Chapter 15

Yun Che returned to Blue Wind Profound Palace around a month before the beginning of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament. Just a few days after he had left, Ling Yun and Ling Jie had come to give the royal family an invitation to the tournament.

During this visit, Ling Jie had formed a crush on Cang Yue and had declared his intentions. This had put the third prince in a precarious position, since he had promised Cang Yue's hand to Burning Heaven Clan's Fen Juecheng in exchange for their support.

Yun Che had pondered a lot on how he could exploit this situation to his advantage, but concluded that the simplest path of action would be the most beneficial instead of trying to concoct some brilliant scheme.

Upon arriving, the first thing he did was to declare his cultivation progress to everyone – 10th level Spirit Profound realm. He didn't bother hiding it, since his actual combat strength was far higher and making people think it was only at 10th level Spirit Profound realm was already hiding a lot.

Everyone was shocked and dumbfounded. Just 5 months ago when he left, he was only at 10th level True Profound realm, but he had somehow jumped an entire realm within just 5 months. It was surreal and unbelievable.

Yun Che simply smiled and explained it as him having found and consumed a rare heavenly treasure that boosted his cultivation. Everyone was convinced, because they couldn't think of another valid explanation.

With just a token duel merely for the sake of formality, Yun Che defeated the third ranked person in the Inner Palace and replaced him. Now that he was in the top 3, he could participate in the tournament, since Blue Wind Profound Palace was allowed to send only three participants.

The three participants this year would be Yun Che, Fen Juechen and the one at second place. Knowing Fen Juechen's history and importance, Yun Che made sure not to antagonize him and encouraged him a bit, "My best wishes for the tournament. I look forward to your victory over Fen Juebi."

Fen Juechen was surprised and his eyes became a little warmer than the usual coldness. He reciprocated, "My best wishes to you too. Make the Blue Wind Profound Palace proud." He was definitely going to defeat Fen Juebi and take his revenge in this tournament.

Yun Che smiled warmly and nodded. At the very least, he had formed a friendly first impression on Fen Juechen. He neither wanted to kill him, nor did he want to become his enemy in the future. So the only option remaining was to form a friendship.

Lan Xueruo soon came to visit Yun Che, feeling complicated inside. She had originally brought him with the hope that he would be able to grow strong enough to get a good rank in the tournament three years later; never had she imagined he would show such a tremendous growth in such a short time. She was also feeling conflicted – what would Yun Che think upon knowing her true intentions for bringing him here?

Her marriage situation had become a bit more bearable since Ling Jie and the Heavenly Sword Villa were actively countering Fen Juecheng and Burning Heaven Clan leading to no one bothering her too much about it. She was in fact somewhat grateful to Ling Jie for this and had a favorable first impression of him.

Fortunately for her, Yun Che revealed that he already knew her true identity thanks to her brothers writing about it in their letters to him, and he wasn't offended in the slightest. He himself wanted to participate in the tournament anyway.

He further mentioned her father's health and asked if he could pay him a visit. Cang Yue immediately agreed and brought Yun Che to meet her father.

"Greetings your majesty", Yun Che respectfully greeted Cang Wanhe, something that was awkward for him since he spent most of his life in a democracy.

Cang Wanhe greeted back and was excited to see the biggest talent in his Blue Wind Profound Palace, someone who might fulfil his dream of increasing the profound strength of the Imperial family. After all, with his strength Yun Che might get into the top 10, or the top 5 of the upcoming tournament.

After conversing for a while, Yun Che came to the point, "Your majesty, I think I may possibly be able to solve your situation and get you to normal health. What are you willing to give me if I actually do this?"

Both father and daughter were extremely shocked by this, but upon recalling that Yun Che had a tendency to run into all sorts of treasures (powerful heavy sword art, heavenly treasure that boosted cultivation), they became expectant and Cang Wanhe said excitedly, "Anything reasonable. Women, resources, gold, property, whatever you want."

Yun Che, of course, didn't ask for Cang Yue's hand in marriage. He asked for a large amount of money – enough money to buy two Tyrant Profound beast cores in the future. He planned to get the third one himself.

Cang Wanhe immediately agreed and the meeting came to an end. Yun Che was escorted out by Cang Yue who then profusely thanked him and wished him luck in the upcoming tournament.

For the next one month, Yun Che kept training to get used to his new strength and abilities, especially in wielding the new heavy sword. His cultivation threatened to breakthrough again to Earth Profound realm, but he once again suppressed it, focusing on building a strong foundation.

Finally, the start of the tournament arrived and upon Yun Che's request, Xia Yuanba accompanied Cang Yue and the three participants to Heavenly Sword Villa for the tournament. Yun Che's reason was that Yuanba's sister was going participate in the tournament and it would be a good opportunity for Yuanba to catch up.

"Jasmine, this tournament is going to have the last treasure in this empire. In order to get the treasure, I will have to get a top 10 rank in the tournament."

"I am looking forward to it. From the sound of it, doesn't seem like another True God legacy."

"No it's something different. You will know when you see it."