Chapter 1196: Desperate Gamble
Rumble! Rumble!
Without warning, the Feng Shen Platform had been completely engulfed by the Golden Crow Flame, transformed into a three-hundred-mile golden sea of fire. Both Yun Che and Lu Lengchuan were buried within the blazing inferno, while high above, the Golden Crow Flame Shadow stood with majestic divine might, continuously raining down Golden Crow Flame, turning the platform into an even more fearsome purgatory.
Yun Che was clearly already severely wounded, yet with the addition of the Golden Crow Phantom Deity, his assault remained ferociously relentless.
Earlier, Lu Lengchuan could fully defend against Yun Che's attacks head-on, and for Yun Che to break his Radiant Dragon Saint Domain, he had to pay the price of exposing a significant flaw. Even if he struck the Radiant Dragon Saint Domain with full force, even the first layer could not be broken directly; in the next instant, Lu Lengchuan could exploit the opening to severely wound Yun Che, and then leisurely repair the damaged domain.
But now, although Lu Lengchuan could still block Yun Che's attacks, he had absolutely no spare strength to resist the flames of the Golden Crow Divine Shadow. Yun Che's attacks were like a raging storm, and because he no longer tried to forcefully break the Radiant Dragon Saint Domain as before, he left no openings, combined with Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick, leaving Lu Lengchuan unable to find even a moment to divert power to restore his domain.
This meant that Lu Lengchuan's Radiant Dragon Saint Domain was now being continuously scorched, suffering only loss with no recovery.
Moreover, the Golden Crow Flame was no ordinary fire. The constant "sizzling" sound from the domain and the Rock Dragon's agonized cries filled Lu Lengchuan with dread. He wanted to find a chance to restore the domain, but Yun Che gave him no breathing room. If he forcefully tried to recover, allowing Yun Che's power to directly strike the domain, it would only accelerate its collapse.
Lu Lengchuan was completely suppressed, the aura of his Radiant Dragon Saint Domain steadily weakening. Everyone could clearly see the situation—if this continued and Lu Lengchuan had no other unexpected trick to turn the tables, his continuously scorched domain would collapse in no time.
When all three layers crumbled, Lu Lengchuan would be defeated.
But the precondition was that Yun Che could hold on until that moment... His previous severe injuries and his clearly depleted profound strength were equally obvious to all.
The people of the Yin Xue Realm had long since risen to their feet, their bodies tensed. Beside them, the elders and disciples of the Yan Shen Realm were similarly stirred, their bodies emanating barely controlled fluctuations of flame, seemingly even more agitated than those from Yin Xue.
"Come on, Yun Che!"
They roared in their hearts, eyes wide, afraid to blink for a long time. Especially the disciples of the Golden Crow Sect—their veins bulged, their hair stood on end, and light flashed continuously.
Although Yun Che was a disciple of the Yin Xue Realm, the flame burning on him now was the Golden Crow Flame!
The moment Huo Poyun fell, they had thought the Golden Crow Flame would never again ignite on the Feng Shen Platform. But through Yun Che, it had been rekindled in this Divine Seal Battle—more dazzling and blinding than ever before!
The Four Divine Sons of the Eastern Domain, the undefeated myth of the Eastern Divine Region.
They desperately wanted to see the myth burned away by the Golden Crow Flame!
As for why Yun Che, a disciple of Yin Xue, could wield the Golden Crow Flame, and such pure Golden Crow Flame at that, it no longer mattered at this moment.
"Yel... low... Springs... Ash... es!!"
Yun Che's furious roar and the Golden Crow's cry overlapped at this moment. A dual Yellow Springs Ashes erupted simultaneously, a streak of golden flame soaring dozens of miles high. Even through the barrier, the spectators clearly felt a flame might that seemed almost apocalyptic.
Amid the intensely concentrated blaze, Lu Lengchuan's figure was blasted far away. But then, the sounds and momentum on the Feng Shen Platform began to calm instead.
The Golden Crow flame light slowly descended, revealing the figures of Yun Che and Lu Lengchuan.
The two were now far apart. Lu Lengchuan stood upright, his face constantly shifting. His Radiant Dragon Saint Domain was covered with burn marks; the earlier dual Yellow Springs Ashes had added several small cracks over two feet long to it.
Although the cracks were small, their appearance meant the Radiant Dragon Saint Domain would collapse even faster. But puzzlingly, Yun Che did not press the attack; instead he stood still. Even the Golden Crow Flame Shadow hovered above, no longer attacking.
Lu Lengchuan took this chance to quickly repair his domain. The cracks that had appeared with such difficulty were healing at a visible rate.
"This... Yun Che he..." The people of both Yin Xue and Yan Shen Realms clenched their hearts.
Yun Che slowly raised his hand to his lips, and his body suddenly shook violently. Blood gushed from between his fingers, not stopping for a long time.
He had already suffered a serious internal injury; instead of suppressing it, he had once again mobilized all his power and even unleashed the Golden Crow Phantom Deity, undoubtedly worsening his condition.
More severe than his injury was the increasing physical burden and consumption of profound force.
Maintaining the Radiant Dragon Saint Domain required a massive expenditure from Lu Lengchuan, but he was a genuine Divine Spirit Realm Level 10. Although Yun Che could match him through the amplification of the Evil God Art, in terms of sheer profound force reserves, the two were incomparable.
If he had three hundred more breaths... no, even two hundred, Yun Che would have been confident enough to break through his Radiant Dragon Saint Domain, and all three layers.
But in his prime state, the "Heaven-Shattering" state could last at most a hundred breaths. With severe injuries and the addition of the Arcane Firmament Phantom Deity, this time was greatly shortened. His body's burden told him that enduring ten more breaths would be his limit.
In such a short time, there was no way he could break through the Radiant Dragon Saint Domain.
"Yun Che!" Everyone from the Yin Xue Realm cried out in alarm.
The atmosphere on the Feng Shen Platform suddenly became much more subdued. Initially, they would never have believed that Yun Che could defeat Lu Lengchuan, but as miraculous scenes unfolded one after another, their mindset underwent a fundamental change. Especially with the appearance of the Golden Crow Divine Shadow and Lu Lengchuan being completely suppressed, the scales in their hearts had almost entirely tipped in Yun Che's favor.
Even many disciples from the Futian Realm were looking forward to the moment Yun Che would defeat Lu Lengchuan.
After all, everyone longed to witness the historic scene of a myth being shattered with their own eyes.
But a myth is a myth, after all—how could it be overturned so easily?
"Alas," Yan Juehai let out a long sigh. "To have reached this point is already a miracle. If Yun Che had used the phantom deity from the start... perhaps the result would have been different."
After saying that, he suddenly paused.
Why didn't Yun Che use the phantom deity from the beginning?
He deliberately kept this trump card when fighting Lu Lengchuan, only using it when pushed to the brink... Could it be that the battle with Lu Lengchuan was not his ultimate goal?
Yun Che slowly lowered his hand from his lips, and the Heaven-Defying Sword disappeared from his grip. Then, even the Golden Crow Divine Shadow suddenly became ethereal and vanished without a trace.
Lu Lengchuan remained still.
"Finally... Yun Che has finally given up. Ah."
"He has already shown extraordinary perseverance. Right now, he may not match Lu Lengchuan, but in at most five years, or even sooner, he will absolutely surpass Lu Lengchuan by far!"
"A phantom deity has appeared in this Divine Seal Battle... It seems I am truly old. The era of the younger generation has arrived ahead of time."
A chorus of sighs rose from the spectator seats. Although it was the outcome they had initially predicted and believed in, their moods were completely different. Though Yun Che would lose this battle, he would undoubtedly become the most dazzling light of this Divine Seal Battle, one that even Luo Changsheng and Jun Xilei could not overshadow.
Just as everyone, including Lu Lengchuan, believed the duel had ended, Yun Che raised his left hand again, and a blue Arcane Firmament shot out.
Caw——
A cry echoed through the air. A shadow of ice-blue congealed in the sky. The Feng Shen Platform, once ablaze with Golden Crow Flame, suddenly dropped in temperature, and an icy pressure, in no way inferior to the previous Golden Crow Divine Shadow, descended.
Seeing the ice-blue shadow above Yun Che, the people of Yin Xue Realm rose in shock: "Ice... Ice Phoenix!"
The shape of a phoenix, but with icy feathers, accompanied by dreamlike mist and sparkling stars—it was none other than the Ice Phoenix, one of the three ancient supreme water-element beings!
It possessed the same majesty as the earlier Golden Crow Divine Shadow, the same complete life aura, and the same complete soul aura!
"Ice... another phantom deity? This... this can't be real, can it?"
"Able to summon both a Golden Crow phantom deity and an Ice Phoenix phantom deity. Hmph... Can phantom deity arts be used like this?" Shitian Shendi squinted at Yun Che, his eyes staring blankly.
"Seen... never... before, heard... never... heard," Fantian Shendi murmured slowly.
"A 'phantom deity' is unique and must be driven by the power of a Divine Lord—this is common knowledge at the Divine Lord level," Long Huang said slowly. "What Yun Che uses cannot be a phantom deity art."
"At our level of understanding, we cannot comprehend how Yun Che does it. This means it is very likely a strange power he himself has comprehended and created... And that is the most terrifying aspect."
Long Huang's words made all the Divine Emperors start in shock.
"A youth less than half a jiazi old, creating a power comparable to phantom deity arts on his own... Do you all realize what that means?"
All the Divine Emperors fell silent for a long time, no one speaking.
"What is Yun Che trying to do?" Mu Huanzhi asked in confusion. In terms of destructive power, the Ice Phoenix's power was certainly inferior to the Golden Crow's. Yun Che's injuries were clearly worsening, his consumption was enormous, and he had even put away his sword—a posture of giving up. So why summon the Ice Phoenix Divine Shadow?
Could it be that, as a disciple of the Ice Phoenix God Sect, he wanted to show it off to the world at the final moment?
After the Ice Phoenix Divine Shadow appeared, it did not attack Lu Lengchuan. Instead, it quietly flew above Yun Che.
Yun Che placed both hands against his chest, closed his eyes, and curled his fingers, palms facing each other. A small golden flame ignited between his hands.
The moment this tiny flame appeared, flames blazed wildly on Yun Che's body. A Golden Crow Flame Shadow flashed on him for an instant, raising its head in a proud cry.
In that instant, all the aura on the Feng Shen Platform suddenly ceased completely. A terrifying, unparalleled heat radiated outward. At the same time, the light underwent a bizarre change—the world silently turned crimson. Before people could fully react to this strange change, the world shifted to a deeper red, then transformed into a dreamlike golden-red.
On the platform, Lu Lengchuan's face twisted violently as he faced Yun Che. He felt the temperature of the air increasing at a terrifying rate, and it was still climbing.
"Look... look at the sky!"
At that moment, all the spectators instinctively looked up. It was then that they found the source of the world's color change.
The originally pale sky had turned completely crimson.
And at the center of the crimson dome was imprinted a golden blazing sun that had appeared from nowhere!
"This... this is..."
"Nine Suns Heavenly Wrath!" Mu Huanzhi, Huo Rulie, and Yan Juehai all roared at the same time.
"It's... actually... Yun Che can actually use Nine Suns Heavenly Wrath!" Mu Huanzhi was almost too shocked to speak normally.
"..." Huo Rulie's heart was churning like a stormy sea.
Nine Suns Heavenly Wrath—the ultimate flame of the tenth level of the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record, a supreme flame that even he, the Golden Crow Sect Master, had not mastered! Huo Poyun's comprehension of Nine Suns Heavenly Wrath was a monumental event in the history of the Golden Crow Sect.
And now, he was watching with his own eyes as Yun Che condensed the flame of Nine Suns Heavenly Wrath!
But immediately, his reason made him grit his teeth: "No! Nine Suns Heavenly Wrath is the ultimate divine flame of the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record. It requires complete focus of the mind to operate its laws and a long time to gather flame power, all without any interference. Lu Lengchuan can easily interrupt it. For him to forcibly activate it like this... it's impossible to succeed!"