# Chapter 222: Unexpected Turn
The forbidden technique "Heaven-Burning Dragon" unleashed by Fen Juebi was actually blocked by Yun Che, and blocked with his bare hands—using his two palms to forcibly extinguish that terrifying "Heaven-Burning Dragon."
As a forbidden technique of the Fen Tian Gate that required essence blood to activate, the "Heaven-Burning Dragon" appeared extremely rarely. Most disciples of Fen Tian Gate might go their entire lives without unleashing it once. There had certainly been instances where the "Heaven-Burning Dragon" was received by an opponent, but each time, the opponent had to defend with extreme difficulty. But to block it in this manner... had never happened before!
In front of Yun Che, the "Heaven-Burning Dragon" was like an overconfident young snake, effortlessly strangled by his hands. Throughout the entire process, Yun Che suffered not even a single scratch.
Fen Juebi fell to his knees with a "thud," his face pale as paper, his pupils dilated to the extreme, as if his soul had fled his body in terror. The reactions of the other six from Fen Tian Gate, including the nearly hundred-year-old Fen Moli, were much the same. They simply could not believe their eyes, much less accept that the mightiest Heaven-Burning Dragon had been received in such a manner, and with the opponent completely unharmed... This was something that even a peak Earth Xuan Realm expert would find almost impossible to accomplish!
That supremely dense blue profound flame in its berserk state could instantly melt even refined steel!
Ling Yuefeng's face was also filled with astonishment. Ling Wugou, who had been about to charge into the profound force barrier, was frozen in place, forgetting even to lower his raised profound power, staring at Yun Che with an utterly shocked expression... as if looking at a monster from beyond the heavens.
The shock Yun Che created in that instant far surpassed everything he had done before.
Watching Fen Juebi, whose conviction had collapsed amid extreme shock and disbelief, collapse limply to the ground, Yun Che gave a cold smirk, stretched out his arms, grabbed the Overlord Giant Sword again, and swung it fiercely at Fen Juebi.
Whoosh!!
The power of the heavy sword erupted. In his current state, Fen Juebi had almost no resistance. With a muffled grunt, he was sent tumbling more than a dozen times, then lay on the ground like a dead dog, his body twitching, unable to stand for a long time.
Ling Wugou finally snapped back to reality. He withdrew his profound power, steadied his breathing, and then calmly announced: "Fen Juebi has been down for over ten breaths. Yun Che of the Cangfeng Imperial Clan wins! He advances to tomorrow's Four-Way Battle!"
Ling Wugou's voice also awakened the stunned crowd. Instantly, a cacophony of noise filled the entire Sword Discussion Platform.
From the very start of this year's ranking battles, Yun Che had been creating one legend after another. And just when almost everyone thought Yun Che could not possibly advance another step, another even more exaggerated legend unfolded before their eyes, carrying a tremendous shock to their souls.
Yun Che had defeated Fen Juebi—and it was a complete victory!
Fen Moli plopped back into his seat, the old flesh on his face trembling violently. Fen Juebi had lost, lost utterly and completely. This also meant that in this ranking battle, the Fen Tian Gate was essentially doomed to fall out of the top four for the first time. If Shui Wushuang and Xia Qingyue of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace both lost in this round, or if Xiao Kuanglei of the Xiao Sect lost, they still might have a chance to compete for fourth place. But Fen Juebi was no match for either Shui Wushuang or Xiao Kuanglei—Fen Moli held no illusions about that.
Moreover, Fen Juebi had already burned his essence blood, causing his profound strength to plummet sharply, making his chances even slimmer.
This could be called the greatest disgrace for the Fen Tian Gate in several hundred years.
However, one could not entirely blame Fen Juebi. Based on Yun Che's final act of extinguishing the Heaven-Burning Dragon with his bare hands, even if Fen Jin had taken the field, he would not have been Yun Che's match.
"How... how did he do it?"
"Don't know... He probably used his profound force to forcibly neutralize the power of the flame dragon."
"But that's the Fen Tian Gate's forbidden technique! To completely neutralize such an attack, even a peak Earth Xuan Realm expert might not be able to do it."
"This Yun Che has clearly been hiding his strength all along. Who knows how much more he's concealing... True Xuan Realm Level 10... just thinking about it drives people mad."
"Fen Juebi has lost. The Fen Tian Gate is also doomed to fall outside the top four. And the Cangfeng Imperial Clan has actually made it into the semifinals! Could it be that from now on, the Four Great Sects will no longer include the Fen Tian Gate, but instead the Cangfeng Imperial Clan?"
"The once-great Cangfeng Imperial Clan, because of Yun Che this time, will have no choice but to shake the world and restore its prestige! Where did the Cangfeng Imperial Clan find such a freak? Sigh, why doesn't our sect have a disciple like him born to us!"
The discussions throughout the venue continued endlessly. Yun Che had once again become the focus of the entire audience, while the once-illustrious Fen Tian Gate had been reduced to a foil and a loser, receiving not admiration and praise, but looks tinged with pity and regret...
Under everyone's gaze, Yun Che did not immediately leave the Sword Discussion Platform. Instead, he gave a slight nod to Ling Wugou: "Elder Ling, thank you."
Ling Wugou was startled, then nodded slightly, silently praising him in his heart... Under those circumstances, he was still able to divert his attention and notice that I was preparing to act to "save him"? Could it be that when he faced the "Heaven-Burning Dragon," he still held power in reserve?
Yun Che turned sideways, preparing to leave the center of the platform. At that moment, Fen Juebi, whom he had his back to, suddenly leaped up from the ground, hatred burning in his eyes, his face twisted like a demon of despair, charging at Yun Che. His Ghost Flame Blade carried blazing blue flames, stabbing straight toward Yun Che's back.
"I'll kill you!!"
Fen Juebi was by no means someone with weak mental fortitude who could not accept defeat. But this loss was different. He had lost to an opponent he had deemed utterly pathetic before the match. Moreover, this was a match that concerned the honor of Fen Tian Gate—a match he absolutely could not afford to lose. The words Fen Moli had spoken earlier, along with the consequences and disgrace of failure, stabbed into his nerves and soul like steel needles, driving him completely insane. He only wanted to tear Yun Che apart limb by limb...
Fen Juebi's actions immediately drew contemptuous jeers from the entire audience. Yun Che paused in his steps, muttered "Looking for death," and whirled around, his heavy sword slamming down at Fen Juebi without mercy.
If it came down to a direct clash of strength, Fen Juebi was no match for Yun Che to begin with, let alone in his severely weakened state after burning his essence blood. The power he unleashed was effortlessly crushed by Yun Che's heavy sword. Then, he felt as if a ten-thousand-ton hammer had slammed into his chest.
Boom!!
Fen Juebi's world exploded with a roar. A jet of blood shot from his mouth, his chest turned to a bloody mess, and his entire body flew backward like a torn sack caught in a gale...
"Juebi!! You dare, junior!"
A roar of extreme fury echoed throughout the venue. Fen Moli shot into the air, crossing the distance of several dozen zhang in an instant, directly breaking through the profound force barrier and landing in front of Fen Juebi. After checking his injuries, he whirled around, glaring at Yun Che with rage: "Junior! Your heart is so vicious! The battle has already ended, yet you maliciously struck and severely wounded the son of my Fen Tian Gate's master!!"
The name of the Fen Tian Gate's Grand Elder shook the world, his prestige almost rivaling that of Fen Duanhun, the master of Fen Tian Gate. There was hardly anyone present who did not fear him. With this roar, even a sect master from a major clan would tremble in fear. But Yun Che was definitely not one of them. He gave a cold laugh and said: "Are you blind? He attacked me from behind first. If I didn't fight back, was I supposed to just stand here and let him hit me?"
"You're asking for death, junior!" Fen Moli was so enraged that his beard stood on end. No one had dared to speak to him like that in decades, let alone a junior. Add to that the Fen Tian Gate's defeat and the disgrace they were about to suffer, all stemming from this man, and his fury erupted like a volcano... He wanted to kill Yun Che to vent his hatred even more than Fen Juebi did.
He withdrew his hand from Fen Juebi, then suddenly launched himself into the air, his right hand like an eagle's claw, striking straight at Yun Che's crown.
This sudden turn of events drew gasps from the entire audience. That Fen Moli would fly to the center of the Sword Discussion Platform to check Fen Juebi's injuries was not surprising at all—it was only natural. But no one expected that he would suddenly attack Yun Che... And from the way he struck, it was clearly a killing blow meant to take Yun Che's life!
A centenarian, the Grand Elder of Fen Tian Gate, a peak-level Half-step King Xuan powerhouse, was actually attacking a mere seventeen-year-old junior—and within Tian Jian Villa, with an elder of Tian Wei Sword Domain present! This move by Fen Moli was clearly an act of sheer madness caused by rage overriding all reason.
"Elder Fen, stop!" Ling Wugou was greatly alarmed and rushed forward to stop Fen Moli. But the gap between Late-stage Heavenly Xuan and Half-step King Xuan was simply too great. Before he could even get close, he was forcibly forced back by the berserk profound force Fen Moli had unleashed. All he could do was watch helplessly as Fen Moli's hand descended on Yun Che... This claw could crush Yun Che's entire head into pulp.
Yun Che had never imagined that Fen Moli would be so shameless as to attack him. Half-step King Xuan's power—Yun Che had once felt it from Chu Yueli. And Fen Moli had been stuck at the Half-step King Xuan realm for over thirty years, his profound force even denser than Chu Yueli's. When that claw came at him, the terrifying profound force aura made Yun Che feel as if the entire sky was pressing down on him. The overwhelming, boundless suppression of that field prevented him from even moving a finger, let alone dodging.
Though startled, Yun Che did not panic. He took a sharp breath and activated Star God Remnant Shadow with all his might...
Riiip!!
That terrible sound, as if space itself had been torn apart by Fen Moli's grab. His right hand seized Yun Che's crown, but only caught a dissipating afterimage.
Fen Moli's movements faltered for a moment, then his fury grew even greater... He, a dignified Half-step King Xuan peak expert, ambushing a junior... and he had missed! He didn't even detect when Yun Che had used his body-shifting technique.
He had no time to marvel at Yun Che's bizarre movement technique. His rage ignited, he relocated Yun Che's position, let out a low roar, and his body burst forth with a sky-full of purple profound flames. The purple flames transformed into dozens of purple flame dragons, charging at Yun Che with ferocity—each dragon's power surpassed the Heaven-Burning Dragon that Fen Juebi had unleashed by countless times.
"Stop!"
"STOP!!!!"
Everything happened in the space of a spark. People were only now reacting. Two shouts rang out from different directions—one from Qin Wushang, one from Ling Yuefeng. They both stood up at the same time, about to charge toward the platform. But at that moment, a figure of ice-blue, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold, flew toward the Sword Discussion Platform ahead of them...
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack...
The sound of ice freezing rang out deafeningly. In an instant, the entire sky of purple flames was frozen solid. The astonishing heat rapidly dropped, quickly turning to icy cold. A figure of ethereal beauty in blue descended from above, floating without touching the ground, standing directly in front of Yun Che. As she descended, all the ice crystals shattered, and with them, all the purple flames vanished.
Ling Yuefeng's body, which had been about to launch forward, stopped abruptly. He stared at the graceful figure on the platform, his eyes momentarily dazed: "Why would it be... her..."
"Little..." Yun Che exclaimed in surprise, but immediately softened his voice: "...Fairy."
Fen Moli's attack had indeed scared Yun Che quite a bit. Half-step King Xuan power—he had no way to resist. If he were touched, he would be obliterated to ashes in an instant. If not for her appearance, he would have been forced to use Mo Li's power. But that would have meant exposing his ultimate trump card, nakedly, before everyone's eyes.
Chu Yuechan, with her back to him, seemed not to hear his voice, showing no reaction. Her eyes, like frozen crystals, stared coldly at Fen Moli.
Chu Yueli stood up, her beautiful eyes filled with surprise. Fen Moli's attack was, of course, despicable and shameless. She had expected that many strong experts who disapproved would intervene, especially those from Tian Jian Villa. Even she herself had felt the urge to stop him. But she had firmly believed that if there was one person in the entire venue who would not act to stop him, it would surely be her sister, Chu Yuechan. Her temperament was extremely cold and indifferent; she would absolutely never meddle in the affairs of others.
But to her utter astonishment, Chu Yuechan was the first to act!
Not only did she intervene to stop him, but she also directly shielded herself in front of Yun Che, facing down Fen Moli, the Grand Elder of Fen Tian Gate!
...