Chapter 69: One Battle Shocks the City, Part Six
"What... what?!"
Watching the terrifying Yunyang Chain break so easily in Yun Che's hand, everyone was stunned. Yan Ming's eyes bulged, unable to believe what he had just seen.
"How... how is this possible? This is one of the Yunyang Sect's foremost techniques! A flame chain condensed from profound force, its temperature even higher than real flames, and with a powerful devouring property. How could it break just by touching Yun Che's hand?" The elder of New Moon Mystic Palace exclaimed in shock.
Over at the Yunyang Sect side, they were even more shaken. The head elder, Yan Zizai, suddenly stood up, almost thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. The disciple beside him quickly said, "Elder, no need to panic. Junior Brother Yan Ming is only at the third level of the Xuan Entry Realm, after all. He's still a bit strained handling this Yunyang Chain, so it's natural for the profound force to be unstable and break."
"Hmph! If his profound force is insufficient, then why show off? Just asking to be laughed at!" Yan Zizai snorted coldly. This was the only explanation he could accept for the scene before him. There was no way he would ever believe that Yun Che, a mere first level Xuan Entry Realm cultivator, had snapped the Yunyang Chain with his bare hands without even a scratch.
Yun Che clapped his hands and said with a grin, "Brother Yan Ming, that was quite a juggling act you put on just now. With skills like that, it's a waste if you don't go perform on the streets!"
"Th-this... impossible!" Yan Ming's heart was terrified. Others might not notice, but he himself knew full well that the Yunyang Chain he had just released and controlled was quite successful. When it touched Yun Che's hand, it should have been more than enough to scorch his palm. There was no reason for it to suddenly break.
Yun Che's mockery infuriated Yan Ming. His face darkened as he said, "Don't get cocky! That was... that was just a probing strike I threw out casually. Now I'll show you the true Yunyang Chain of my Yunyang Sect!"
He spoke harshly, but that earlier "failure" had somewhat undermined his confidence. He no longer dared to execute the Yunyang Chain with both hands at once. Instead, he let out a low shout, swung his right palm, and a thick fiery chain lashed out from his palm like a dancing fire serpent, coiling toward Yun Che.
This time, Yun Che didn't even move. The Yunyang Chain closed in and instantly wrapped around his body. Yan Ming's heart leaped with joy. He was about to detonate his flame profound force when he suddenly saw the chain around Yun Che's body break apart into several segments with an effortless, casual tug from Yun Che, like a rotten hemp rope, then all the flames extinguished.
Yun Che was already irritated. He brushed off the part of his clothes touched by the Yunyang Chain and said angrily, "We're here for a spar, and you're putting on a juggling show for us! You're wasting everyone's time! Let me send you off early!"
With a low shout, Yun Che used Star God Remnant Shadow and instantly appeared to Yan Ming's right, throwing a punch condensed with profound force straight at his face. Yan Ming, already stunned and panicked by the second breaking of his Yunyang Chain, reacted a beat too slow. Unable to parry, he could only retreat rapidly, but Yun Che's fist still landed solidly on his chest.
Yan Ming's protective profound energy trembled violently. Although Yun Che's profound force was two levels lower, taking a heavy blow head-on in such a flustered state was far from pleasant. Shame and rage intermingled in his heart as he roared, "Flame Fist!" His fists ignited with fire as he smashed them toward Yun Che.
Yun Che sidestepped slightly, evading Yan Ming's flame-covered hands. Then, his right hand shot up and clamped onto Yan Ming's extended right arm, a faint sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.
"AHHHHH!!!!"
A pig-slaughtering scream echoed through the hall. Yan Ming, who had just thrown the Flame Fist, dropped to his knees in agony, flailing both hands wildly. The flames on his hands had disappeared, but dark smoke was rising from his fingers, and a pungent smell of burnt flesh began to spread through the hall.
Yan Zizai was alarmed. In a flash, he appeared before Yan Ming, his hands moving like lightning to grab Yan Ming's hands and quickly draw out the flame force that had seeped into his palms.
The pain on Yan Ming's face lessened somewhat, but his hands were now nearly half scorched black. His fingers were grotesquely splayed and twisted to a terrifying degree, with wisps of black smoke still seeping slowly from his charred flesh.
"To let the flame force backfire on yourself! Have you been practicing like a dog all these years?!" Yan Zizai glared at Yan Ming, ignoring the occasion, and bellowed darkly. As a disciple whose talent ranked among the top five in the younger generation of the Yunyang Sect, first having the Yunyang Chain break twice, and now committing such a ridiculously low-level mistake in public—it was a complete disgrace to the Yunyang Sect's reputation.
Fire-based profound arts allowed cultivators to condense flames from their profound force. But that by no means made them immune to fire. When Yan Ming had condensed flames on his hands just now, there was a layer of profound force between his hands and the flames to protect himself.
The pathetic state Yan Ming was in after throwing the Flame Fist clearly meant that in his haste, he had failed to control the flame force properly. The flame force condensed from his profound energy hadn't been fully released externally—part of it became the flames on his hands, while the other part exploded directly inside his palms, scorching him from within! Such an error usually occurred only during the first half year of training in fire-based profound arts, and even then, the flames were weak, so mistakes wouldn't cause much damage. After a while, controlling flame with profound force became as natural as moving one's own limbs. This kind of laughable mistake should never have happened.
Of course, Yan Zizai couldn't possibly imagine that in the instant Yun Che had touched his arm, Yun Che had guided the fire on Yan Ming's hands into his palms. Even if Yun Che openly admitted it, Yan Zizai would never believe it.
"Elder, I—"
"Shut up! You haven't humiliated us enough? Get down and treat your injuries!" Yan Zizai roared angrily.
Yan Ming obediently closed his mouth and walked back, his burned hands hanging limp. He glanced at Yun Che and clenched his teeth… Intuitively, he felt that the breaking of the Yunyang Chain and the flame backfire might be related to Yun Che. Otherwise, he could never have made such a mistake. But if it was related to Yun Che, he couldn't find any reason. Yun Che was only at the first level of the Xuan Entry Realm. How could he break the Yunyang Chain with his bare hands? And how could he possibly cause the flame backfire?
"Heh, this kid got lucky, running into such an idiot. I thought he was about to pay for his arrogance." The Xiao Sect middle-aged man sneered.
"He won't get past the next opponent." Xiao Luocheng smiled faintly.
The elders and disciples of New Moon Mystic Palace also breathed a long sigh of relief. They had thought Yun Che was sure to lose badly and might even be burned. Instead, the opponent had made a low-level error in his sect's profound arts, and Yun Che had won. Thus, Yun Che, with his first level Xuan Entry Realm profound force, had consecutively defeated a second level Xuan Entry Realm and a third level Xuan Entry Realm!
This was definitely a proud achievement that allowed New Moon Mystic Palace to hold its head high.
Yun Che crossed his arms over his chest, a hint of immaturity on his face now filled with arrogance: "That's two! Who's the third?"
His arrogant tone drew a round of cold laughter from the disciples of the Seven Sects. Could this clueless fool not see that his previous win was purely because Yan Ming had made a low-level mistake and burned himself?
Just as Yun Che's voice faded, the youngest-looking disciple from the Fengyun Mystic Palace seating area stood up.
"Feng Guangyi! Under Fengyun Mystic Palace, sixteen years old!" This youth was not tall, plain-featured, and only sixteen. Naturally, he had the arrogance that came with being hailed by many at such a young age. He looked at Yun Che with a disdainful gaze and said lightly, "I wouldn't have stepped up originally, because you're not even worthy to be my opponent. But I just can't stand this arrogant face of yours. You barely defeated a second-rate piece of trash like Xuan Yu, and even more luckily beat a joke from the Yunyang Sect, and now you think you're someone? Unfortunately, in my eyes, you're just a joke yourself!"
"Well said! Send him packing!"
"Do you really think the Seven Sects have no one left!"
"Hmm, this Feng Guangyi just turned sixteen, and he's already been at the third level of the Xuan Entry Realm for several months. I hear he's about to break through to the fourth level. His talent definitely surpasses Yan Ming's. Word has it his comprehension is super high, and he's already cultivated his sect's profound art 'Fengyun Sky-Shattering Art' to the third realm, startling even the Fengyun Mystic Palace's supreme elder who has been in seclusion for years... I bet this arrogant Yun Che won't last more than ten moves against him."
"Ten moves? Tch, you flatter him. At most five moves, and he'll be rolling off."
Feng Guangyi's taunt was quite harsh, but Yun Che didn't get angry at all. Instead, he replied with an even more sarcastic look and tone: "We'll see who's the joke soon enough."
"Hmph!" Feng Guangyi sneered. "If I don't knock you off this platform within ten moves, then my name isn't Feng Guangyi!"
As he spoke, Feng Guangyi's half-closed eyes snapped fully open. His clothes suddenly began to rustle loudly, as if blown by a fierce wind. And indeed, a strong whirlwind kicked up around his body.
Feng Guangyi raised his eyes and said lightly, "Kid Yun Che, remember well the technique that will send you rolling off this platform—it's the 'Fengyun Nine Transformations' of my Fengyun Mystic Palace!"
With that, Feng Guangyi's body shot forward, charging at Yun Che like a gale. In his extreme speed, he constantly shifted positions, left and right, moving faster and faster, leaving a blur of indistinguishable afterimages before Yun Che's eyes, along with rings of terrifying wind spirals.
"First Transformation... Gale Transformation!"
With a loud shout, four ferocious gusts of profound energy struck Yun Che simultaneously from all sides like four gales. Yun Che's brows tightened, and his figure flickered, dodging three of them. The fourth was unavoidable. Profound force surged rapidly as he erected a full defensive barrier of profound energy in front of him.
Boom!!
Yun Che staggered back three steps, his chest churning with tumultuous energy. Using first level Xuan Entry Realm protective profound force to withstand third level Xuan Entry Realm power was indeed too much. Once was bearable, but if it happened again, he would surely be injured.
"Second Transformation... Wind Shadow Transformation!"
The wind spirals spun even faster and more violently. Yun Che's ears were filled with nothing but the howling wind. Feng Guangyi's speed reached its peak, and Yun Che's surroundings were entirely filled with Feng Guangyi's silhouettes. At that moment, a figure behind him blasted toward his back like a storm. Almost at the same instant, Yun Che spun around.
Yun Che's reaction was so swift that it caught Feng Guangyi off guard, but it only surprised him slightly. He believed that even if Yun Che reacted, given his own speed and the back attack, Yun Che would be unable to dodge in time. He threw a heavy punch aimed squarely at Yun Che's neck.
At the very moment Yun Che turned, he also shot out his right fist, meeting Feng Guangyi's fist head-on with a straight punch.
"What! Is he crazy? He's actually going to fight Feng Guangyi head-on!"
"If he uses all his profound force to protect himself, maybe he won't be too badly hurt. But Feng Guangyi is at the late stage of the third level of Xuan Entry Realm! Yun Che is only at the first level, and he dares to clash head-on? He doesn't know his place!"
Everyone in the hall watching knew that Yun Che was done for this time. If their fists collided, a dislocated wrist would be the least of his worries; he might end up with a broken arm. Feng Guangyi's punch carried not just power two levels above Yun Che's, but also the formidable profound arts of the Fengyun Mystic Palace!
But would Yun Che, so arrogant and brash, really have no backing for his bold words?
In the moment their fists were about to meet, a glint of sharp light flashed in his eyes. Within his profound veins, arranged like the Big Dipper, the seven realm gates that were always closed—the first one silently opened...
Evil God Seven Realms—First Realm: Evil Soul... Open!