Chapter 1410: Changed?
Yun Che's frivolous and disrespectful words caused a faint anger to appear on Mu Feixue's pale face and unfocused eyes, but under his power, all her own strength seemed to be sealed, unable to be released.
"Roar!"
"ROOOOOAR!!!!"
The two Glacial Beasts that had been knocked away flew into a rage and pounced in an instant. The terrifying power of these two divine beasts crashed down simultaneously, causing a large expanse of the snowfield to instantly collapse.
Dozens of miles away, the ice phoenix disciples and city-guarding profound practitioners before Huanyan City all felt as if they were weighed down by ten thousand jun, unable to breathe. They turned their heads to look at Mu Feixue, who stood in the shadow of the two beasts, and deep despair welled up in their hearts.
Yun Che turned his gaze back and glanced at the two charging Glacial Beasts.
In that instant—the very moment he looked at them—the overlapping oppressive aura of the two beasts vanished without a trace, like soap bubbles that had suddenly shattered into nothingness.
Before the stunned spectators could recover from this incomprehensible change, Yun Che's hand had already extended unhurriedly...
*Crack!!*
Two bolts of deep purple lightning split the sky, piercing through the bodies of the Glacial Beasts... tearing two massive holes, each over ten zhang wide, in their divine beast bodies—bodies that were tens of millions of times tougher than refined steel.
Like breaking rotten wood.
The two Glacial Beasts froze in midair for an instant, then plummeted down amidst a rain of flying blood. The moment they crashed into the herd of profound beasts, the residual lightning on their bodies erupted violently, directly creating two enormous lightning calamity zones that engulfed countless profound beasts, eliciting countless agonized and despairing howls.
*Crack!!*
*Crack!!*
The roar of thunder was deafening, soul-shredding... But before Huanyan City, all the profound practitioners remained frozen, eyes wide, faces twisted...
The Glacial Beasts that had plunged them into despair... two of them... just died like that!?
Killed by that suddenly appeared person... with such ease, as if casually crushing a couple of hopping grasshoppers!
"Dead... they're dead..." the lord of Huanyan City muttered, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
"...!" Mu Feixue was also stunned there.
Since Yun Che had already acted, there was no need for further restraint. He waved his arm, and thunderbolts erupted between heaven and earth. Hundreds of lightning bolts struck down from different directions, each one exploding into a massive lightning domain upon impact. In an instant, the vast snowfield turned into an immeasurable sea of lightning.
The purple radiance completely overwhelmed the white of the snowfield, filling the world in everyone's pupils. All the ice phoenix disciples and city-guarding profound practitioners stood frozen, mouths agape, as if in a dream.
Within the lightning domain, countless bolts released the deathly hiss of destruction. Yet each bolt seemed to possess its own life and consciousness. They rapidly conducted and spread, dragging one profound beast after another, one group after another, into the lightning domain of annihilation—yet they never touched or harmed a single profound practitioner, even those within arm's reach.
The sword in Mu Feixue's hand slowly lowered. Before her, Yun Che was only a hair's breadth away. She stared at his back, her gaze gradually becoming entranced...
Yun Che waved his arm, and an incredibly terrifying tearing sound echoed through heaven and earth. A full hundred miles of snowfield was flipped into the air. Countless profound beasts and countless corpses were flung far away amidst flashing lightning... In the distance, a pitch-black rain fell.
The thunder gradually ceased, and the world fell silent. On this land, which had just been trampled by beasts and nearly forced into a desperate situation, there was not a single profound beast left within a hundred miles.
And the remaining beasts in the distance were surely scared out of their wits and would not dare come within half a step.
The crisis was resolved. Yun Che swept his gaze over the stunned crowd before Huanyan City, then turned around and asked, "Are you alright?"
As he spoke, his brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
Because Mu Feixue was staring directly into his eyes. Her gaze was weak and unfocused, but it was fixed straight on him. Even after he finished speaking, she still did not look away or answer.
And in Yun Che's memory, Mu Feixue was a person with a cold temperament to the bone. She would never lock eyes with anyone like this. Even when he, who had a "special relationship" with her, took the initiative to speak to her, she would turn her gaze away, ignore him completely, and sometimes even walk off directly.
"...?" Yun Che reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, saying with a grin, "Fair immortal, staring at me like this makes me quite embarrassed."
As soon as Yun Che's words fell, the ice sword in Mu Feixue's hand suddenly slipped. Her body swayed slightly, then fell limply.
"SENIOR SISTER FEIXUE!!"
In the distance, the ice phoenix disciples, who had been stunned for a long time, saw this and snapped back to reality. With cries of alarm, they rushed over quickly.
Yun Che instinctively reached out, but his arm stopped halfway. Instead, he released a gentle surge of profound energy, lightly supporting Mu Feixue's falling body, letting her land softly on the ground.
Although he had forcibly stopped her from unleashing the Moon-Breaking Ruin, her essence blood had been injured, and her vitality had been severely damaged. On top of the injuries she had suffered from the power of the two Glacial Beasts... she would be in a weakened state for quite a long time to come.
Unless he used his Desolate God's power or Light profound force.
Mu Feixue slowly sat cross-legged on the ground. The ice phoenix mark between her brows flickered faintly as she began to concentrate on suppressing her injuries and calming her chaotic and weakened blood energy.
"SENIOR SISTER FEIXUE!"
A group of ice phoenix disciples rushed over in panic. Several female disciples with the highest cultivation gathered around Mu Feixue, quickly forming a protective formation around her. The leading male disciple bowed deeply before Yun Che and said, "Senior, thank you for your chivalrous aid in saving Senior Sister Feixue. Our Ice Phoenix God Sect will forever remember your kindness."
Yun Che recognized him at a glance. This leading male disciple was named Mu Hanyan, a disciple of the Ice Phoenix Palace. He had also been one of the disciples representing Yin Xue Realm in the Profound God Convention back then... though his performance had been the worst.
And as for that "Senior"...
Yun Che waved his hand magnanimously. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it."
Behind him, the profound practitioners of Huanyan City also hurried over. The lord of Huanyan City fell to his knees before Yun Che with a thud, sobbing, "Senior... thank you for your life-saving grace! If you had not been here today, Huanyan City would surely have been destroyed by the beast horde. Please accept our bow, benefactor senior."
Behind him, all the city-guarding profound practitioners knelt down in unison, bowing respectfully to Yun Che.
"...!" Yun Che's mouth twitched. He was about to speak when his brow suddenly furrowed.
Because he felt a gaze silently fixed on his back from behind... it was Mu Feixue's gaze. She had not closed her eyes to calm herself; instead, her icy pupils were wide open, staring at his back, not moving her gaze away even a fraction for a long time.
What the hell? Knowing Mu Feixue's nature—she wouldn't even spare a glance for the Jade Emperor—how could she stare so intently at a stranger? Could it be that after becoming Master's personal disciple, even her personality had changed?
"May this benefactor senior please tell us your honored name?" the lord of Huanyan City said with resolute words. "Our Huanyan City will remember it for generations... If you have any orders, we will carry them out even if it costs us our lives!"
Indeed, just those two terrifying Glacial Beasts—without Yun Che today, Huanyan City would definitely have been razed. No matter how grateful they were, it was only right.
Yun Che waved his hand again, still looking completely nonchalant. "I said it was nothing, no need to think about it. Oh... my surname is Ling, single name Yun. Whether you remember or not doesn't matter."
Mu Feixue: "..."
Mu Hanyan quickly said, "This junior is ice phoenix disciple Mu Hanyan. I will definitely report your name to my sect's elders... uh, I dare to ask, senior, where do you come from? Are you perhaps a... Divine King?"
Yun Che had used lightning force, so he was obviously not from Yin Xue Realm.
Yun Che replied, "You're right, I am indeed a Divine King. I am not from Yin Xue Realm either. I just happened to pass through here. As for the rest, don't ask further."
Hearing Yun Che admit it himself, everyone was deeply shaken.
Divine King... In Yin Xue Realm, even in the realm-ruling sect Ice Phoenix God Sect, that was a figure at the level of Palace Master or Elder!
The lord of Huanyan City bowed even lower and said with reverence, "It is the fortune of a century for our Huanyan City to have a Divine King visit. Please, benefactor senior, come to the city as our guest, so we may express our gratitude in some small way."
"No need. I still have to be on my way. You all should clean up this mess."
The gaze behind him that refused to leave made Yun Che feel somewhat unsettled. He casually dropped a few words and prepared to leave directly. Suddenly, the gaze falling on his back trembled abnormally...
Mu Feixue's body swayed, and she violently coughed up a large mouthful of blood. Her injuries had not been suppressed but had instead suddenly worsened, and her complexion became even paler.
"SENIOR SISTER FEIXUE!" All the ice phoenix disciples' faces changed drastically. They frantically took out various healing spiritual medicines, but none dared to use them on Mu Feixue. Because she was not only severely wounded but also in an extremely weakened state due to heavy damage to her essence blood and vitality. External force might not only be useless but could actually worsen her condition.
Yun Che turned back and glanced at Mu Feixue's condition... Although her injuries were not light, she should have been able to suppress them on her own. Her current state was clearly due to the backlash from Moon-Breaking Ruin.
Obviously, she had only recently mastered Moon-Breaking Ruin and could not fully control it. Although Yun Che had forcibly stopped it, the backlash was still quite severe.
If not for Yun Che's intervention, even if she had managed to kill one Glacial Beast at the cost of her life, she would have died on the spot.
If left untreated now, even if Mu Feixue recovered later, she would definitely have lingering hidden injuries, and her talent would be greatly diminished.
"I'll help you. Don't move!"
Given his understanding of Mu Feixue, even in such a state, she would never allow any man to touch her. So he didn't wait for her reaction. His finger shot out like lightning, touching her heart. His Desolate God power drew in the world's spiritual energy, flowing like wisps of clear spring into Mu Feixue's body.
To prevent Mu Feixue from violently resisting, he had already condensed his profound energy, ready to forcibly suppress her body and power. But to his surprise, Mu Feixue's body only gave a slight tremble... then calmed down. Neither her words nor her body rejected his touch.
"???" Yun Che's brow twitched involuntarily... What's going on? Has she really changed?
Could it be that she recognized me? No... no, that's absolutely impossible. His disguise and voice alteration were always perfect. The power he used and the aura he exuded were all lightning profound force. Moreover, in the perception of everyone in the divine realm, he had long since died.
Besides, although they had been in the same sect for three years, he and Mu Feixue were not familiar at all. Their interactions, at most, amounted to that one time when Mu Xuanyin had given him Flood Dragon blood, causing him to lose a bit of control and knock her down and strip her... only to end up blasting himself instead of following through.
After that, whenever they met occasionally, she wouldn't even say a word to him.
For her to recognize him under these circumstances... Yun Che would never believe it!
Yun Che's action didn't startle Mu Feixue, but it gave a big shock to all the surrounding ice phoenix disciples... Seeing his finger actually directly touch Mu Feixue's body, their eyes widened, and they exchanged glances.
Under Yun Che's Desolate God power, Mu Feixue's complexion improved rapidly, and her chaotic blood energy calmed down.
The rest would be enough for Mu Feixue to handle on her own.
Yun Che withdrew his arm, glanced at the strange expressions of the ice phoenix disciples, waved his hand impatiently, and muttered, "What a hassle. What are you little brats standing around for? Hurry up and take her back to the sect! Are you afraid she won't die fast enough?!"
As ice phoenix disciples, no one in Yin Xue Realm would dare disrespect them. But at Yun Che's scolding, they all quickly nodded. Mu Hanyan stepped forward and said, "We'll take Senior Sister back to the sect right away. But... if it's not too much trouble, may I ask where Senior Ling is headed? If you don't disdain our hospitality, could you honor our sect with your presence, so that our sect may express its gratitude?"
"No need," Yun Che said irritably as he turned around. "I have too many things to do to have that kind of free time. If it weren't that this little girl here is pretty, I wouldn't have bothered to lift a finger. Well, I'm off!"
With that, he directly turned and stepped forward, landing dozens of zhang away in one stride... but then he suddenly stopped.
He stared ahead, and the impatience in his eyes faded, replaced by deep gravity and icy cold.