Chapter 1542: One Finger Intimidates the Heavens
Beside Yun Che, Dongfang Hanwei, whose face was already bloodless, turned even paler by several shades.
"This..." The Donghan Kingdom's ruler looked at Yun Che, momentarily at a loss.
A gaze carrying dark pressure and boundless ferocity pressed heavily upon Yun Che, but found his expression astonishingly cold, without a single ripple. This made him suspicious, and he turned his gaze back: "Fang Zhou, are you sure it's him?"
Fang Zhou said calmly, "Of course, would I dare to fool Patriarch Ming? Although I did not witness it myself, but..."
He looked at Yun Che, a faint sneer at the corner of his mouth. "This man is named Yun Che. Although he has the cultivation of a newly ascended Divine King, he is unknown and his origins are highly suspicious. He was brought to the royal city by the Nineteenth Princess, and she said one thing... she said this man is her lifesaver. These words can be attested by many present, including the ruler."
"Earlier, during the fierce battle, the ruler, worried for the Nineteenth Princess's safety, ordered Donghan Guard Commander Qin Jian to take the princess and flee the royal city. And Young Master Ming Yang, having come for the princess, would naturally follow upon seeing her leave."
"A personal guard of Young Master Ming Yang must be extraordinary in cultivation and would not fail to catch up with Qin Jian and the princess. That is to say, Young Master Ming Yang must have seen the Nineteenth Princess. But, during this time, the young master met with foul play. After the princess returned, she did not mention Young Master Ming Yang at all, but said that Yun Che saved her life. So, from whose hands did he save the princess?"
Ming Xiao's gaze shifted back to Yun Che, and both his expression and voice turned several times more sinister: "You... killed my son?!"
Ming Yang's four personal guards were all at the Divine Spirit Realm, but Yun Che's aura was that of a first-level Divine King! He indeed had the ability to kill Ming Yang.
Before Yun Che could respond, Fang Zhou spoke again: "Facing Patriarch Ming, of course he wouldn't admit it. However, asking another person might yield the answer more easily."
He slowly walked toward Dongfang Hanwei, a kindly smile on his face: "Nineteenth Princess, when you left the city, Young Master Ming Yang also arrived for you. I believe you must have seen him. So, tell us, did Yun Che kill Young Master Ming Yang?"
All eyes fell on Princess Hanwei. Her body trembled slightly as she shook her head purely instinctively: "No... no..."
"Nineteenth Princess," Fang Zhou's voice sounded again, even gentler: "You must think carefully before answering. This Yun Che has unclear origins and unfathomable intentions. At the very least, he is not from Donghan. That Young Master Ming Yang fell to his hand has nothing to do with the Donghan Kingdom! Even if the cause truly lies with you, if you honestly tell us the details, I believe Patriarch Ming is magnanimous as the heavens and will not hold it against you. He will only severely punish the perpetrator."
"But if you deliberately shield him... angering a figure as great as Patriarch Mingpeng, no one can protect you, and it will implicate the entire royal family, and even the Donghan Kingdom! This simple logic, I trust the Nineteenth Princess understands."
"Hanwei..." The Donghan Kingdom's ruler murmured softly. Earlier, to help Yun Che out of a tight spot, Dongfang Hanwei publicly declared that Yun Che had saved her life. At the time, he had expressed deep gratitude, but during the grand banquet, he had not asked from whose hands Yun Che had rescued her.
Hearing Fang Zhou's words now, he suddenly realized: it was very possible... that Yun Che had indeed killed Ming Yang!
Dongfang Hanwei was after all too inexperienced and too kind-hearted. She must have thought that since no outsiders saw it, it wouldn't be revealed... and yet she dared to bring Yun Che back to the royal city!
That was the young master of the Mingpeng Clan!
Dongfang Hanwei had just turned twenty. To have reached the Divine Soul Realm at this age made her an absolute prodigy among prodigies in a mid-tier star realm. But what she faced now was the danger of national destruction, the edge of a desperate cliff, and the coercion and pressure of several Divine Kings...
How could she bear this!
Her body trembled like duckweed in a chaotic wind, her face pale as fine snow. She shook her head, shaking it frantically and forcefully... These Divine Kings, with their vast experience, knew that this reaction was already the most undeniable answer.
But even though she was terrified and despairing to the point of near mental collapse, the voice that came from her lips was still a feeble, trembling denial: "No... it's not Senior Yun... no... no..."
Yun Che glanced sideways at her.
This was the first time Yun Che really looked at her, and he saw her clearly.
What each person values most changes at different stages.
For the current Yun Che, one of the things he cared most about was betrayal.
Because, as a savior, he had been betrayed bloodily by countless people he had saved...
With the same life-saving grace, some would bury and kill him in a peaceful situation, while others would choose to hold firm in adversity... even in desperate situations.
At this moment, Dongfang Hanwei surely did not know that her few words, spoken under extreme pressure and fear, still refusing to betray Yun Che, though so powerless, would completely change her own fate and that of the entire Donghan Kingdom.
"Heh," Ming Xiao let out an extremely cold laugh. "Dongfang Zhuo, you've raised a fine daughter! Good... very good! Today, after I slaughter the one who killed my son Ming Yang, I will certainly massacre this worthless royal city of yours!"
"Patriarch Ming!" The Donghan Kingdom's ruler was terrified, his voice trembling: "My daughter is young and ignorant. The Donghan Kingdom has absolutely no intention of offending the Mingpeng Clan. I beg Patriarch Ming to show mercy... As for the matter of Young Master Ming Yang, I will thoroughly investigate and give Patriarch Ming an explanation."
"Explanation? Accompanying him in death is the best explanation!" Ming Xiao's voice was like a vengeful spirit, murderous intent overflowing.
"Heh, truly, one who makes their own bed must lie in it." The Purple Cloud Immortal smiled disdainfully. "It seems today it won't be necessary for my Taiyin Divine Palace to make a move."
Amid the terror of all the Donghan people, Ming Xiao took a step forward. Instantly, it was as if a ten-thousand-zhang mountain was collapsing upon them. That single step frightened the Donghan practitioners into a panicked retreat; some even fell onto their bottoms, trembling violently.
But Ming Xiao only took that one step. His gaze shifted slightly.
Because, all along silent and still, Yun Che finally moved at this moment. He lifted his eyes and looked at Ming Xiao.
And such a simple, utterly simple action caused a subtle, indescribable change in the atmosphere of the entire space. Almost everyone inexplicably noticed, or rather sensed, Yun Che's movement... yet no one found it strange.
"That person named Ming Yang, I killed him."
Yun Che spoke, and the voice that reached everyone's ears was even colder than Ming Xiao's, with a hint of disdain and contempt.
All eyes turned to Yun Che.
"Senior... Senior Yun..." Dongfang Hanwei murmured dazedly, biting her lip hard. She knew that she had implicated Yun Che... If not for her insistence on inviting him here, she wouldn't have caused him to fall into this fatal situation.
"Just as I thought." Fang Zhou's eyes blazed as he stared at Yun Che and said coldly: "From the moment I first saw him, I felt this man was no good. It turns out he is such a audacious and wicked person! Nineteenth Princess, to bring such a person into the royal city and shield his heinous crimes—as the state preceptor of Donghan, I am utterly disappointed in you!"
The Donghan Kingdom's ruler opened his mouth but could not speak at this point. His heart had never felt so sorrowful and hopeless.
"You... who exactly are you!" Though burning with rage, wanting to tear Yun Che into a million pieces with his own hands, Ming Xiao found Yun Che too calm—calm enough to breed suspicion. "Why did you kill my son Ming Yang!"
Facing Ming Xiao's aura and fury, Yun Che's expression remained frozen cold: "Do I need a reason to kill him?"
At these words, not only Ming Xiao and Ming Ao, but also the people from Taiyin Divine Palace, Tianwu Kingdom, and Donghan Kingdom were all stunned.
In the Eastern Domain of the Eastern Ruins, the Nine Great Sects are paramount. Who would dare to be so insolent and arrogant before the sect master of one of the Nine Great Sects?
Ming Xiao laughed in extreme anger: "Very well! Yun Che... no matter your background, today I will personally... make you accompany my son in death!"
"Patriarch," Ming Ao raised a hand and said: "A mere first-level Divine King is not worthy of your personal involvement."
He stepped forward, extending his arm: "Yun Che, for killing our young master and offending our Mingpeng Clan, your crime is unforgivable! Even if you kneel and beg for mercy now, it's too late!"
Boom—
His body soared into the air, profound energy erupting. A terrifying shockwave swept horizontally, startling the practitioners until their faces turned ashen. A black streak descended as Ming Ao shot downward. His fingers, splayed wide and aimed at Yun Che's throat, glistened with a cold light more fearsome than a demon eagle's talons.
The Mingpeng Clan's power was primarily darkness and storm, with extreme speed. Ming Ao was a fifth-level Divine King; against a first-level Divine King, once locked on, the opponent had no chance of escape.
The moment Ming Ao's body erupted forward, within a radius of several li ahead, all the guards, practitioners, the Donghan Kingdom's ruler, Dongfang Hanwei, Qin Jian, and even Fang Zhou were violently swept away. The originally dense formation instantly turned into a vacuum.
And within this vacuum zone, only Yun Che remained.
He was clearly suppressed there by Ming Ao's aura, unable to take even a single step to flee.
The distance closed in an instant. Yun Che remained motionless. In everyone's eyes, the next scene would be Yun Che's head directly torn off by that terrifying Peng claw.
But only when Ming Ao was less than a zhang away did Yun Che finally move. He raised his arm, and facing the diving Ming Ao, he slowly extended a single finger to meet the grasping Peng claw.
There was no eruption of profound energy, no splash of blood, not even any sound of a scream. The scene, which should have been horrifying, became eerily silent.
Ming Ao was now right in front of Yun Che, his right hand still in a terrifying grasping shape, but a single finger was pressed against his palm... At that moment, the cold light on his claw, the storm around his body, and even the profound energy circulating throughout his entire being vanished without a trace in an instant.
The scene was incredibly quiet and strange. No one knew what had happened except Ming Ao... no, even Ming Ao himself did not know what had happened.
In his suddenly ashen pupils, Yun Che slightly raised his head and murmured faintly: "Is this all you've got?"
With that, his finger flicked lightly.
Crack!!
An ear-piercing tearing sound rang in everyone's soul. In that instant, Ming Ao's entire right arm violently tore apart, exploding into countless spouting blood fountains, and then burst into innumerable fragments amidst the wildly spraying blood.
Having lost his right arm in an instant, Ming Ao flew back with a heart-wrenching scream, crashing directly in front of Ming Xiao, writhing in agony on the ground.
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