The sound of a bell has taken over miles of land instantly; so loud that even the ground vibrated from it.
Hundreds of thousands of disciples appeared in the sky, holding swords in their hands, sharply glaring towards Yun Che. Their bodies released dense sword energy, enough to easily pulverize anyone weaker than them.
Despite all of this, Yun Che remained calm. In fact, he seemed to ignore everything and only focused on the young man flying in front of him with an excited smile on his face. He had long black hair neatly tied in a ponytail behind his head and very ordinary features.
"Xuanyuan Wentian, I presume?" Yun Che asked with a relaxed smile.
"That's right," Wentian replied with the same excited smile. "I never knew I would meet someone like you, Yun Che. Tell me, who are you?"
"Hm?" Yun Che raised a confused brow before inquiring. "What do you mean? I am me, Yun Che. Is there something else to ask about?"
"No, what I meant is, you are hiding your strength, am I right?" His smile not decreasing even by a little, Wentian continued. "Such strength... No Sovereign Profound Realm should have it!"
A crazed expression formed over his face as he stared at Yun Che with a focused and obsessive gaze.
"Have you touched that realm?"
"..." Yun Che had a blank expression as he stared at the borderline perverted expression of Wentian in silence. Many scenarios had run into his mind before coming here, this one was the least of those.
"Isn't he supposed to go all bonkers and shit, trying to avenge his dead comrades... or slaves? Oh well, I guess he is the only person on this star that works on a completely different mindset."
"First, stop staring at me like that; it's gay as fuck, so I might end up accidentally obliterating your existence."
"Ah, forgive me. I just got too excited." Wentian took a deep breath before once again returning his gaze to Yun Che. Though the perverted expression had vanished, the crazed look was still present in his eyes.
He still looked like someone who would nut right there and then. This honestly scared Yun Che a little... No one wanted to see an old man nutting in the sky while laughing maniacally, not him at least.
"A little better... As for your second question," The smile returned to Yun Che's face as he asked. "What if I said yes? What will you do?"
Wentian's eyes widened and his breath hitched.
For someone pursuing strength more than anything in existence, the fact that he could meet someone who had reached the heights he could only dream about was like a dream coming true.
Why did he destroy the Eternal Night Royal Family? Why did he try his best to look for the reincarnation of the prince of Eternal Night? Why did he free the devil sword instead of keeping it for himself?
Strength!
Wentian did all of this for strength. Strength that he dearly desired. To him, nothing mattered more than strength in this world.
As a victim of abuse due to his weakness when he was a child, if there was one thing that Wentian understood, then it was the fact that strength dominated everything in existence; birth, creation, death, everything, every single thing was the result of absolute strength.
This had shaped his mindset into someone who sought strength (power) more than anything in existence.
And now, hearing that Yun Che might have touched the level which he could only dream of, one could understand the happiness and joy Wentian felt at that moment.
His gaze became heated instantly, boring down on Yun Che, trying to see through his very existence as he excitedly announced.
"Didn't you say you wanted my Mighty Heavenly Sword Region?" He looked at Yun Che with a crazed look and smile. "As long as you are willing to tell me your secret, I will give it to you."
"Damn... What is he? Ugly as fuck genderbent version of Brahma Bae? Oh wait, now that I think about it... fuck! It's the generic template in this world! Qingyue, Ying'er, Xuanyin, Caiyi, Wuyao, and pretty much every other female lead... all of them are power-hungry women. So I shouldn't be surprised seeing him going bonkers knowing he can finally ascend into the divine realm... though if he were a woman, it would have been more pleasing to look at... oh well."
"It's not bad." Rubbing his chin, Yun Che smiled.
His black eyes stared at Wentian with an amused gaze, and a contemplating expression formed over his face. After a while, he spoke.
"How about this? You and everyone within the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region accept the Soul Seal, and I won't mind showing you a way to the Divine Realm, allowing you to break the boundaries of the mortal realm. Such a thing isn't hard for me to do."
"Divine Realm..." Wentian's eyes showed his extreme longing at the mention of it. His gaze returned back to Yun Che before he smiled. "I don't mind, but you will need to give me proof that what you said is not a lie."
"Oh? And how do you want me to do that? By defeating you?"
"That doesn't sound bad at all." Wentian nodded before a one-handed sword appeared in his hand, which he pointed towards Yun Che and smirked. "One move, I will try my best to block or dodge it. If you defeat me in one move, I'll accept your conditions."
It didn't matter either way.
What he wanted was strength, so the fact that he would have to serve Yun Che to achieve it didn't matter to him.
He was already nearing the end of his life, and he was running out of patience.
He didn't even know if what the devil said was true or not, would he abide by his promise or not. But now that he could see the living proof of what he desired, why would he let such a chance slip by?
Wentian would absolutely take it!
"Well, I don't want to burst your bubble, but you have already lost."
Wentian frowned, a confused look formed over his face.
"I do not understand... What does His Excellency mean?"
Yun Che's lips curled up. He raised his free hand and snapped his fingers. In the next instant, as if glass, the world cracked, with small parts of it starting to fall down, revealing a completely different scenery behind.
"That..." Wentian's eyes widened.
The moment the whole world broke, he felt a cold touch of steel over his neck. He stared at Yun Che and the claymore in his hand, whose blade now lay over his neck in silence.
"What I mean is... You have fallen into my illusion the moment you showed up."
"That was an illusion?" This was the first time he had seen an illusion as perfect and immaculate as this. Once again, Wentian could feel excitement rising in his chest.
Only people who had reached a realm beyond the Sovereign Profound Realm should be able to perform such a perfect illusion—what he thought.
"So? Willing to be my slave then?"
"I won't go back on my words." Wentian replied instantly. "You can imprint the slave seal now; I won't resist."
"You cannot either way..."
A smirk formed over Yun Che's face. This was better... many times better than what he had in his mind when he had come here.
He was a gentleman who didn't like mindless killing. If everything could be solved without a fight, then as a pacifist, Yun Che would definitely accept it.
"Yep, can't forget I'm the pacifist here."
Once the Soul Imprint was done on Wentian, his expression changed into one filled with utter respect and reverence while staring at Yun Che; there was not a single shred of unwillingness present in his gaze any longer, only respect and worship for Yun Che.
"What about them, my lord?" Wentian looked towards the disciples surrounding them with their weapons out. He was the lord of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, but even he could not impose his will over every single individual within the Sacred Ground.
Hence, even if he asked them to obediently submit their lives to Yun Che, they would not listen. That much was understood by both Wentian and Yun Che.
"Why do you sound like I'm here for blood? I am a pacifist person; I might let you know that first." Wentian stared at Yun Che with a blank gaze, not understanding what he was saying. "Ahem. Well, capture them all. And beat the shit out of them until they are closer to death. Since my wife is going to be the next ruler of this Sacred Ground, it would suit her best to imprint all of them."
"... As you wish, my lord."
Wentian turned around, and his sword appeared within his hands once more. The aura of peak Sovereign Profound Realm instantly covered miles of radius, easily overpowering the weaker disciples on the ground.
With three Sword Attendants dead, he was the only person left with peak Sovereign Profound Realm strength.
Though it would take time, Xuanyuan Wentian was absolutely sure he could make everyone submit to him easily.
It was going to be a long day for the people of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region.
...
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