him one bit. It was also totally meaningless, and was a challenge initiated by a fool.
“Very well.” Qin Wushang nodded his head again with a gentle look on his face, “All these years, Blue Wind Profound Palace has been peaceful and always conformed to norms. Many years have passed since a challenge has appeared with an entire large gap between realms. Three months can indeed change a lot. Perhaps after three months, you would really have the ability to fight against Murong Yi. Nobody knows for certain. It really makes one anticipate. Yun Che, you’re the top scorer in the Profound Strength Assessment for this group. This shows that you have good foundation. In the Combat Strength Assessment, you’ve transcended your level to beat Feng Yue. This shows that you’re stunningly gifted in your usage of profound strength, and today, you’ve challenged Murong Yi. This shows that you have a shocking amount of courage and boldness. These few attributes you’ve manifested prove that you are qualified to be an important disciple that the Profound Palace would nurture.”
“As Vice Palace Chief, I’d really like to see what you’ll bring forth to fight Murong Yi with after those three months. Murong Yi always trained within the Inner Palace, so for the sake of fairness within these three months, Yun Che, you don’t have to report in tomorrow. Within the three months time from tomorrow onwards, although you are an official disciple of my Blue Wind Profound Palace, you don’t belong in any of the three palaces, not Outer, Middle or Inner, but you can freely enter all three palaces, and you can also enjoy all the resources in the Inner Palace. Your living quarters will also be arranged to be within the Inner Palace.”
The moment Qin Wushang said these words, apart from Qin Wushang, everyone’s jaws dropped open in shock. Even Yun Che was also greatly shocked…. Allowing a disciple who had been recently admitted, who was only at the Nascent Profound Realm, to enjoy all the resources within the Inner Palace; within the history of Blue Wind Profound Palace, this was a definite first. It was something that all the disciples who were just admitted didn’t even dare to dream about.
Qin Wushang disregarded the crowd’s reactions and continued, “With this, you and Murong Yi will have the entirely same set of training circumstances, and this will be considered fair to a certain extent. Three months later, if you win, you will replace Murong Yi’s position on the Heavenly Profound Ranking, and will officially become an Inner Palace disciple. But if you lose, not only will you be chased out of the Inner Palace, you’ll also never be able to become an Inner Palace disciple thereafter, even after your strength afterwards is satisfactory. Yun Che, do you have any objections to this sort of arrangement?”
Qin Wushang’s initial words were undoubtedly an enormous grace to Yun Che but the few very last words added an extremely cruel condition. As such, some people’s dissatisfaction at Yun Che being allowed to enter the Inner Palace straight away were completely eliminated. At sixteen, Yun Che was an astonishing genius who actually defeated a Middle Palace disciple. There was a definitely possibility for him to be able to enter the Inner Palace in a few years. But if he were to enter the Inner Palace now for three months and then be defeated, even if he had the right to enter the Inner Palace a few years later, he can only feel powerless and regret his past deeds.
Yun Che glanced at Qin Wushang and nodded, “Alright, I agree.”
Yun Che understood, the sudden special treatment he received was definitely related to Qin Wuyou. At the same time, it was also definitely related to Lan Xueruo.
To let a stately Vice Palace Chief come in person for him and break traditions that had never been broken before in order to allow him to enter the Inner Palace…. Yun Che was sure that even if Qin Wuyou was Qin Wushang’s own brother, he still wouldn’t let Qin Wushang make such decisions. Then, the only explanation would be Lan Xueruo.
What exactly was Lan Xueruo’s identity and background……
“This…. Isn’t this rather inappropriate? For such a lowly person like Yun Che, what right does he have to step into the Inner Palace? It’s just like allowing a pariah to enter a lion and wolf’s den!” Murong Yi said as he knitted his eyebrows.
“Murong Yi, you have objections?” Qin Wushang shot Murong Yi an indifferent glance. His voice was as calm as usual, but it contained a force that made one’s heart beat rapidly.
Murong Yi trembled in his heart and rushed to say, “No! Your disciple doesn’t dare to question Palace Chief Qin’s decision. Your disciple was only…. only worried that the Inner Palace’s reputation would be tainted by this kid at the Nascent Profound Realm.”
“This matter is settled here. Within this three months, there must be no conflicts between the two of you. Alright, continue the assessment. Elder Qi, I’ll leave it to you to personally assess this group’s combat strength assessment. Sikong Du, take Yun Che for a walk through the Inner Palace later, and help him settle into his living quarters while you’re at it. My order will immediately be sent through a sound transmission to the Inner Palace.”
After he finished speaking, Qin Wushang looked deeply into Yun Che’s eyes and prepared to leave. Yun Che suddenly spoke, “Palace Chief Qin, this disciple has a request to make.”
Qin Wushang had just acknowledged Yun Che’s identity as a Palace disciple straight away, so Yun Che naturally felt like referring to himself as a disciple. Qin Wushang turned and replied, “What is it.”
With his gaze, Yun Che hinted at Yun Xiaofan, who had been beaten up by Feng Yue, and said, “In the strength assessment, Yun Xiaofan has yet to display his abilities. He was hurt gravely in malice by Feng Yue and is incapable of continuing his assessment. Yun Xiaofan is merely fifteen years old, but has come here all on his own from a distant place. If he has to give up on the assessment just because of this, it’ll be simply too cruel and unfair to him. So this disciple would like to request Palace Chief Qin to give him a chance to take a make up exam after his injuries have healed.”
Yun Xiaofan who was previously ashen-faced due to being grievously injured, lifted his head and gratefully looked at Yun Che as the light in his eyes violently trembled.
Qin Wushang took a look at Yun Xiaofan and nodded while smiling, “So I see. Mn, even though he is still young, he has a good foundation, and will be accomplished in future. My Blue Wind Profound Palace would also hate to lose any moldable talent. Sikong Du, later on, bring Yun Xiaofan to the Medicine Hall to treat his injuries while you’re at it. After he’s healed, Wuyou, I’ll let you assess his combat ability personally, how about that?”
Qin Wuyou chuckled, “Of course there’s no problem.”
Yun Xiaofan’s eyes were already filled with tears. As he struggled to get up, he spoke while choking back his emotions, “Thank….. Thank you, Palace Chief Qin. Thank you, Instructor Qin….. Brother Yun, thank you….”
After he said this, his consciousness relaxed and he completely passed out.
At this moment, regardless of male or female, all eyes on Yun Che held an extra portion of respect.
Qin Wuyou and Qin Wushang left. Murong Yi also left with Murong Ye after passing a disdainful look at Yun Che. Yun Che then propped Yun Xiaofan up and followed Sikong Du. After bringing Yun Xiaofan to the Medicine Hall, he then followed him towards the Inner Palace.
“I simply do not understand what you were thinking. But based on how calm you are, I just cannot relate you to an idiot.” Sikong Du said in confusion.
“There’s a phrase that goes ‘Place someone on a field of death and he will fight to live’.” Yun Che replied, “The higher the pressure, the greater the motivation.”
“Place someone on a field of death and he will fight to live? But what you’re doing is simply just rushing towards death!” Sikong Du shook his head and continued, “Do you know the disparity between Murong Yi and yourself? You have an entire realm’s worth of difference! In just three months, even if you’re a world class genius, even in the most extreme of circumstances, in three months, you will only be able to close the gap by two levels. What’s more is that in these three months, you will be training under the same conditions as Murong Yi. Not only does he have resources from the Inner Palace, he also has tremendous supplies from his clan. His improvement speed, can only be faster than yours! When the moment comes, what can you possibly bring out to fight against Murong Yi!”