# Chapter 198: Catching the Flame Blade with Bare Hands
Since Fen Juechen entered Cangfeng Mystic Palace, he had resided at the top of the Inner Palace Heavenly Xuan List, unshakable by anyone. Coupled with his astonishing background, he was regarded by many disciples as a godlike existence within Cangfeng Mystic Palace—one to be admired and looked up to, never provoked.
Yun Che was the very first person who dared to speak to him like this! Even the arrogant Feng Bufan and Fang Feilong would never dare.
When Yun Che said these words, Fen Juechen showed no anger whatsoever, not even a flicker of emotion. Because in his eyes, this person before him wasn't even qualified to make him angry. He faintly uttered three words: "Just because of you?"
"Right, just because of me!" Contrary to Fen Juechen, Yun Che made no effort to hide his anger. His opinion of Fen Juechen had immediately changed. When he first met Fen Juechen, he only sensed an arrogance that was bone-deep and astonishingly heavy. Now he realized that Fen Juechen was not just arrogant, but also wild—a kind of "contemptuous" wildness. After all, he was born into Fen Tian Gate, one of the peak sects of the Cang Feng Empire. Growing up in such a family, one would have a clear concept of "upper class" and "lower class" from a young age. In Cangfeng Mystic Palace, he probably saw everyone as lower class. Disciplining a "lower class" person was almost a matter of course to him.
"Hey, you two..."
The moment they met, tension flared like swords drawn. Qin Wushang was about to step in and stop them when Cang Yue gestured for him to hold back, then silently shook her head at him. She knew very well that Yun Che was extremely protective of his own. Other matters he might overlook or yield on, but harming those close to him had seriously touched his reverse scale.
Such a matter, no matter who was on the other side, he would never let go easily.
"You're not qualified yet," a trace of mockery flickered across Fen Juechen's cold, hard face.
"Whether I'm qualified or not is for me to decide, not you." Yun Che's voice also turned cold as he walked toward Fen Juechen, speaking darkly: "It seems you have no intention of apologizing. Very well. I already gave you a chance, and you refused it... Now, I not only want you to apologize to Yuanba, but also kneel and kowtow!"
With that, Yun Che's feet shifted, his speed instantly surging as he grabbed toward Fen Juechen's chest.
"Looking for death!!"
Facing Yun Che's proactive attack, Fen Juechen didn't even lift his head, punching out fiercely. A clump of flames instantly ignited on his fist. Yun Che's right hand transformed from a grab into a fist, colliding head-on with Fen Juechen's fist.
Bang!!
A force far exceeding Fen Juechen's expectations surged from the point of impact. Though Fen Juechen immediately became alert and mobilized his profound power, he still couldn't resist the overwhelming strength. He was sent tumbling backward, stumbling several steps upon landing, looking utterly disheveled in an instant.
Meanwhile, Yun Che stood rooted to the spot—not even his upper body leaning back, let alone his feet.
His right hand and entire right arm throbbed with pain, and Fen Juechen couldn't suppress the shock rising in his heart... This was absolutely impossible for a True Xuan Realm profound practitioner to possess such power.
And he, as a Level 5 Spirit Xuan Realm cultivator, was forced into a sorry state by a single move from a True Xuan Realm disciple—a humiliation he had never experienced before. To his bone-deep pride, this was undoubtedly a heavy trampling. He released vast anger, his eyes turning incomparably icy.
And Yun Che, facing him, poured oil on the fire: "So this is the strength of the Inner Palace Heavenly Xuan List number one? Turns out it's nothing much. It's really laughable."
"Look~ing~for~death!!"
Fen Juechen's utterance of "looking for death" this time was completely different from the last. The first time carried mockery; this time, it carried icy killing intent. A flash of fire appeared between his hands, and an eight-foot-long crimson great blade materialized... The blade was Fen Tian Gate's sect weapon, the "Fen Tian Blade", and moreover, the soul technique of Fen Tian Gate.
"Draw your weapon, and I'll give you... a glorious death!" Fen Juechen said darkly.
Yun Che crossed his arms and sneered, "Someone like you isn't even worthy of making me draw a weapon."
"Look~ing~for~death!!"
The same two words this time were filled with Fen Juechen's utmost fury and killing intent. For the first time in his life, as the son of the Fen Tian Gate master, someone dared to despise him so greatly. As his anger and killing intent rose, a blazing flame ignited on his Crimson Flame Blade.
Shiiiiiiik!!
Fen Juechen's figure flickered, and the flame-burning Crimson Flame Blade tore through space with a piercing sound, slashing toward Yun Che's head. Before the blade arrived, an intensely hot wave of air rushed over his face. But this heat had no effect on Yun Che at all; instead, it gave him an unusual sense of comfort. Staring at the oncoming Crimson Flame Blade, he neither retreated nor advanced, neither dodged nor countered. Instead, he unhurriedly extended his right hand and reached straight for the blade.
This move made Qin Wushang, Cang Yue, and Xia Yuanba all greatly alarmed. From the looks of it, Yun Che clearly intended to catch Fen Juechen's Crimson Flame Blade with his bare hands!
Something like catching a blade with bare hands wasn't unheard of, but it only happened between two people with a huge gap in strength—at least five levels! And even then, it came with great risk.
And who was Fen Juechen? His profound power was not weaker than Yun Che's; in fact, it was five levels stronger! Moreover, the Crimson Flame Blade in his hand was an indestructible Earth Xuan Weapon! The Fen Tian Flame burning on it was enough to melt steel... If that blade struck true, it could cut through even refined steel, let alone a human body.
"Junior Brother Yun, dodge!!"
Cang Yue cried out in terror. Qin Wushang was also extremely anxious, but the distance between them was too great. Even though he was a super-strong Heaven Xuan Realm cultivator, he couldn't intervene in time. All he could do was watch helplessly as Yun Che's right hand grabbed onto Fen Juechen's Crimson Flame Blade...
Then, the scene came to an abrupt halt. No sound of flesh tearing, no spurting blood, and certainly no image of Yun Che's palm and arm being severed. The Crimson Flame Blade and Yun Che's hand were completely frozen in place.
More precisely, Yun Che's hand firmly gripped the blade of the Crimson Flame Blade, preventing it from descending even a fraction. And it wasn't just the blade that stopped; with a flash of Yun Che's gaze, the flames on the Crimson Flame Blade receded like rapidly retreating tidewater, extinguishing in an instant without leaving a single ember.
The caught Crimson Flame Blade and the suddenly extinguished Fen Tian Flame left Qin Wushang, Cang Yue, and Xia Yuanba deeply stunned, and even more so, Fen Juechen was shocked out of his wits. Seizing the moment of his mental disruption, Yun Che's profound force erupted instantly. Gripping the blade, he forcibly wrested the Crimson Flame Blade from Fen Juechen's hand, then viciously kicked out with his left foot, landing a heavy blow on Fen Juechen's abdomen, making him grunt and fly forward to the ground.
Yun Che casually tossed the Crimson Flame Blade behind him, then shot like lightning toward the fallen Fen Juechen, slamming his foot heavily onto his back, dispersing the profound energy he had just begun to muster.
"Yuanba, come over and accept his kowtow apology." Yun Che stepped on Fen Juechen and called out to Xia Yuanba. His strength was immense; his right foot pressed down on Fen Juechen's back like a great mountain, making it impossible for Fen Juechen to struggle free, no matter how hard he tried.
No one had expected this outcome. Not only Xia Yuanba and Cang Yue, but even Qin Wushang was stunned on the spot. Fen Juechen, who had come from Fen Tian Gate and had dominated Cangfeng Mystic Palace, had actually been defeated by Yun Che, who was only at the True Xuan Realm—and thoroughly defeated! His One-Strike Fen Tian Blade hadn't even scratched Yun Che; it had been caught with a single bare hand!
Hearing Yun Che's words, Xia Yuanba walked over in a daze. As soon as he approached, Yun Che shifted his foot from Fen Juechen's back to his neck, slamming his forehead heavily against the ground.
"Yun~Che~I'll kill you!!" Fen Juechen let out a beastly roar, his entire body radiating chaotic killing intent.
"Though you haven't apologized verbally, at least the kowtow is done. Yuanba, if you're still not satisfied, come over and beat him up. I guarantee he won't be able to fight back." Yun Che continued to step on Fen Juechen, speaking to Xia Yuanba with an easygoing expression.
"Not... not necessary. It's... it's enough." Xia Yuanba gulped, quickly refusing. His heart churned with a mix of excitement and terror—his own brother-in-law had easily defeated Fen Juechen! Fen Juechen, the number one of the Inner Palace Heavenly Xuan List, had actually kowtowed to him...
He felt his mind spinning, as if it were all a dream.
"I'll kill you... kill you... kill you!!!"
Fen Juechen's roars grew hoarser and more piercing with each cry, but no matter how loudly he shouted, he couldn't escape Yun Che's trampling. Then, a mass of flames suddenly erupted from his back, shooting three meters into the air.
Playing with fire in front of me? Yun Che sneered, and with a shift of his foot, the flames that had shot upward reversed course, directly tearing through Fen Juechen's profound force defense and burning his back.
"Ughhhh!!"
Fen Juechen's eyes bulged as he let out a scream of extreme agony. Yun Che bent down slightly, looking down at him coldly: "Fen Juechen, don't scream so unwillingly. Everything today is your own fault! Those who insult others will be insulted in turn. Heh... Hearing these words from me, are you thinking that insulting someone who's only at the Initial Xuan Realm, with no strength and no background—someone you see as 'lower class'—is nothing at all?"
"But in my eyes, even one of your lives isn't worth a single strand of Yuanba's hair!"
"I truly don't understand what you, Fen Juechen, have to be proud and wild about. I heard that you came to my Cangfeng Mystic Palace after being thoroughly defeated by your second brother, Fen Juebi. From that moment on, you were nothing but a failure who couldn't handle losing and slunk away to Cangfeng Mystic Palace with your tail between your legs!"
"I'm younger than you, and my profound power is far lower, yet you couldn't even last three exchanges against me. You called Yuanba trash? Then what about yourself? Calling you trash would be an overstatement! A character like you, looking down on everyone—what a joke!"
Every word from Yun Che pierced Fen Juechen's heart like a knife. When he finished, Yun Che kicked out, sending Fen Juechen flying far away.
Fen Juechen stood up, his face pale, his entire frame turning deathly white under the endless hatred, killing intent, and humiliation. He didn't charge forward in a state of losing control; instead, he picked up the Crimson Flame Blade, gritted his teeth, and said word by word: "The humiliation of today... one day... I will repay... a hundredfold... a thousandfold... ten thousandfold!!"
With that, dragging his agonizing pain and a suppressed killing intent and hatred, he limped away... The direction he went was not toward his residence or the Profound Gathering Tower, but the exit of the Inner Palace.
Watching Fen Juechen's back, Yun Che furrowed his brows and took a heavy breath. He had a premonition that his lesson to Fen Juechen might have created a terrible enemy—one as mad as a fiend. But he had absolutely no regrets.
"Palace Master Qin, I apologize. I've driven away another participating disciple." Yun Che said apologetically to Qin Wushang.
"This... sigh." At this point, Qin Wushang couldn't blame Yun Che for anything. He could only sigh: "Forget it. It's not your fault. It's all his own doing. Since he came to Cangfeng Mystic Palace, he's never taken anyone seriously and has injured quite a few people. It was time someone taught him a lesson. However, what you said was a bit harsh, and making him kowtow was even more... sigh, after all, he is the son of the Fen Tian Gate master. He's never suffered such humiliation in his life."
"I did this for his own good. With his temperament, if he doesn't suffer a minor loss today, he'll definitely suffer a major one in the future. Hmph. He's still too young after all." Yun Che said blandly.
His last remark was spoken with an air of seniority that made Cang Yue chuckle—because Yun Che's age was clearly even younger than Fen Juechen.
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