Chapter 197 – Fury
Qin Wushang was shocked for a long time before reacting. He immediately checked the injuries of Feng Bufan and Fan Feilong which then, left him speechless… Both of them had their shoulder bones shattered and the meridians in their shoulders were broken. In this kind of condition, before even considering the ranking tournament, they would need a month or two to heal their bodies, and would not be able to use their profound strength during this period.
Qin Wushang secretly swallowed down a surprised gulp. The blow that Yun Che struck out was done very casually. Rather than with his full strength, not even half of his strength was used. This was enough to injure two of the powerful disciples who had occupied the top three ranks, to such an extent. With only strength of the True Profound Realm, he was actually capable of dealing blows of such shocking strength… It was simply unbelievable.
After checking both disciples for injuries, Qin Wushang sighed dotingly, “Severe shoulder bone fractures… Sigh, I’m afraid it is no longer possible for either of you to attend this tournament. Hurry over to the Medicine Hall.”
The faces of the two disciples paled upon hearing Qin Wushang’s words. The Blue Wind Ranking Tournament was the Blue Wind Empire’s most magnificent and most highly followed event, especially among the young generation. To be able to partake in this competition could be said to be one’s lifelong dream. Because the tournament gathered the most elite of the young generation, and in the future, they would become the lords overseeing the world of profound strength within the Blue Wind Empire. There were eminent sect leaders and elders that were harder to meet than one to ascend to heaven. However, even these leaders and elders all gathered for the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament.
For many young practitioners, whether they could get a good ranking was secondary. Even being able to partake in the competition once, was an immeasurably rich experience.
Feng Bufan and Fang Feilong were already almost twenty one. This would be the only chance they would ever have to attend the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament. Originally, they had been too excited to sleep all night and had already prepared early in the morning to set off. No one could imagine that a Yun Che would instantly shatter their beautiful dreams in a single moment.
“Palace Chief Qin, my injury… is not much of a burden, I can definitely continue in the ranking tournament.” Feng Bufan straightened his body, strongly resisting the sharp pain in his shoulder while doing his best to put a serene mask on his face.
“There is no need to push yourself.” Qin Wushang waved his hand, “Your shoulder is already crippled. If we of the Blue Wind Profound Palace bring a cripple to attend the ranking tournament, that will just bring ridicule upon us.”
“Palace Chief Qin! “ Fang Feilong clenched his teeth and pointed towards Yun Che: “This Yun Che… he not only ambushed us, but also used a lot of force with malicious intent! We are the disciples representing the Imperial Family in this tournament. For him to injure us so heavily like this, he simply cannot be pardoned! He crippled an arm for each person. As punishment, Palace Chief Qin, you should at least cripple both his arms and then expel him from the Blue Wind Profound Palace!”
“Enough!” Qin Wushang frowned coldly: “Whether or not it was a sneak attack, the two of you should know clearly in your hearts. If your skill is not equal to others, then you have no choice but to admit defeat. When you are comparing skills with others during the usual practice sessions, is there any shortage of heavy blows inflicted with malicious intent? If we follow what you say and punish everyone accordingly, the two of you would already have had every single bone destroyed as punishment by now. Regarding the matter of the ranking tournament, it is indeed regretful that the two of you can no longer attend. But there is no longer any way to help you in that matter. What are you still doing here? If you do not quickly go to the Medicine Hall, your arms might be crippled forever.”
Qin Wushang was clearly favoring Yun Che. You could not blame him. Regardless of the close relationship between Yun Che and Princess Cang Yue, or the shocking strength displayed by Yun Che, Qin Wushang had no reason not to favor him. Feng Bufan and Fang Feilong gave a venomous look at Yun Che at the same time, muttering some discreet sounds. After that, they covered the wounds on their shoulder and staggered off.
“Palace Chief Qin, can I represent the imperial family to participate in the ranking tournament now?”, Yun Che asked calmly after Feng Bufan and Fang Feilong left, not giving a care about their situation.
Qin Wushang laughed bitterly: “You have already injured the two of them to this extent, what other choice do I have?”
Cang Yue stood in front of Yun Che with a smiling face full of joy: “Palace Chief Qin, you have also witnessed how much stronger Junior Brother Yun is compared to the both of them. The rank that a faction obtains in the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament is based on the rank obtained by the best performing disciple, not the average rank obtained by its disciples. Having Junior Brother Yun participate will be better than the both of them combined by a hundred times!”
At this time, there was suddenly an anxious shout from the entrance of the Inner Palace.
“Let me in alright… I’m going to find a person… I’m begging you to let me in, I guarantee that I will leave immediately after meeting this person… Elder, just let me in alright….”
This voice stunned both Yun Che and Cang Yue momentarily. Yun Che immediately turned his head to look towards the direction of the main entrance of the Inner Palace : “That is Yuanba’s voice.”
Cang Yue immediately said : “Palace Chief Qin, quickly, let him in. He must have heard that Junior Brother Yun has returned, which was why he came running so excitedly.”
Qin Wushang nodded, and used a powerful and penetrating force to project his voice : “Elder Xu, let him in.”
The seal at the Inner Palace entryway disappeared. A tall muscular figure rushed over, immediately recognizing Yun Che when he was near.
“Brother-in-law!!”
Xia Yuanba emotionally roared. Completely ignoring the existence of both Cang Yue and Qin Wushang, with tears streaming, he ran over to hug Yun Che like a child, while bawling and crying: “They all said… that you had died… I just knew Brother-in-law would definately be fine… It’s too wonderful… too wonderful… Uuu… Uuuuuuu…”
Having not seen him for a while, Xia Yuanba’s already stout figure looked to be fractionally more robust than before. Yun Che slapped Xia Yuanba on the shoulder, grinned and consoled him: “It’s alright now, am I not well and alive? Your brother-in-law has the luck and skill to protect his own life. How can I lose my life so easily?”
The body of a giant and the heart of a child. Two vastly differing elements gathered in the form of Xia Yuanba. Perhaps others would think that it was awkward but for Yun Che, this was the pure and simple Xia Yuanba he was most familiar with.
Yun Che needed to spend a large amount of time before Xia Yuanba could finally calm down. For Xia Yuanba, from childhood, Yun Che had been his only playmate, close friend and brother-in-law. After leaving the Blue Wind Profound Palace, Yun Che’s various actions had even surprised him into a deeper adulation. In his heart, Yun Che held as important a place as a family member. A few months ago, news of Yun Che having died in the Wasteland of Death had almost caused him to collapse.
Yun Che unconsciously felt the level of Xia Yuanba’s profound strength. He was astonished to find out that his current level of profound strength was only at the seventh level of the Elementary Profound Realm. When they first came to the Blue Wind Profound Palace, Xia Yuanba’s profound strength had been at the sixth level of the Elementary Profound Realm. Fully eight months had passed and yet even at the most basic of profound realms, he was only able to advance a single level.
If this had been in Floating Cloud City, it would be just barely reasonable. However at Blue Wind Profound Palace, the conditions and atmosphere were many times better. There were support pellets given, various profound arts to learn. There were many experienced teachers and a mature training program. Under this kind of environment, this kind of progress was just too unacceptable.
“Junior brother Yun, somehow, the news that something had happened to you earlier had spread. After Yuanba knew about it, he had a huge crying session… At least for the sake of Yuanba, do not go to such a dangerous place in the future ever again.” Cang Yue gently said. When she thought of the evil reputation of the Wasteland of Death, even if Yun Che was safely standing in front of her, she still had a trace of lingering fear.
“Yes, yes. I will earnestly follow Senior Sister’s instructions.” Yun Che replied quickly.
Under the curious questioning of the three people, Yun Che gave them a condensed version of his experiences in the Wasteland of Death… Of course, he did not tell them about Little Fairy. Regarding the Dragon God Trial, he only said that he had undergone a strange encounter. Unwittingly, an hour passed by, but Fen Juechen still had not appeared.
“That’s strange… logically speaking, the reason Fen Juechen is training so hard is so that at the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament, he can face Fen Juebi to wipe out his shame. How could he be late on purpose… Could it be that he had forgotten about the time at the Profound Gathering Tower?”
The more that Qin Wushang thought about it, the more that he felt it was a possibility. He turned his gaze towards the Profound Gathering Tower, and said to Xia Yuanba: “Yuanba, go check if Fen Juechen is in the number one profound chamber in the Profound Gathering Tower. The number one profound chamber is on the right hand side of the second floor of the Profound Gathering Tower.”
“Profound Gathering Tower… I… I go?” Xia Yuanba gestured at himself. At first, he was shocked and could not control his excitement. After all, the Profound Gathering Tower was a place that only disciples of the Inner Palace had the right to enter. It was said that cultivation in that place would produce twice the results with half the effort. The disciples of the Outer Palace and Middle Palace could only look at it dully without daring to hope that they could ever enter. Also, Fen Juechen was ranked number one in the Inner Palace, and even the entire Blue Wind Profound Palace. Many disciples who were at a lower level than the Inner Palace had only heard of his reputation but had never seen him. They all treated him with a mixture of curiosity and yearning, but had never seen him before.
“Nn, Yuanba, you go. The aura in the Profound Gathering Tower is very special. You might even benefit a bit from within.” Yun Che said accordingly, “However, if Fen Juechen is really within, you should be careful when approaching him. That person probably does not have a good temper.”
“Alright, I understand.” Xia Yuanba excitedly ran like a kid towards the tower that he could previously only view from afar.
Qin Wushang had guessed correctly. Fen Juechen had indeed forgotten the time during his final preparations for the ranking tournament. In a while, Xia Yuanba had returned, but he was not alone. A youth of about seventeen or eighteen years of age, dressed in black, with a face as hard as a knife walked in front of Xia Yuanba. His gaze was as still a pool of water with no ripples. He walked slow and steady steps, with a clear up and down rhythm and a natural bone-deep arrogance.
Fen Juechen!
Fen Juechen walked over. His gaze lingered at Qin Wushang, Cang Yue and Yun Che for only an instant, not bothering to give them a second look. He stopped in front of the largest Giant Snow Eagle, and coldly said, “Go!”
Even setting aside the fact that he made Qin Wushang, who had the status of Vice Palace Chief, and Princess Cang Yue, who belonged to the imperial family, wait for him for such a long period of time and yet neither apologized or explained himself, he simply had no courtesy. Just a single word “Go”, was issued as if it was an order. As if he was the most important person under the heavens. Other than himself, there was no one worth paying attention to.
Yun Che gave Fen Juechen a single glance before turning to look at Xia Yuanba. He was about to say something but then, a crease appeared on his forehead, because the way that Xia Yuanba was walking was clearly unnatural. His right leg kept limping, as if it had suffered a grievous wound. When walking, his right arm moved in an unnatural rhythm… Xia Yuanba had already worked hard to pretend that nothing had happened, but how he could not hide from Yun Che’s eyes?
Yun Che quickly walked up to support Xia Yuanba and asked: “Yuanba, what happened to you? Did you suffer an injury ?”
“No… I did not.” Yun Che’s questioning caused Xia Yuanba to show a bit of panic. He quickly denied: “I just… when I was walking down the stairs in the Profound Gathering Tower, I was careless and so I slipped and fell.”
“With your physique, even if you fell down the stairs ten times, it still wouldn’t be like this. What really happened? Was it an inner palace disciple who maliciously hurt you?” Yun Che’s brows slanted into two sword slits : “Tell me honestly! With me around… no one can bully you! Regardless of who it is, I will make him pay the price.”
“Really… it’s really alright.” Xia Yuanba continuously denied, and just then, a cold voice filled with deep disdain drifted over: “This useless thing who is only of the Elementary Profound Realm actually dared to walk in front of me, so I carved a memory into him… What kind of price are you preparing to make me pay?”
Yun Che turned around, and his gaze fell upon Fen Juechen. His eyes narrowed and the light in his eyes grew ice cold.
“Was it you who injured Yuanba? Very good… Immediately apologize to Yuanba and then slap yourself on the face three times. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you will never participate in the ranking tournament in this lifetime!”