Chapter 279 - The Fallen Genius

“Brother-in-law... Brother-in-law… Brother-in-law!!”

Xia Yuanba rushed forward as if he was insane, and threw himself under the Heaven’s Punishment Sword. Both of his hands smashed the platform under the Heaven’s Punishment Sword with *bang* sounds, until the skin between his thumb and index finger bursted open with blood. But the suppression of the Heaven’s Punishment Sword couldn’t be shaken in the slightest even if all the power of the whole Heavenly Sword Villa were combined together. Let alone one Xia Yuanba, even ten million Xia Yuanbas would not be able to cause the slightest bit of damage.

Everyone’s faces were filled with shock. They never would have thought that Yun Che, who defeated the core disciples of several major sects at the age of seventeen, who took first place in the ranking tournament, whose name that shook the continent, would so quickly perish in this kind of unexpected manner in front of them right after he had obtained such a extremely dazzling aura.

And the reason why he perished, was not due to an accident from the hands of the demon, but was due to trying to save a person who was not even worthy of being called “trash” in their eyes. As they sighed, they didn’t know whether to commend him for his loyalty, or to lament at his foolish behavior.

“How did it end up like this….” Qin Wushang was shocked silly. Standing there for a long time and not knowing what to do, his eyes enlarged the longer he looked on. Glory and pride were brought to Blue Wind Imperial City, but a nightmare happened so suddenly, just like that. He raised his head, and heavily gasped for air. He felt so depressed, as if his chest was about to explode. Clasping on a trace of hope, he took incomparably heavy strides towards Ling Kun, stood in front of him, and lifelessly asked: “Elder Ling, is it possible to lift the Heaven’s Punishment Sword?... Maybe Yun Che… Maybe he…”

Halfway through his sentence, Qin Wushang could no longer continue speaking due to grief. So what if they lifted the Heaven’s Punishment Sword? In that one strike from the demon, everyone could clearly see the horrible sight of Yun Che. That kind of heavy wound, let alone a person in the early levels of the Spirit Profound Realm, even a strong profound practitioner at the Sky Profound Realm would undoubtedly be dead… with no possible sliver of hope that they could be alive.

Qin Wushang’s words startled the Xia Yuanba, who was sobbing in desperation. He abruptly threw himself at Ling Kun. With a loud plop, Yuanba knelt firmly in front of Ling Kun, and grabbed his legs with his freshly bloodied hands. “Elder Ling... Elder Ling I beg you… I beg you to please be merciful and lift the Heaven’s Punishment Sword… Brother-in-law… he wouldn’t die so easily… please… please… I beg you to save Brother-in-law!!”

Xia Yuanba’s voice was hoarse and filled with desperation, letting those who heard him tremble in their hearts. Ling Kun’s face was quite unsightly, as he was ultimately the main cause of this incident. If it wasn’t because he suddenly had an idea before the ranking tournament to let the top ten sects to observe the Demon Sealing Ritual, this would not have happened. If it was Xia Yuanba who died, this incident would have been a small matter that would have been forgotten really quickly…. That’s right! No one would remember weaklings, not to mention a dead weakling. This was the true reality of the situation.

But Yun Che; he was the champion of the ranking tournament! More importantly, he was sectless, did not belong to any faction, and fought with the identity as the sole disciple that represented the Profound Palace’s Imperial Family. This achievement of his stimulated and excited countless sectless youths who dreamt of becoming a strong person. The uproar he incited by winning the tournament this time exceeded every ranking tournament. Those in Heavenly Sword Villa had no idea, but within the borders of the Blue Wind Empire, Yun Che had already caused a huge storm. Especially in the Blue Wind Imperial City; the whole city was already in a celebrative atmosphere, and were preparing to welcome Yun Che’s return. Even Blue Wind Emperor, Cang Wanhe, was glowing pink with happiness while awaiting their triumphant return every day.

Yun Che’s perfect control of the heavy sword, had even made Ling Kun feel like bringing him to Heavenly Mighty Sword Region.

But such a person, had perished just like that.

If this incident were to be leaked, the wave of terrible public opinion that it would bring along, would be no different than an enormous wave that could lift the entire Blue Wind Empire into the sky.

Ling Kun took a deep breath, and spoke with a heavy voice: “Preposterous! The suppression of the Heaven’s Punishment Sword can’t be released on a mere whim. The profound formation that I just activated required the cooperation of more than a dozen Heavenly Mighty Sword Region’s elders and it also took a long time to finish…. Sigh! Even if it was possible to release it, so what? The wound he received just now… he has to be dead. He caused it himself... you all should… just give up.”

Every word that Ling Kun said was the truth and everyone agreed. Even within the Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation, this demon was still able to release a profound strength at the level of the Emperor Profound Realm. That one attack was not something that Yun Che could possibly withstand. When they saw the injury Yun Che received under that one palm had caused their entire body to shudder all over. That type of injury, if it were inflicted on any other person, even if they had mountains of spiritual pellets and miracle herbs, it would still be impossible for them to survive that..

Even in an optimistic scenario, even if he didn’t die and had one breath of air left, he was still in the directly provoked and crazed demon’s grasp. How could he possibly still live!

Even in the most optimistic scenario possible, even if the demon decided to not kill him, and he miraculously lives... Heaven's Punishment Sword’s suppression could only be released once every twenty years. Because of the demon’s great strength, even without eating and drinking for a hundred years, he wouldn’t die. But at Yun Che’s level, one to two months was the absolute maximum. After that, he would die to hunger and thirst.

No matter what, Yun Che was bound for certain death.

“Sigh!” Qin Wushang sighed, shut his eyes, as his heart filled with grief.

Xia Yuanba stopped moving. He knelt there, frozen still, as if he suddenly died.

“Yuanba, stand up, you have to properly live on. Only with that, would you be worthy of this life that Yun Che sacrificed his to save.” Qin Wushang said dejectedly. After he finished speaking, there was no response at all from Xia Yuanba. He lowered his head, and wanted to pull Yuanba back up, but he suddenly saw two very distinct long streaks of blood on Xia Yuanba’s face.

Tears of blood!! Only when a person was in extreme grief, extreme pain, and when their spirit was on the verge of collapse, with their soul in endless lamentation, would they bleed out tears of blood!!

Qin Wushang’s heart was violently shocked. In this moment, he could understand that he had continuously underrated Yun Che and Xia Yuanba’s bond and feelings. He would not have known that when Yun Che’s profound veins were crippled, Yun Che had suffered under the extreme coldness and ridicule from others. Apart from his Grandfather and Little Aunt, only Xia Yuanba had constantly stood beside him, encouraging and comforting him, time and time again fought until bloodied against the people who mocked him. When Yun Che was young, Xia Yuanba was half of Yun Che’s mental support, and was this lifetime’s one and only true brother who he had engraved deep into his heart. As Yun Che became more powerful and brilliant, there would always be different kinds of “friends” around him. But the relationships with those kinds of friends would never ever be able to compare to the time when he was at his lowest, when everyone looked at him with contempt, when he was seen to have no future. Would never be able to compare with Xia Yuanba’s pure and authentic feelings.

That was why when Yun Che became strong, he could not stand a single instance where Xia Yuanba had been bullied. Whoever hurt Xia Yuanba, he would make the other party pay the greatest of prices. When he saw Xia Yuanba encounter a crisis, he would have no hesitation trading his own life for his… because Xia Yuanba was completely worth it for him to do so.

Qin Wushang hurriedly crouched in front of Xia Yuanba, and consolingly said: “Yuanba, are… are you okay? Sigh… if you want to cry, then loudly cry it all out. After crying, you must live well, live to prepare Yun Che’s funeral, and even more so, live to help Yun Che finish the things he had not finished…”

Qin Wushang’s comforting words had no effect on Xia Yuanba at all. He knelt there, unmoving, with a face so pale there was no shred of color. His eyes were empty without a trace of life, and the two streams bloody tears on his pale face made it incomparably chilling...

“Yuanba!” Qin Wushang loudly shouted.

This loud shout startled Xia Yuanba, as if shocking him awake from a nightmare. He suddenly screamed “ah”, stood up, and charged towards the north in a crazed manner. That lung piercing and heartbreaking scream resolutely piercing into everyone’s heart like countless needles filled with endless grief and sadness. No one stopped him. Their eyes filled with complex expressions as they watched him run out of their line of sight.

“Yuanba!!” Qin Wushang shouted. He wanted to chase, but he could not leave the unconscious Cang Yue. He sighed deeply, and his heaviness in his heart could even crush a mountain

“Villa Master Ling, please find someone to look after my disciple Yuanba.” Qin Wushang said helplessly, not willing to speak with any other person. He picked up Cang Yue, and flew towards their courtyard with a back that looked extremely lonely and desolate.

“How could this happen… How could this happen…” Ling Jie sat down on his butt, and blankly looked at the enormous Heaven's Punishment Sword as his heart instantly chaotically tangled like hemp rope.

“The heavens are truly jealous of such outstanding talent.” Ling Yun shut his eyes, and said sympathetically.

“Elder Wugou, send someone to closely follow the one called... Xia Yuanba, don’t let him get into any accidents. Furthermore, let Grandmother Jiumu go to Princess Cang Yue to check up on her. Don’t let her body and spirit get hurt. Sigh.” Ling Yuefeng finished his instructions and sighed deeply. The achievement of becoming the champion of the ranking tournament with profound strength at the True Profound Realm was unprecedented, but just like this, a peerless genius seen once in a thousand years, had fallen. There was no way that anyone would not feel regret.

“Yes.” Ling Wugou’s said in a dignified tone as he left.

“We should leave too.” Chu Yueli eyes fluctuated with a complicated expression as she took Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin, and silently left. She felt a bit a regret at Yun Che’s death, and a bit of pity. At the same time, she also felt a hint of rejoice that she should not have… because since this had happened, Xia Qingyue would be completely free of worldly bindings, and could focus on meditation in Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, until the day she takes over as the Palace Mistress, and lead Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace to stand at the very peak of Blue Wind Empire. The gargantuan favor that Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace owed to Yun Che, had also disappeared into thin air.

Most of the people were in lamentation, but there were also some people who rejoiced in other people’s misfortune. For Fen Juecheng, this result was simply a gift sent from the heavens. He laughed coldly to himself and thought: “Idiot! He gave up his life to save a piece of trash… A complete idiot! But you should still be considered lucky to have you died so cleanly. If it was up to me, don’t even think about dying so easily!”

The crowd gradually began to disperse. They could imagine the huge storm that would be stirred due to Yun Che’s sudden death within the Blue Wind Empire.

Ling Kun stood at his original spot and looked at the Heaven’s Punishment Sword. He tightly knitted his brows as he pondered: Odd! After Yun Che entered the Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation, the power he released clearly did not weaken compared to what he had before he entered… Why was he not affected by the Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation? Is it because of some special circumstance, or maybe it’s because the Heaven’s Might Soul Suppressing Formation has a loophole?

But the guy was already dead. There was no point if he continued to think about these things. With a flick of his sleeve, he became a stream of light and disappeared from the Sword Management Terrace.

……………………

“Wh… at? What did you say… What did you say!?”

When Chu Yueli told the complete incident of Yun Che’s fall to Xia Qingyue, without even hearing Xia Qingyue’s response, she had instead first heard Chu Yuechan’s trembling voice that was similar to a lotus leaf in a fierce wind.

Chu Yuechan stood up, and ice spirits around her entire body became hysterical. Chu Yueli looked at her with a confused expression. Not understanding, she asked: “Elder sister, what’s wrong? You…...”

“You said, he died… He… died...?”

In this moment, Chu Yuechan’s voice was as weak as if it had floated from the clouds. Her eyelashes, gaze, ice spirits, and entire body… shivered and trembled… Chu Yueli was shocked. She understood her sister better than anyone in this world. There was practically nothing in this world that could shake her heart. But now, her feelings were obviously out of control… and they were completely out of control! Out of all her memories, this was through and through, the first time ever. She took a few steps forward, stood in front of Chu Yuechan, and anxiously asked: “Elder sister, what happened? You… You wouldn’t have heard something wrong right? I said the person who died was Yun Che. He tried to save Xia Yuanba who came with him, and died at the hands of the demon. His corpse is also with the demon, suppressed beneath the Sword Management Terrace…”

Chu Yueli hadn’t finished speaking, but Chu Yuechan had already flew out, leaving behind an unequaled desolate freezing gust of wind.

“Elder sister!” Chu Yueli exclaimed, and hurriedly chased after her.

Shui Wushuang and Wu Xuexin looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

As for Xia Qingyue… She sat there unmoving. Her gaze was even more thoroughly stationary, without a single tint of color and focus as she looked forward. Even her breathing and heartbeat had completely stopped. In an instant, her entire person had become a lifelessly beautiful, ice statue…