Chapter 1051 - Huo Ye
Huo Poyun glanced at Yun Che and said in surprise and bewilderment, “Brother Yun, could it be that... you don’t feel any sort of discomfort?”
“I’m still alright.”
Even those disciples of the Flame God Realm who have just entered the divine way would not be able to withstand the aura and temperature of this place for long. Yun Che not only seemed in a much better condition than simply “still alright,” his face looked the same as usual and his breathing was calm as well. He didn’t even employ his protective profound energy to protect his body.
When he recalled how Yun Che could totally avoid being influenced by his Nine Suns Heaven’s Fury, his heart calmed down in understanding. “Such a miraculous thing could only be created by the power of an ancient True God. It’s really difficult to... imagine the extent of the amazing power that was possessed by a True God.”
“Master and the others firmly believe that there definitely is something left behind by an ancient True God at the bottom of the God Burying Inferno Prison. If we’re able to discover it, the status of our Flame God Realm can upgrade by a level. However...” Huo Poyun shook his head. “There’s no way ordinary beings could control something that was left by a True God. In fact, Master and the others already know that it’s no more than an extravagant and unattainable hope to obtain something at the bottom of this Inferno Prison, unless the flames of God Burying Inferno Prison die out some day. It’s just that such a thing...”
Huo Poyun didn’t speak any further, as it was obvious what he wanted to say.
Yun Che remained silent for a while. He thought back to the ice phoenix at the bottom of the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake.
It was actually the remnant body of an ancient ice phoenix!
If such a matter were to be spread around, it would greatly shock the entire God Realm.
This God Burying Inferno Prison is tens of thousands of times greater than the Heavenly Netherfrost Lake, so it naturally contains far more energy than the latter. What could be hidden at the bottom of such a vast creation...?
Is some great opportunity that can help my profound strength soar to a new height lying in there!?
Yun Che slowly clenched his hands into fists... Alright, I certainly need to look for the opportunity to enter the depths of the God Burying Inferno Prison! With my physique that can resist all kinds of fires, reaching the bottom is no problem at all.
However, first of all, he had to make sure not to draw too much attention from the people of the Flame God Realm due to it, secondly... according to what Huo Poyun had told him, the location of that hidden thing should be close to the lair of the ancient horned dragon. Given the might of the ancient horned dragon and the fact that its aura was blended with the God Burying Inferno Prison, the spirit sense of the horned dragon must extend to a vast area when inside the God Burying Inferno Prison. If he were to rashly sneak around and get detected by any chance... no amount of lives would be able to help him survive through the catastrophe.
So, the best time to carry out my plan... is when the ancient horned dragon surfaces out of the Inferno Prison and is engaged in battle with Master!
At that time, the attention of everyone from the Flame God Realm would be focused on the horned dragon hunting. Therefore, no one would care about his whereabouts and he would also not have to face the danger of coming across the ancient horned dragon.
“Brother Yun, what are you thinking?” Seeing Yun Che lost in thought, Huo Poyun asked casually.
Yun Che also replied in quite a casual manner, “I’m thinking that this ancient horned dragon is somewhat pitiful. He never did anything bad nor come out of the God Burying Inferno Prison but gets constantly beaten and killed by others. Doesn’t that make us seem like evil people?”
“Hahahaha,” Huo Poyun laughed. “So true. But speaking from the perspective of the laws of the profound way, its existence is a sin and its strength is a law in itself.”
“You’re right,” Yun Che nodded his head. “Speaking of which, how big is that ancient horned dragon? Is its body something like thousands of meters... or thousands of kilometers long?”
“No, no, no,” Huo Poyun immediately shook his head, “Brother Yun might be surprised to know but according to Master, although that ancient horned dragon may have a lifespan of at least several hundred thousand years, the length of its body, including the tail, is no more than a hundred meters.”
“A hundred meters?” Yun Che got a really big surprise. “Only a hundred meters?”
Even though the strength of the horned dragon couldn’t be determined based solely on the shape and size of its body, as an existence that was born in the millions of kilometers huge God Burying Inferno Prison and had a lifespan of at least several hundred thousand years and the terrifying power of the Divine Master Realm, for its body to be only a hundred meters long was... really a bit too unscientific.
Actually, Yun Che would have rathered feel a lot less surprised if it was thousands of kilometers long and could at once cover the sky and hide the sun with its body, causing the heaven and earth to be devoid of light.
“Eh, although its body is very small, the strength it possesses is incomparably terrifying. Even someone as powerful as my master, couldn’t even get close to the horned dragon, let alone battle with it. Only your esteemed master is capable of doing so.”
When Huo Poyun was in the midst of conversing with Yun Che, a pure-golden, engraved jade on his right shoulder, glimmered before emitting golden rays of light all of a sudden. He promptly reached out his hand to place it on the engraved jade and very soon, blurted out in surprise, with a big change in his expression, “What!?”
Yun Che quickly turned his head sideways, “Brother Poyun, what exactly happened?”
“It’s... it’s about Senior Brother Huo Ye. He... he seems to be... getting closer and closer to death.”
Huo Ye?
Suddenly, Yun Che remembered something. Before leaving him behind hastily, Huo Rulie had shouted the name “Ye’er.” Could it be...
“Oh no! I’ve to immediately return back. If something were to... truly happen to Senior Brother Huo, Master will certainly go crazy. Now that we’re about to deal with a major matter soon, I am probably the only one who can pacify Master.”
Before even letting the other party react to his words, Huo Poyun immediately turned around to fly away.
“Wait a minute. I’ll go with you.”
Huo Poyun was burning with anxiety at this moment and already didn’t have the time to discuss anything with him. He directly grabbed Yun Che with a hand and flew back in the direction he had come from with a speed almost ten times that of when he had arrived here.
Huo Ye was Huo Rulie’s first son. Later, Huo Rulie suffered a severe backlash of the Golden Crow flame due to his impatience to succeed in achieving a breakthrough. This incident caused him to become impotent and consequently, Huo Ye became his only son.
Unfortunately, before Huo Ye could take charge of his responsibilities, he was unwittingly injured gravely by Mu Xuanyin. He had Golden Crow bloodline in his body and was also practicing the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World, both of which were extremely vulnerable to ice. Therefore, he straight away lost his bodily functions after getting injured, turning into a total cripple. For him to be able to survive while at death’s door until today, could be already considered a miracle in itself. It could also be made out how much Huo Rulie was against the idea of him dying.
After all, Huo Ye was his sole descendant. If he were to die, that would spell the end of Huo Rulie’s lineage.
Having somehow managed to stay alive for so long and consumed numerous life-extending medicines, Huo Rulie had reached his limit eventually. During this period of time, his condition had been rapidly worsening, which made Huo Rulie so anxious that he didn’t leave his side, even after arriving at the God Burying Inferno Prison region.
“Scram! All of you get lost from here! Leave!!”
“Ye’er... Ye’er!!”
Like a sudden clap of thunder, an irritated and unrestrained voice that was filled with endless pain and sorrow could be heard coming from afar. Huo Poyun’s whole body tensed up and he increased his movement speed even further. Very soon, a temporary house with several layers of profound formations around it appeared in his line of sight. Naturally, the profound practitioners, who had arrived at this place for the horned dragon, didn’t need such a house to live in. It was made just for the sake of Huo Ye, the son of Huo Rulie.
There were ten-odd human figures guarding the house. Judging by the robes they were dressed in, they appeared to be Golden Crow Sect members.
Huo Poyun quickly flew down. As soon as they caught sight of him, everyone below revealed a slight joy on their faces and an elderly person said in an urgent voice, “Poyun, hurry up and pacify your master!”
Huo Poyun directly entered the house without replying to anyone. Yun Che hesitated a bit before following closely behind him. The people of Golden Crow Sect were so stunned by his sudden appearance that they missed the chance to stop him from entering the house.
The moment he got inside, he felt all kinds of profound lights and dense auras on his face. At a glance, Yun Che saw an aged person with dry and rough skin weakly lying in there. His eyes were open but completely still and even the pupils couldn’t be seen at all. Since there was almost no aura present on his body, anyone who looked at it would determine him to be a dead person.
The place underneath his body was covered with a thick layer of profound crystals. Though they were of different colors, they released extremely high level profound auras. Evidently, they were being used to help prolong his life.
Huo Rulie was kneeling beside him with his head lowered deeply and his entire body trembling. He was breathing heavily like an ox and his aura was in utter disorder. Furthermore, his face was completely drenched in hot tears.
Huo Poyun was greatly alarmed by Huo Ye’s state. Even though this day was bound to come sooner or later, why did it have to happen now of all times...?
“Who allowed you to come inside...? Get out of here! Scram!” Huo Rulie let out a fierce roar. His voice had turned completely hoarse and contained deep pain and despair.
“Master, it’s me!” Huo Poyun immediately walked forward to help him up. “Senior Brother Huo Ye has persisted for so long, so he’ll be fine for sure... Master, you must calm down first. He’s going to be alright.”
He had no idea how to comfort the current Huo Rulie and could only use lackluster words with all his might.
Huo Rulie’s trembling slightly lessened upon hearing his words. He didn’t roar any longer but still kept his head lowered deeply. Mournful sobs escaped his mouth, “He can’t be saved... my Ye’er... can’t be saved now... I, Huo Rulie... will lose my only son....”
The feeling of sorrow originating from Huo Rulie’s soul infected each and every wisp of aura in the place. Right now, he didn’t look the slightest bit like the mighty and intimidating Golden Crow Sect Master of the Flame God Realm and instead seemed to be a father that had fallen into the spiral of infinite pain and despair.
Huo Poyun knelt down beside Huo Rulie and said in a light voice, “Poyun’s debt of gratitude to Master is as weighty as a mountain and Master has been a father figure to me. Even if Master were to lose Senior Brother Huo Ye... so long as Master does not abandon me, Poyun will stay at Master’s side for his whole life.”
“My good... my good Yun’er...” Huo Rulie mumbled. These past years, Huo Poyun had become the biggest mental support of Huo Rulie, who was constantly living in fear of losing his son at any time.
Yun Che released his profound energy outside and swiftly swept it over Huo Ye’s body. Soon after, a deep frown surfaced on his face... Huo Ye’s condition was much too miserable. All his meridians, profound veins, blood vessels and internal organs... were a complete mess. They were damaged to such an extent that it was simply not possible for them to get damaged any further. Moreover, they seemed to have been stuck to each other for long, due to the overflow of internal fluids, which was too tragic to put into words. To Yun Che, the whole situation looked as if a long dried-up tree was trying to survive in some way or another.
The things with the strongest intensity in his body were the auras of dozens of varieties of spirit herbs. It was precisely these spirit herbs and all those high level profound crystals that were somehow keeping the last bit of life force preserved in Huo Ye.
Even if he could stay alive in such a condition, it would be worse than dying and freeing himself from his current suffering. Dying would in fact be a better choice.
The reason Huo Ye had persevered so far... was not because of the desire to live but due to being afraid of Huo Rulie going through a total mental collapse after his death.
Yun Che thought to himself... although his body is in tatters, I can’t help but gasp in admiration at his extremely strong willpower. He truly deserves to be the Golden Crow Sect’s Young Master.
“Sect Master Huo, Brother Poyun, you two head out first. I have a way to save him.” Yun Che finally opened his mouth and spoke.
Huo Rulie suddenly raised his head. Due to being immersed in the enormous feeling of pain, it was only now that he discovered the existence of Yun Che. Seeing the ice phoenix snow-white robe that Yun Che was wearing, his eyes instantly flared up, as he bellowed, “Who allowed you to come inside?! Scram! Get lost!!”
Yun Che said with an unchanged expression, “I’ll say it once again. I have a way to save him. If you don’t want him to die, then get out quickly!”
“What nonsense are you spouting!?” Huo Rulie slowly stood up. The profound energy emanating from his entire body was rapidly increasing. “My Ye’er ended up this way all because of your Ice Phoenix Sect. And yet, you... you actually dare...”
“Master!” Huo Poyun promptly stood before Huo Rulie and said anxiously, “Brother Yun intends to save Senior Brother Huo Ye.”
“Save? How could he? How is he going to do that!?” Huo Rulie howled in a sad voice. “It was already impossible to save Ye’er... since that time a thousand years ago. Do you know how much I have paid for prolonging Ye’er’s life until today? At this moment... there is already no way left to save him and he still dares to say that with his ability...?”
“What about my ability? Since I dared to say those words, what else do I want besides saving him? You think that I want to cause harm to him or something?” Yun Che stretched out his hand and pointed at Huo Ye, who seemed like a dead person, before saying, “Given his present condition, is it even possible to hurt him any further?”
His ruthless words caused Huo Rulie to fall into a daze.
“He is on the brink of death and could die at any time. If you truly don’t want him to die, then you should try to believe even an absolutely irreconcilable foe or a passing beggar, if they tell you that they can save him. There’s just no room or reason for doubt or refusal in such a situation! Of course, if you never wanted to save his life... then ignore what I said just now!”
Having finished his words, Yun Che turned around and headed out.
“Brother Yun!” Huo Poyun cried out loudly. He quickly jumped in front of Yun Che and said in an urgent voice, “Master! Brother Yun is definitely not someone who would speak without thinking. Since he dares to say that he has a way, he must be quite confident in obtaining a positive result. I fully agree with Brother Yun that... it is already impossible for Senior Brother Huo Ye’s condition to get even worse due to any wrong attempt to save him. The hope of succeeding may not be big but that is no reason to refuse his help.”
Huo Rulie exhaled long and heavy breaths a few times but his body was still trembling, “A-alright, young Yun, you’re right... about that... No matter whether your words are true or false, if you can so much as keep Ye’er alive for a few days or even several hours, I, Huo Rulie...”
“As time is of essence, don’t waste time on unnecessary words and leave at once! No one is allowed to enter the house before I come out myself! Also, do not use spirit sense to look inside!” Yun Che came over to Huo Ye’s body, as he issued orders.
“Master, let’s go out first. I believe in Brother Yun,” Huo Poyun said in persuasion.
Huo Rulie took in a deep breath, gnashed his teeth, and pulled Huo Poyun along with him as he turned to leave. Afterwards, he tightly shut the door to the house.