Chapter 1230 - Hard Won

“Uughhhhhhhhh...”

“Sssaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Neither of their shouts sounded human anymore. They were like mindless beasts trying to tear the other party apart.

At this point, both Yun Che and Luo Changsheng were close to falling unconscious. However, one final trace of belief kept them both going, urging them both to lock onto the each other’s position and punch out with all of their remaining strength and willpower.

A large patch of the Conferred God Stage was dyed an alarming red. The combatants were even running out of blood to bleed.

Earlier, their engagement had been loud and terrifying, but now they were so weak that they looked like dying men with one foot in the grave. It was hard enough to imagine that such weakened bodies could get back on their feet by their own power, much less fight one another... Every time a fist was thrown out, one of them would wobble unsteadily on their feet. But both of them refused to go down as they punched one another again and again...

Every time, the crowd was sure that one of them would go down, but they would pounce at the other and defy expectations again.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

The passage of time was dreadfully slow. The world turned as quiet as a ghost world. The only sound that could be heard was the snarls of two dying evil spirits doing their utmost to tear each other apart.

“They’ll die... they’ll definitely die if they keep this up...”

“Why isn’t Honorable Qu Hui doing anything about this? Yun Che and Luo Changsheng had gone insane. If this keeps up, if their wounds keep worsening... The Eastern Divine Region may lose two of its best geniuses at once... Just stop them already!”

“No... win or lose, the outcome of the fight has to be decided here... it’s impossible to stop now.”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Pff...

The pungent stench of blood spread silently to the surroundings. The two men were like dying candlelight that could wink out at any moment, and yet neither of them had actually gone down despite trading over a hundred punches and more.

Falling unconscious was one of the ways the body recuperated and protected itself from further harm. Therefore, hanging onto one’s consciousness and continuing to fight was only going to worsen their terrible injuries further.

Both men were truly fighting with their lives on the line.

He had come to God Realm all for the sake of meeting Jasmine. To this end, he was willing to abandon everything, pour in everything he had, risk countless life and death situations, and even expose his trump cards and secrets knowing that it might come back to bite him in the future... now, he was just one step away from achieving his dream. There was no way he would allow himself to fall here after everything!

He was Young Master Changsheng, son of the leader of the Eastern Divine Region, the Holy Eaves Realm King, disciple and nephew of the number one profound practitioner in the Eastern Divine Region! He himself was the strongest God Child of the Eastern Divine Region. Not only was he the most noble and talented genius among his peers, he has led his entire life being the better of others since the moment he was born... defeat was a word that’d never exist for him!

As the passage of time continued, a new change slowly dawned upon the battle.

Yun Che possessed the power of the Rage God, and his ability to recover, no matter what state he was in, was finally starting to display its advantages.

Bang!!

The two men’s fists struck each other’s faces again. Yun Che leaned backwards from the impact, but Luo Changsheng groaned and stumbled a couple of steps backwards. Finally, his knees hit the ground loudly.

An unfocused but fierce light passed through Yun Che’s pupils, and he somehow found enough strength in himself to jump into the air and punch Luo Changsheng’s heart area with a bloodied fist covered in a sliver of profound energy.

It was at this moment Luo Changsheng abruptly looked up and raised his right arm with incredible speed. A cold, purple light flew straight towards Yun Che.

“Ah!!” Everyone from the Snow Song Realm screamed involuntarily at once.

It was none other than the Holy Lightning Sword!

Yun Che could feel a sharp thing flying straight towards him, but his consciousness was blurry, and he was in full charge. It was simply impossible for him to change his momentum in the state he was in, so he collapsed on the Holy Lightning Sword almost like he was welcoming it.

Although Luo Changsheng was no longer able to summon the final dredges of lightning contained inside the Holy Lightning Sword, the weapon was very light and incredibly sharp. Even a child could cut through refined steel with it.

Rip!!

A loud tearing noise cut through the air. Luo Changsheng was sent flying by his punch, but he himself was stabbed by the Holy Lightning Sword head on... However, Yun Che had the body of a dragon, so the Holy Lightning Sword ultimately failed to penetrate him. Instead, it slid along his chest and left a long wound that was nearly thirty centimeters long.

“Urgh!”

Yun Che groaned, lost control of his balance and collapsed heavily on the floor. In that instant, an unnatural aura suddenly exploded from Luo Changsheng’s body as the young man growled, jumped nearly three meters into the air, gathered a weak swirl of profound energy around his left hand, and punched straight at Yun Che’s head.

Bang!!

Yun Che’s body twisted with unnatural speed and the attack Luo Changsheng spent nearly all of his willpower to gather merely struck the floor of the Conferred God Stage. Blood splattered everywhere, and four out of five of his fingers shattered in unison from the impact.

Yun Che instantly retaliated with a counterattack of his own, slamming a blade of cold light straight into Luo Changsheng’s throat.

“Guah... ah...”

Luo Changsheng collapsed on the ground horizontally while clutching his throat and hissing in indescribable pain. A short, icy blade that looked like butterfly wings had penetrated deep into his larynx.

“Sound... Butterfly... Blade...” Mu Bingyun murmured unconsciously.

Yun Che didn’t waste even a moment to breathe. He instantly rolled onto his feet. Right fist flowing with an unexpected amount of vigor, fiendish strength, and an ounce of profound energy that had just been generated inside his body, he fiercely punched Luo Changsheng in the head.

BANG

Luo Changsheng’s already blurry consciousness shuddered intensely before exploding into countless pale white cracks...

Yun Che himself was knocked far away by the rebound before he collapsed heavily on the ground. His arms shook as pushed the ground with his palms with everything he had, but he just couldn’t find even a hint of strength in him any longer. The only thing that was left was a will that refused to dissipate no matter how close it was to the brink.

The two dying beasts had truly, finally gone down. For a long time, neither of them managed to get back on their feet.

“Guu... uu... uu...”

Thick, bloody fluid was pouring from Luo Changsheng’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His murky pupils shone with dim light. His chest rose and fell erratically like it was seizing as he slowly, stiffly raised his arm into the air... the dark light in his pupils trembled more and more as he struggled with all his might...

In the end though, he failed to lift his arm completely. As the light in his pupils came to a sudden standstill, the arm he used all of his remaining willpower to raise collapsed heavily to the ground.

Luo Changsheng’s aura completely submerged into stillness. Even then, his eyes were wide open in reluctance and despair.

But Yun Che was still gripping the ground tightly with both arms. The light in his blood drenched eyes still refused to fade.

Honorable Qu Hui felt like a ten thousand pound steel plate had just been removed from his chest as he raised his arm and declared loudly, “Luo Changsheng has fallen unconscious. The first match of the grand final goes to Yun Che!!”

“Since Luo Changsheng is defeated, his score is now equal to Yun Che’s. The grand final will be fought once more three days from now!”

In the past, a loud cheer or incessant commotion would erupt from the spectator stands after Honorable Qu Hui had announced the results. This time though, everyone remained silent and shell shocked until the deafening scream of a woman cut through the air.

“Changsheng!!”

Luo Guxie let out a trembling scream as she descended from above. Her emotions—and subsequently her profound energy—were obviously out of control, and her scream deafened and made a large number of profound practitioners so uncomfortable that they nearly spat blood.

“Yun Che!” Mu Bingyun herself was flying into the Conferred God Stage at the same time.

Honorable Qu Hui had judged many Conferred God Battles in the past, but never had he seen such a desperate, bloody fight until today. He never thought that he would feel suffocated from watching a fight between two juniors.

As the people of the Holy Eaves Realm and Snow Song Realm charged towards the stage while throwing all caution to the wind, Honorable Qu Hui sighed on the inside before withdrawing the barrier that isolated the Conferred God Stage.

“Changsheng!!”

The instant Luo Guxie landed next to Luo Changsheng, she pulled out the Sound Butterfly Blade stuck in his throat and threw it far, far away. Then, she enveloped his body in gentle profound light with incredible care... right now, everyone could see that the number one profound practitioner of the Eastern Divine Region was shaking all over. There were even barely restrained tears welling in her eyes.

Before the gentle white light could envelop Luo Changsheng entirely, Luo Guxie levitated his body into the air and flew alongside it towards the distant horizon with great speed. She didn’t speak a word with anyone throughout the process. Luo Shangchen quickly followed behind her.

“Yun Che!”

“Senior Brother Yun...”

“Seal up his wounds, quickly!”

“No, don’t. His wounds are... too serious...”

Mu Bingyun held up Yun Che and leaned his head against her soft breasts, uncaring for the scarlet blood that was rapidly drenching her snow white clothes. Her trembling hand glowed blue as she held it above Yun Che’s chest, but she just couldn’t dare to touch him no matter how she tried to.

Yun Che’s wounds were scary beyond words. There wasn’t a single part inside or outside his body that was unhurt. A different Divine Tribulation profound practitioner would’ve died a long, long time ago.

“Senior Brother Yun... Senior Brother Yun’s going to be fine... right?” A Snow Song Realm disciple carefully walked past the duo. Their heart clenched, and their eyes welled up in tears when they saw Yun Che’s terrible, blood drenched appearance.

Mu Huanzhi and Mu Tanzhi had also knelt down beside Yun Che, but just like Mu Bingyun, they dared not take things into their own hands and suppress his wounds. In his current state, if they made even a single mistake when they inject profound energy into his body...

“Have... I... won...”

It was at this moment Yun Che parted his lips and uttered the weak, nearly indiscernible question.

His consciousness had been so blurry that he didn’t even hear Honorable Qu Hui’s loud declaration clearly.

“Yes, you won. You beat Luo Changsheng,” Mu Bingyun bowed her head closer and whispered gently into his ears.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

An indescribably satisfied smile flitted across Yun Che’s lips, “That’s... great...”

“Don’t... worry... I... won’t... die... Just...”

“So... tired...”

His voice was as weak as a mosquito’s buzz. Finally, Mu Bingyun lowered her palm slowly and enveloped him in a blue light of utmost gentleness, “If you’re tired, you should go to sleep.”

She spoke softly as if she was soothing a baby who was refusing to sleep. Finally, Yun Che’s eyes slowly closed under her gentle whisper.

“...” Mu Bingyun looked up into the sky with blurry vision.

Heavenly Slaughter Star God, I don’t know what you did to him, or how big of a favor he owed you that he’s willing to risk his life to this extent. I don’t care how important you are or what’s keeping you from him... but please, please fulfill his wish and meet him even just once... if only for everything he has done for you...

She was the first one to know why Yun Che had come to the God Realm. She knew everything Yun Che did since the day of his arrival. Everyone thought that the reason he fought Luo Changsheng with his life was to become the champion and seize victory, but only she knew that he hadn’t come this far for the first place of the Conferred God Battle, the reputation, the rewards, and definitely not for Luo Changsheng...

He had done all this just to meet one person.

Outside the Conferred God Stage, in the distant sky, a delicate red figure flew far into the distance.

And left behind a few poignant tears in the clouds.