Chapter 194 – The Approaching Ranking Tournament
The number one amongst Heavenly Profound Treasures!
Even in the hands of a mortal, it could slaughter Gods and smite the Heavens!
Every description pertaining to this Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword caused one to have a kind of deep heartfelt feeling. It was like a sword straight out of the legends; powerful, but like an abstract concept that should not even exist.
As another one of the Heavenly Profound Treasures, the Sky Poison Pearl’s power was something that Yun Che cannot be more clear about. With the Sky Poison Pearl by his side, the Yun Che of the past was able to rampage across the Azure Cloud Continent for seven years while exterminating countless experts stronger than himself, even though he only had slightly above average strength. Considering the fact that the core strength of the Sky Poison Pearl was not destruction, yet it was still already so frightening, the power of the highest ranked Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword must be beyond imagination.
It might be an exaggeration to say that it could slaughter Gods and smite the Heavens in the hands of an ordinary person, but the strength it could manifest was undoubtedly extreme.
“Why do you want me to find this sword?” Yun Che asked in the midst of his shock.
“Because…….” The Primordial Azure Dragon’s voice suddenly became sad: “Because my daughter is sealed within the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword! Her body and her spirit are both sealed within that sword!”
Yun Che : “Your… daughter?”
Jasmine: “… !!”
“After the demise of the gods, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword never appeared again. I wish for it to be found, yet am frightened that it may be found. Because if it is never found, my daughter will forever be sealed within that sword, suffering endless darkness and loneliness. However, if that sword is found… If the person who obtains the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword is greedy and evil, after he unseals the sword, my daughter will become that person’s tool… After all, my daughter has the pure lineage of the Dragon God!”
“Then the reason you want me to find the sword, is to…”
The Primordial Azure Dragon replied gravely: “I believe in your character. You are a trustworthy person. If that sword is in your hands, I believe that my daughter can be saved.”
Yun Che laughed self-deprecatingly, “Primordial Azure Dragon, it’s not that I want to reject your request, only … you think too highly of me. The place that you speak of, I have never heard of it, nor know where it is. According to you, that place is of the highest level, populated by people who have inherited various abilities belonging to that of True Gods for countless generations. I am only a little practitioner at the True Profound Realm. The level of the place you speak of is too far above me and is too far away. Whether I even have the capability to leave Blue Wind Empire is not yet known. There is simply no possibility for me to reach the place you speak of.”
“I understand,” the Primordial Azure Dragon said gently: “The request that I have is a difficult one, as hard as climbing the heavens. I don’t have the right to make you do this. I only hope that, if one day you step into the Realm of the Gods, you will try to look for the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. If you never step out of this continent within your lifetime, then you can forever ignore my request.”
The most important reason why the Primordial Azure Dragon made this shocking request to Yun Che was because of Jasmine’s existence. Without Jasmine, there was no way that Yun Che would have the chance to encounter that world. He might not even know about the existence of that world for the rest of his life. However, Jasmine’s life was currently attached to his and his godly abilities originated from Jasmine. It could no longer be denied that there was a possibility for Yun Che to step into that world.
Since the Primordial Azure Dragon was willing to say this much, Yun Che, naturally, could no longer say anything else. He nodded his head sincerely, and replied: “Alright, I will remember all the words you have just said. If there truly is a day when I reach that place, I will definitely try to find that sword… If I find it, I will try to find a way to break the seal and allow your daughter to see the light of day once again.”
“…Your voice is genuinely sincere and your soul does not have the slightest of tremors. It is clear I have chosen the right person. Thank you for your promise.” The Primordial Azure Dragon said in a gratified manner. “My clan of Dragon Gods had never owed favors to anyone. I will not let you do this without a reward… This residual soul of mine is attached to some remaining Dragon God blood. Opening the secret trial realm and giving you Dragon God blood has cost me dearly. This residual soul can only last three more years at most. This is also my last remaining soul. The residual souls that I left in other places have all dissipated after passing on their abilities. I want to leave everything else I have left to you, but your inherent strength is far too weak. Even with the godly strength of the Evil God and Rage God to protect your body, you still will not be able to inherit my strength.”
“I will wait for you for three years. If you can reach the Earth Profound Realm within three years, return to this place to find me. I will bequeath you the last of my ‘Dragon God Marrow’ and ‘Dragon God Soul’!”
“However, I will only wait for you for three years. After three years, everything that I am will dissipate, leaving nothing but regrets.”
Dragon God Marrow, Dragon God Soul… Regardless of what it was, as long as the two words “Dragon God” were attached to it, it must be something powerful, even if it was merely a hair that had fallen from the Dragon God’s body. Yun Che could not resist this sort of temptation: “Alright! Within three years… No! Within two years, I will reach the Earth Profound Realm! At that time, I will definitely come here to find you.”
“Haha, good… Good.”
The Primordial Azure Dragon gladly assented. Then, his azure blue eyes that were floating in midair, slowly disappeared.
The darkness surrounding Yun Che quickly dissipated and a dim light appeared. Yun Che looked at his surroundings and noticed that he had returned to the center of the Wasteland of Death, inside that dark cave.
“It is time for you to leave. Remember what I said. When you reach the Earth Profound Realm, you must definitely come back to find me. I am not doing this for your sake, but so that my daughter can have just a portion more of hope.”
“Be at ease. With such huge benefits, I won’t forget.” Yun Che replied.
“Your next plan is to return to the place you mentioned earlier?”
Yun Che looked at the cave’s exit, and felt the strength his body now contained. Clenching his fists tightly, he said seriously, “The next thing to do is obviously to make it out of the center of the Wasteland of Death alive!”
The center of the Wasteland of Death was the Sky Profound Beast territory. Further on was the Earth Profound Beast territory. When he arrived, he was under Chu Yuechan’s protection, but now he was alone. For the current Yun Che, these two areas were terrifying beyond compare, and were deadly lands that held surprises at every step.
To him, leaving the Wasteland of Death was just as difficult as the Dragon God Trial’s “test”. But this “test” did not scare Yun Che at all. His profound strength had continuously risen six levels within the last seven days, and he also needed a large number of battles to stabilize his profound strength.
“I wish you a smooth journey.”
Yun Che grinned and nodded. He bid farewell to the Primordial Azure Dragon and then head towards the cave entrance, stepping into the Wasteland of Death, where dangers abound…
Time had silently flown by. Without realizing it, the date for the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament
came closer and closer.
The Blue Wind Ranking Tournament that was previously held once every ten years, had now been compressed to once every three years. Even though the frequency of the tournament had increased, the various large sects had never considered it less important than before.
The outcome of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament decided a sect’s level. Proving one’s strength in an authoritative manner could be done by getting a good position at the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament. If a previously unknown sect has an exceptional performance in the tournament and entered the top one hundred, then it would become famous overnight. The number of people seeking to become a disciple would also become countless beyond measure.
To the sects that already stood at the apex, a good ranking was incomparably important because it would decide their position and prestige for the next three years.
And rank, was only a part of the reason why the large sects considered the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament to be important. The other reason was: Firstly, because the top ten ranking disciples would obtain prizes beyond compare, especially for the top three, for they would come from the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region of the Four Great Sacred Grounds. Those were prizes money could not buy; even Blue Wind Empire’s top sects could not come up with such treasures! Secondly, the top ten ranking sects would have the right to explore the “Heaven Basin Secret Realm”, which only opened once every three years.
All the sects considered this “Heaven Basin Secret Realm” to be of the most importance.
The only reason the frequency of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament had increased to once every three years was because the frequency that the “Heaven Basin Secret Realm” was opened, increased from every ten years, to every five years, then to every three years.
Up until now, no one knew where the “Heaven Basin Secret Realm” came from, aside from the various rumors that said it was a solitary domain opened by a super strong practitioner who had reached at least the Sovereign Profound Realm, who brought it to the Blue Wind Empire for unknown reasons. Regardless, its true origin was not important. The important point was that there were undoubtedly countless treasures hidden inside the “Heaven Basin Secret Realm”. Every disciple who entered all came back loaded with treasures. Also, even though this “Heaven Basin Secret Realm” had been opened many times, no one had ever found its boundary. Many still believed that the greatest treasure hidden within the realm to this day, had yet to be discovered.
As the date for the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament drew nearer and nearer, various top sects were intensely busy in secret preparations.
Blue Wind Profound Palace was likewise. Except, for various reasons, its preparations this time around were especially late and hurried. With only three days until the start of the tournament, many sects were already on the journey to the Heavenly Sword Villa. Whereas Blue Wind Profound Palace was still in the midst of holding a selection competition to choose the participating disciples.
In accordance to Cang Yue’s wishes, the Inner Palace Selection Competition, which should have been held a month ago, was delayed for half a month before it began.
It was only this evening that the participating disciples were finally decided. With hurried steps, Qin Wushang personally left for the Moon Embracing Palace, the place currently occupied by Cang Yue, to let her know the results of the selection competition.
“Princess, the results of the Inner Palace Selection Competition between our Inner Palace disciples are out. As expected, it just happens to be the top three on the Inner Palace’s Heavenly Profound Ranking.”
Cang Yue calmly received the list of names delivered by Qin Wushang, but Qin Wushang could feel the distress underneath her calm… and a kind of apathy, as if her heart had died. He let out a long sigh in his heart. He could only sigh. Not only did that Yun Che possess a shocking innate talent for profound strength, it seemed as if he had some kind of demonic power; to have actually let the Blue Moon Princess, who firmly rejected Fen Juecheng, fall in love with him so deeply she had willingly sunk into the dangerous condition of allowing her heart to die.
Fang Feilong, second level of the Spirit Profound Realm; Feng Bufan, third level of the Spirit Profound Realm; Fen Juechen, fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm…” Cang Yue softly read through the names on the list of names once. She asked in a somewhat absentminded manner: “So it just happens to be the top three on the Inner Palace’s Heavenly Profound Ranking. If I remember correctly, when I returned to the palace eight months ago, Fang Feilong and Feng Bufan were already twenty years old. Will they be over the age limit?”
“Regarding this point, Your Highness can be at ease. Fang Feilong and Feng Bufan are both about a month away from reaching twenty one years of age, and therefore, both are within the twenty year old age limit. I even used the Profound Assessment Stone to test the age of their bones, and it showed that both are still twenty years old.” Qin Wushang said respectfully.