Chapter 1543: Killing Kings Like Slaying Dogs
This scene was too bizarre and shocking, as if the entire world had frozen solid... except for Ming'ao's miserable screams, like a demon from the depths of hell.
The shock of that moment caused Mingxiao's already extremely gloomy pupils to dilate so much they nearly burst. He took a full half-second to recover from his terror, then swiftly flashed over to check Ming'ao's injuries.
But just as he bent down, an overwhelmingly cold aura abruptly closed in.
Boom!
A deafening explosion. Blood and black energy simultaneously surged dozens of zhang into the air.
Yun Che's figure plummeted down like a ghost, his right foot stomping onto Ming'ao's body. Amidst the black light, Ming'ao's screams ceased. His body and the ground beneath Yun Che's foot shattered into countless pieces in an instant, then turned into fine powder scattered across the sky under the black radiance.
"You..." Mingxiao's body stumbled backward. Ming'ao—the Grand Elder of the Mingpeng Clan, a Level 5 Divine King who shook the Eastern Domain, second only to him in the entire clan—was actually... dead!
Dead so suddenly, so easily.
Yun Che's figure was right before him, his face still cold and stiff as a corpse. Having instantly obliterated a Level 5 Divine King, he showed not a single trace of expression, as indifferent as if he had casually crushed an ant at his feet.
And his aura... it was clearly the profound energy of a Level 1 Divine King—clear beyond clarity!
Everyone suffocated in shock, unable to believe what they had seen even if they shattered all the knowledge accumulated in their lifetimes.
Clang!
Zi Xuan Immortal already had a purple-glowing profound sword in her hand. An indescribable chill and sense of crisis flooded her entire body.
"Mingpeng Clan..." Yun Che faced Mingxiao, muttering softly, "I thought you were something special, but it turns out you're all just a pile of trash."
"You... just who... are you!" Mingxiao's voice was already trembling faintly. He repeatedly, over and over again, confirmed Yun Che's profound energy aura, but all he ever sensed was only the Divine King Realm, Level 1... yet he had killed Ming'ao in two exchanges!
How could such a thing be possible!
As he spoke these shocked words... but the Mingpeng Clan Leader was the Mingpeng Clan Leader after all. The moment the last syllable left his mouth, his previously unremarkable body suddenly erupted with profound energy. His right hand formed a claw, shrouded in bluish-black profound light, and blasted straight at Yun Che's heart.
The distance between them was no more than five steps. Mingxiao was a Level 7 Divine King, far stronger than Ming'ao. The might of such a sudden strike at such close range was unimaginable.
And if Yun Che had not made him feel an extremely heavy sense of crisis, he would never have deigned to do so.
Under his Peng claw, even space twisted slightly. The terrifying storm it carried was like thousands of sharp blades cutting through space.
Mingxiao's gaze was filled with venom. He thought that under this sudden claw strike, Yun Che would either die or be severely injured... but in his suddenly dilated pupils, a palm appeared from who knows where, growing closer and larger. With every inch the palm advanced, the storm diminished by one part. By the time it reached his face, the dark storm unleashed by his Level 7 Divine King power had completely vanished.
And that palm, as if reaching out from the abyss of the void, lightly and dismissively swept across the arm he had thrust out.
Crack!
It was as if a massive hammer weighing billions of jun had smashed into his arm. His right arm—a Level 7 Divine King's arm—shattered into dozens of pieces in an instant. His entire body spun like a top, flying horizontally away.
Yun Che's body did not move. A dark flame light appeared in his palm, and he was about to blast it toward Mingxiao.
But at that moment, a flash of purple light stabbed straight at his back.
"Senior, be careful!!"
Dongfang Hanwei shouted in alarm, but her voice could never match a Divine King's speed. Before she even finished her first word, Zi Xuan Immortal's sword had already struck like thunder, directly hitting Yun Che's back.
Clang!
This sword strike felt like it had hit an indestructible rock. The gloom in Zi Xuan Immortal's eyes turned into extreme terror in an instant. The immense recoil force numbed her entire arm and even splashed several streaks of blood.
And at that same instant, the tip of the purple sword shattered completely.
As for Yun Che... not only was his body not pierced, not even a trace of blood was left behind.
In fact, his body did not lean forward in the slightest due to the force of her sword strike—not even a tiny bit.
Yun Che did not turn around, as if he hadn't even noticed or sensed her existence. His figure flickered, charging straight at Mingxiao. Golden Crow flames, mixed with dark profound light, mercilessly slammed heavily onto Mingxiao's body.
"Wuaaaaaaaah!!"
A miserable scream shook the heavens. Mingxiao was completely turned into a man of fire. The burning pain of the Golden Crow Flame was excruciating. He howled in agony, his windstorm and dark profound energy rolling and erupting like mad, destroying tracts of land, yet unable to extinguish even a single wisp of the golden flames on his body.
"Ah... ah..." Zi Xuan Immortal's footsteps faltered backward. In an indescribable terror, she felt her body involuntarily go weak. She stepped back, and back again.
"Deputy Mansion Lord, this... this person..." the Grand Guardian said as he came to her side.
"Run... run now!" She trembled, then suddenly came to her senses. At this point, she didn't care about Tianwu Kingdom at all.
But the moment Zi Xuan Immortal turned around, her body froze solid, and the terror in her eyes magnified dozens of times.
Because Yun Che had appeared before her like a ghost, less than three steps away!
"Uh..." Zi Xuan Immortal opened her mouth. Her hand holding the broken purple sword trembled, rapidly turning pale. In extreme fear, she forced a somewhat decent smile onto her face: "Senior... just now... it was only..."
Her response was Yun Che's palm, pushed out with indifference.
Zi Xuan Immortal's pupils contracted. Both arms shot out, blocking in front of her chest with all her strength... but like a storm destroying rotten wood, the sound of "crack" rang clearly in everyone's ears. Both of Zi Xuan Immortal's arms broke simultaneously, and she plummeted downward with a long streak of blood.
Ming'ao, Mingxiao, Zi Xuan Immortal—all met in one exchange: dead or injured!
Yun Che reached out and grasped, drawing the flying purple sword into his hand, then casually hurled it at the falling Zi Xuan Immortal. It pierced straight through her heart, pinning her body to the ground. The dark profound force carried by the sword wildly surged into her body, instantly devouring all her vitality.
Deputy Mansion Lord of Taiyin God Mansion, dead.
In the past, unless there was an irreconcilable blood feud, he was never willing to strike women, especially lethal strikes.
But he had clearly changed.
Now, when it came to women, only whether he was willing to do so mattered—mercy was no longer a factor.
"Deputy Mansion Lord!"
The Grand Guardian of Taiyin God Mansion let out a sorrowful roar, but before the roar faded, a shadow had already engulfed him.
The figure that had been in his line of sight just a moment ago suddenly appeared above him. A foot stepped onto his neck, stomping him violently downward.
Boom!!
The ground split open with countless fissures, some stretching dozens of li. Black mist mixed with rubble and dust erupted hundreds of zhang into the air... From within the black mist, Yun Che slowly walked out. The Grand Guardian of Taiyin had completely vanished from sight. Even after the black mist dispersed, not a single shred of his clothing could be seen.
Mingxiao's miserable screams in the flames were still heart-wrenching. Other than that, the world remained utterly silent... In Donghan and Tianwu Kingdoms, every single person's face was twisted beyond recognition. Half of them didn't even know when they had collapsed to the ground, and in their terror, they were completely unable to stand.
Divine Kings—in this region, in kingdoms like Donghan and Tianwu—were worshipped as gods. To have even one was a blessing. In any kingdom, a Divine King was a "kingdom-protecting" figure.
Ming'ao, Zi Xuan Immortal, the Grand Guardian, Mingxiao... these were not ordinary Divine Kings. They were figures of extremely high status among the Nine Great Sects! They were Grand Elders, Deputy Mansion Lords, Grand Guardians of the Nine Great Sects! They were people that even a kingdom's ruler might barely see once in a lifetime.
And Mingxiao—he was the Sect Master of one of the Nine Great Sects!
Yet under Yun Che's hands, within just a few breaths, three had died violently! One was suffering unspeakably!
Truly just a few breaths—so fast that none of them had any time to react or accept it.
It was as if Divine Kings, those beings they had thought comparable to gods, were nothing but humble, useless dogs and chickens in Yun Che's eyes.
The Golden Crow flame on Mingxiao seemed to have finally faded a bit, but Yun Che did not deliver a finishing blow. His body slowly turned, looking toward Tianwu Kingdom.
That single look made everyone in Tianwu Kingdom feel as if they had seen hell itself. The Tianwu Kingdom's ruler's body shook violently, nearly collapsing. At his side, the kingdom's Guardian Divine King Bai Pengzhou suddenly sprang up, fleeing like a dog with a broken spine.
In his extreme terror, his profound energy was thrown into chaos. A dignified Divine King, yet his flight trajectory was twisted and unstable.
Yun Che waved his finger, and a streak of flame pierced through the air. In the next instant, it ran straight through Bai Pengzhou's fleeing body.
Boom!!
Bai Pengzhou barely had time to let out his first scream before his Divine King body exploded in midair from the flame light, turning into a pile of charred ashes.
He had no enmity with Bai Pengzhou, had not even exchanged a single word with him.
He couldn't care less about his life or death.
But precisely because of this, what he hated most now was betrayal!
If Bai Pengzhou had stayed obediently in place, Yun Che wouldn't even have bothered glancing at him, let alone killed him.
Bai Pengzhou's death also severed the last fragile lifeline of the Tianwu Kingdom's ruler. The Tianwu Kingdom's ruler's pupils dilated to their largest extent ever, and the reflection of Yun Che's figure in them was undoubtedly that of a true demon god.
Yun Che shifted his gaze over. The Tianwu ruler instinctively thought he was going to destroy Tianwu Kingdom for Donghan. Trembling, his body slowly sank to his knees. But then he thought of something, raised his head tremblingly, and roared with all his strength: "Yun... Yun... Yun Venerable! Whatever Donghan promised you, our Tianwu... is willing to offer double... no, no, no... five times! Five times!"
Yun Che narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth slightly lifting. In everyone's eyes, his expression seemed to have softened a bit: "Oh? Is that so? Then let me hear—what can you give me?"
The Tianwu Kingdom's ruler seemed to suddenly see a glimmer of hope. His eyes wide, he screamed desperately: "This little king... is willing to honor Yun Venerable as the kingdom's protector... no, as the Grand National Teacher, with a status equal to this little king's in Tianwu Kingdom! Everything in Tianwu Kingdom—if the Venerable so wishes, profound crystals, rare treasures, power, beautiful women—all are yours to take!"
The Tianwu ruler's words, and Yun Che's attitude, made the Donghan ruler's entire body tremble with excitement. He quickly stepped forward and shouted: "Yun Venerable! Although Donghan Kingdom is slightly weaker in the profound path, its abundance far surpasses Tianwu, and it is more suitable for the Venerable to take residence! This little king is willing to worship Yun Venerable as the Grand National Teacher! Whatever Tianwu Kingdom can give the Venerable, our Donghan can offer ten times!"