Chapter 1567: A Swift Kick Sends Him Flying
"Fifth-level Divine King? Are you joking?"
"Did the Nanhuang Divine Kingdom have shit for brains?"
"What's going on? Doesn't Nanhuang still have Nanhuang Jian?"
"Is Nanhuang just giving up completely? No... they're throwing their own face on the ground for others to stomp on?"
"With Nanhuang Jian's strength, it wasn't impossible for him to defeat Qi Hanshan. Even if they're abandoning all hope, this is just too ugly to watch."
...
Overwhelmed by stares and waves of sound from all directions, not a single person from Nanhuang dared to lift their head. In their entire lives, they had never felt such intense shame.
"Heh, Nanhuang is deliberately trying to disgust us, aren't they?" Dongxu Shenjun shot a glance at Nanhuang Shenjun and gave a sneering smile. "What was supposed to be a blessing from heaven has turned into such an ugly spectacle. Tsk tsk."
Before this, the lowest showing in the Middle Wasteland Battle had been an Eighth-level Divine King. At the time, both during the battle and after, it had sparked prolonged ridicule.
And now, Nanhuang, without even sending out Nanhuang Jian, had dispatched a Fifth-level Divine King!
Aside from stepping on their own face to disgust others and to taint the Middle Wasteland Battle, could there be any other explanation?
"Hm?" Just as Dongxu Shenjun finished speaking, his brow furrowed. "Yun Che?"
"How is it him!" Beside him came the clearly startled voice of Dong Jiukui.
"He's that Yun Che who once dominated the Eastern Borderlands!" Dong Jiukui said. "No mistake about it. How did he end up on Nanhuang's side?"
"That brat not only went to Nanhuang's side, but even let himself be pushed out like a dog to be made a fool of." Dong Xueci burst into laughter. "Interesting, interesting! Looks like he's about to make a name for himself in the Eastern Wasteland, hahahaha."
"Hmph! With that ugly face of his, he's a perfect choice for disgracing himself." Dong Xueyan also said with disgust.
"What's going on?" The words of Dong Xueci and Dong Xueyan made both Dongxu Shenjun and Dong Jiukui turn their heads. "Didn't you say you didn't wait for him?"
"He indeed never arrived at the sect, but came directly to the Middle Wasteland Realm, where I happened to encounter him. He defied my Eastern Wasteland's will, and not only showed no remorse or apology, but also spoke insolently, making it clear he had no regard for the Eastern Wasteland Sect in his eyes."
Even now, speaking of it, Dong Xueci felt no dissatisfaction, but rather a deep sense of satisfaction. "So when he came seeking refuge, I had Xueyan take back the Eastern Wasteland Token I had granted him and had him expelled. Hmph, if it weren't for being in the Middle Wasteland Realm, given his words and actions, I would have personally broken his limbs."
"After being driven away by Brother and me, Yun Che must have realized he could no longer survive in the Eastern Wasteland Realm. So, shamelessly, he went to seek refuge with Nanhuang. And now, at a time like this, he's being pushed out by Nanhuang like a clown. Heh." Dong Xueyan let out a low laugh, remembering how a month ago she had personally gone to the Eastern Borderlands to invite Yun Che. She felt a distinct sense of shame.
Dong Jiukui's brow was deeply furrowed.
"Is that so?" Dongxu Shenjun's expression remained calm as he asked, "Jiukui, didn't you say his profound strength was only at the First-level Divine King realm?"
"What I saw at the time was indeed the case." Dong Jiukui said. "But clearly, he must have some sort of concealment artifact on him. There's no way he could have advanced this much in just a month. The cultivation level he's showing now certainly isn't real... After all, his victories over the Falling Sun Swordmaster and the Mingpeng Patriarch are not false."
"Did the Ninth Master witness this with his own eyes?" Dong Xueci asked.
Dong Jiukui shook his head. "No. But based on what I know, he must have exceptional qualities."
"In other words, the Ninth Master's previous assessment of him was always just speculation." Dong Xueci said slowly. "If that guess was wrong, wouldn't our Eastern Wasteland Sect have been made fools of by him?"
"Enough. Let's just pretend this person never existed in the Eastern Wasteland." Dongxu Shenjun said. Even if Yun Che really was using some kind of profound artifact to hide his cultivation, at most he would be a Tenth-level Divine King. The Eastern Wasteland battle formation didn't lack for him. Expelling him was fine.
Originally, he had been anxious to find a large number of powerful outside reinforcements because he was worried about Nanhuang's rise.
Now, there was nothing to worry about.
"Nanhuang!" Beihan Shenjun stood up and said coldly, "Are you certain you want this person to fight?"
"Of course." The response came from Nanhuang Chanyi.
Just a moment ago, they had been doubting whether this person calling himself Yun Che had barged into the battlefield on his own. But Nanhuang Chanyi's reply was without any hesitation.
Beihan Shenjun's brow sank. "This is the Middle Wasteland Battle, not a place to make a spectacle of yourself!"
That one harshly piercing remark made the Nanhuang crowd's faces flush red.
Nanhuang Jian was still standing right there, yet they had sent a Fifth-level Divine King into the battlefield... If that wasn't making a spectacle, what was?
"Making a spectacle?" Nanhuang Chanyi said calmly. "I don't understand what Beihan Shenjun means by that. Has his entry into the Middle Wasteland Battle violated any rules?"
"Heh, very well." Beihan Shenjun sneered. "The esteemed Nanhuang Divine Kingdom puts on such an ugly display. Even this king, being here in the same secluded wasteland, feels deeply ashamed. Very well then. Let this king take a good look at the elegance of Nanhuang's battle finale!"
He waved his arm. "Western Wasteland's Qi Hanshan, Nanhuang's Yun Che, begin the battle!"
"Sect Master Qi, finish it quickly. The Middle Wasteland Battlefield is no place for trash!" Western Wasteland Shenjun said, not through a sound transmission, but out loud in public.
Qi Hanshan's face was still twitching. Encountering a Fifth-level Divine King opponent on a battlefield like the Middle Wasteland Battle, which was meant for peak-level Divine Kings, was degrading just to talk about.
After Beihan Shenjun shouted the words "begin the battle," he stood motionless, not even circulating his aura. Making the first move? He couldn't bear the shame.
When the order from Western Wasteland Shenjun to "finish it quickly" reached his ears, he finally raised his palm, twisted his mouth, and said to Yun Che, "Did you hear that? This isn't a place for trash like you... get out!"
As his voice fell, his body flickered abruptly, stirring a storm as he charged straight at Yun Che. His five fingers formed claws, aiming directly for Yun Che's crown, clearly intending to throw Yun Che out of the battlefield in the most disgraceful manner possible.
Yun Che did not move, as if he had no intention of resisting at all. Half a major realm apart—a gap so vast that no means could bridge it. Resistance was meaningless. To just lose directly would at least draw fewer jeers and cold stares.
Everyone was utterly certain that in the next instant, Yun Che would be swept out of the battlefield, and Nanhuang Divine Kingdom's Middle Wasteland Battle would end in disgrace.
Originally, if Nanhuang Jian had fought, Nanhuang Divine Kingdom might have salvaged some face. Even if he lost, he could at least display the brilliance of Nanhuang's lineage in the final moments. But they chose to push out a Fifth-level Divine King... Perhaps, in their extreme shame and anger, they really were using this to disgust the entire Middle Wasteland Battle.
Only Qianye Ying'er sat there indifferently, her eyes closed, her head slightly bowed. She didn't even glance at the battlefield.
Because there was no need to.
Thinking back to the Profound Formation Convention in the Eastern Divine Region back then, when Yun Che, at the Divine Tribulation Realm, entered the Sealing God Battle, how many sighs of disdain had he drawn? And afterward, how many hearts and minds had he overturned.
Yun Che—his very existence seemed to overturn common sense and understanding!
Qi Hanshan closed in instantly, his palm wreathed in black light, mere two feet from Yun Che's head. At that moment, Yun Che, who had been still for so long, suddenly kicked out, striking Qi Hanshan square in the abdomen.
BANG————
The rumble was so heavy it felt as if it had exploded in everyone's internal organs. The profound aura around Qi Hanshan collapsed instantly, his body bent into an exaggerated right angle, and he flew backward violently, crossing the battlefield in an instant before crashing down into the Western Wasteland Sect's area.
Rumble rumble——
Qi Hanshan hit the ground, his body plowing a deep trench several miles long before finally stopping.
The Middle Wasteland Battlefield fell into instant dead silence. Everyone seemed to have their throats suddenly clamped shut, eyes bulging, mouths agape, unable to make a sound for a long time.
That Yun Che—the one they had all expected to be heavily injured and thrown out of the battlefield—was still standing at the center of the field, not having moved an inch from his original position, not a speck of dust on him.
"..." Behind the beaded curtain, Nanhuang Chanyi's beautiful eyes suddenly flashed with an extraordinarily dazzling light.
Under pairs of terrified gazes, as if they were seeing ghosts or gods, Yun Che remained cold and indifferent, without even the slightest hint of excitement. His demeanor was as chill as if he had casually swatted a mosquito that had flown by.
From the south of the battlefield came Nanhuang Chanyi's leisurely, soft voice: "The Western Wasteland Realm King is right. Trash indeed has no place on this battlefield."
"..." Western Wasteland Shenjun stood frozen, completely unresponsive.
"This... this..." Nanhuang Mofeng, Nanhuang Jian... they were all stunned, their gazes, even their minds, somewhat dazed.
Nanhuang Shenjun unconsciously stood up, staring fixedly at Yun Che... Even he could hardly believe his own eyes.
Stillness. Complete stillness. The Middle Wasteland Battle had never seen such a prolonged silence. Because the Middle Wasteland Battle had never witnessed a scene so utterly absurd.
"This... how... how is this possible?" Dong Xueci, who had been waiting to see Yun Che's miserable end, felt as if he had been struck a heavy blow to the head. He was completely dumbfounded, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
"Ah... aaaagh!"
A pained, hoarse cry broke the suffocating silence. From the dust, Qi Hanshan shot up. He glared fiercely at Yun Che, his mouth opening as if to roar something, but before the words left his mouth, a jet of blood spurted out... Then it turned into a fountain of blood, gushing wildly from his mouth and all seven orifices. His body stiffened and fell backward, this time not getting up.
"Sect... Sect Master Qi?"
The disciples of the Qi Wang Sect let out fearful voices. Western Wasteland Shenjun leaped down and landed beside Qi Hanshan. A sweep of his profound aura, and his face turned terrifying. He looked up at Yun Che, his gaze three parts fury, but seven parts shock: "You..."
Qi Hanshan's five viscera were all shattered, and nearly half of his meridians were severed! If not treated, there was even a risk to his life.
He knew Qi Hanshan's cultivation all too well. And just now, he had only taken one blow from Yun Che... and was already this gravely wounded!?
Facing Western Wasteland Shenjun's glare, Yun Che acted as if he hadn't seen it, showing no reaction.
"Does Western Wasteland Realm King have something to say?" Nanhuang Chanyi spoke again. "Since you knew he was trash, yet still sent him into battle, is Western Wasteland Realm King trying to tell the world that the Western Wasteland Realm is left with nothing but trash?"
Such a soft voice, yet every word carried an exceptionally piercing and sharp sarcasm.
Western Wasteland Shenjun's earlier remark—"Finish it quickly. The Middle Wasteland Battlefield is no place for trash"—was thrown back in his face, lightly and yet viciously.
Western Wasteland Shenjun's gaze turned icy cold. As the Realm King of the Western Wasteland Realm, he was usually met with gazes of awe. Who would dare speak to him like this... If it were Nanhuang Shenjun, that would be one thing. But Nanhuang Chanyi was merely a junior, a woman!
Nanhuang Chanyi turned her gaze away, no longer looking at Western Wasteland Shenjun. Instead, she looked at Beihan Shenjun: "Beihan Realm King, how do you find the 'spectacle' my Nanhuang has put on? If it's to your satisfaction, shouldn't you be announcing the victor and the loser!"
Countless gazes remained fixed on Yun Che, but their nature had undergone a complete reversal from before. This Fifth-level Divine King, whom everyone had taken for a joke, had defeated Qi Hanshan in a single blow... Perhaps it was due to Qi Hanshan's underestimation and carelessness, but his instantaneous defeat was a living, breathing fact before their eyes, and he had even been gravely wounded and knocked unconscious on the spot.
And besides Yun Che, there was Nanhuang Chanyi... This Nanhuang Crown Princess, who in rumor and perception was cold and gentle in nature, with only middling talent in the profound way yet uniquely stunning in beauty, had today not only surprised everyone by rejecting Beihan Chuxin, but had also, in this single moment, directly stabbed at Western Wasteland Shenjun. And when facing Beihan Shenjun, every word she spoke carried sarcasm!
Not just others, but even Nanhuang's own people were stunned for a long time. They looked at Yun Che, then at Nanhuang Chanyi, all feeling a deep sense of unreality.