Chapter 331: Massacre
The elders and pavilion masters were all near the council hall. Those who rushed over to stop Yun Che from continuing his attack on Fen Duanhun and Fen Moji were nearby disciples whose strength was at the Spirit Xuan Realm or Earth Xuan Realm. To Yun Che, enemies of this level posed absolutely no threat at all. He put away the Snow Phoenix Beast, letting the Heaven-Scorching Flame engulf his body as he plummeted downward without even looking below. With a violent roar from the Dragon Gate, he slammed it heavily into the ground.
*Boom!!!*
The entire ground of Fen Tian Gate shook noticeably.
Accompanied by a heaven-shaking chorus of screams, all Fen Tian disciples within ten zhang of Yun Che were sent flying. The farthest among them flew dozens of zhang away, landing either heavily injured and unable to rise, or dead on the spot. As soon as Yun Che landed, his figure turned into a streak of light, plunging like a sharp blade into the surging ranks of Fen Tian Gate disciples. The Dragon Gate descended with a whistling sound like a hurricane sweeping down.
*Boom!!!!*
Another thunderous roar shook the earth of Fen Tian Gate once more. Over a hundred disciples were turned into departed souls under this single sword strike.
Two strikes—just two strikes—had shattered the psychological defenses of nearly everyone present.
If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that such a large-scale quaking of the ground was caused by the attack of this young man. They would have taken it for an earthquake. Even when elders within the sect fought among themselves, they could never produce such a terrifying display. There were no mediocrities in Fen Tian Gate. Even disciples at the middle level were considered mentor-grade figures when they went out into the world. But before him, a single swing of his sword left corpses strewn across the field in droves.
"If you want to die, then by all means, come!"
Yun Che let out a furious roar as his heavy sword swung wide and fierce. With every sweep, at least thirty to forty Fen Tian Gate disciples were blasted away. These Spirit Xuan and Earth Xuan experts—let alone blocking his attacks—could not even withstand the aftershocks. For a time, within the entire Fen Tian Gate, one could feel the trembling of the earth, the howling of a hurricane, the rumbling of thunderbolts... and the rain of blood and shattered limbs and bones.
Not far away, the elders and pavilion masters from the council hall appeared simultaneously. Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from Yun Che, these super experts—usually brimming with arrogance—all felt their hands and feet turn cold and their scalps prickle violently.
"H-he... he's Yun Che?" an elder asked in a trembling voice.
"H-how... how can there be such a terrifying young man! No wonder he was able to kill the Grand Elder!"
"But his Profound Force aura clearly indicates only the sixth level of the Earth Xuan Realm!"
A sixth-level Earth Xuan Realm cultivator capable of unleashing such horrifying power—it was simply inconceivable!
*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*
In the chaos, four flaming blades simultaneously struck Yun Che's back, but the sound they made was that of metal colliding with metal. The four attackers clearly felt that their full-powered strikes had landed on an incredibly hard steel plate, jarring their wrists so badly they nearly dislocated. Through the torn fabric of Yun Che's clothes, they saw his exposed skin—only a few shallow red marks. There was not a single wound, not even a drop of blood.
The four were stunned, their eyes wide with shock, almost popping out of their sockets. Yun Che's counterattack came like a tsunami. With a single loud crash, the bodies of the four were instantly shattered into dozens of pieces. The residual force of his heavy sword continued forward, annihilating the dozen or so Fen Tian disciples who had tried to charge at him.
Yun Che's body was protected by the Great Dao Pagoda Art, tempered by Phoenix Blood and Dragon God's Blood. Not long ago, he had also obtained pure Dragon God's Marrow, undergoing another complete transformation. Even without using Profound Force to protect himself, the toughness of his body far exceeded anyone's imagination and understanding. Compared to his overwhelmingly powerful offensive capabilities, his physical defense was even more formidable. One could say that even if Yun Che wanted to die now, it wouldn't be easy.
If one focused solely on offense, defense would inevitably suffer. Heavy weapons were extremely fierce but had major flaws, making it easy for enemies to exploit openings and deliver fatal blows. No matter how many times greater one's destructive power, it would be useless without sufficient self-preservation ability. Yun Che's offensive power was already terrifyingly abnormal, and his defensive power had reached an utterly inconceivable level. Even if he stood still, the Fen Tian disciples surrounding him would find it difficult to injure him...
A Yun Che like this became an utterly unstoppable, ruthless killing machine amidst the siege of Fen Tian disciples!
No matter how powerful a cultivator, they must fear being overwhelmed by numbers. That was why, on their own turf, Fen Tian Gate had no need to fear anyone. In everyone's eyes, if Yun Che dared to come, he was simply walking to his death. But that logic seemed completely invalid against Yun Che. The encircling attacks, wave after wave, never suppressed him in the slightest. Instead, it was as if they were actively offering their lives for him to slaughter... With swords and blades in hand, a single strike might cut down four or five people at most. But with a single swing of his heavy sword, everything within ten zhang was turned to scorched earth. Dozens, even hundreds of Fen Tian disciples were reduced to mangled corpses, like fragile wheat stalks being reaped wantonly by Yun Che.
"Brat, die!"
From behind Yun Che, two powerful Heavenly Xuan auras attacked simultaneously. Two of the elders and pavilion masters who had been watching finally made their move. Seizing the opportunity while Yun Che was surrounded, they struck with twin blades. The tips of their swords bloomed with a deep purple blade glow, stabbing straight toward Yun Che's back.
*Boom!!*
Yun Che spun around like lightning. The two-thousand-jin King Xuan Dragon Gate—as if it weighed nothing more than a feather—was whipped behind him in an instant. With a mighty crash, the purple blade glow conjured by the two Heavenly Xuan experts was shattered into nothingness. The violent storm of the heavy sword slammed heavily into both their chests.
At that moment, they finally understood why every swing of Yun Che's sword caused the ground to tremble... It was not an illusion, not a delusion. Because at that instant, they felt as if a thunder god's hammer from heaven had struck their chests!
Both of them were sent flying in the same direction, crashing into a mountain wall a hundred zhang away. The wall shook, and the two Heavenly Xuan experts—their bodies tougher than bedrock—were shattered into dozens of pieces. As the fragments fell and mingled, even their own parents would never be able to tell which piece belonged to which corpse.
"Fourteenth Elder!"
"Pavilion Master Duanchi!"
Shrieks of terror and grief erupted from within Fen Tian Gate. The faces of the elders and pavilion masters changed again and again. They knew the strength of these two all too well. Yet before Yun Che, they were so utterly powerless.
The twenty-seventh elder and the thirty-third pavilion master—these were the most core pillars of Fen Tian Gate's strength. To become an elder or pavilion master, one's Profound Force must reach the Heavenly Xuan Realm! That meant that within Fen Tian Gate, there were exactly sixty Heavenly Xuan experts—figures that were legendary in the outside world—aside from the gate master, Fen Duanhun, himself! The Xiao Sect and Bing Yun Fairy Palace also had no fewer than this number of Heavenly Xuan experts, and Tian Jian Villa had them in the hundreds.
Such was the might of the four great sects. Even without counting the vast numbers of ordinary disciples, merely deploying these Heavenly Xuan core experts would be enough to sweep aside every sect outside the four great ones.
Among these Heavenly Xuan cultivators of Fen Tian Gate—including Fen Duanhun—there were seven at the late Heavenly Xuan stage, with the rest at early or middle stage. The strongest of them was Fen Moli, who was half-step into the King Xuan Realm.
Sixty Heavenly Xuan experts—this was an undeniably terrifying number in the perception of Cang Feng's profound practitioners. But behind every Heavenly Xuan expert was a tremendous investment of Fen Tian Gate's effort and resources. The loss of even one was a huge blow. And now, Yun Che had slain seven of Fen Tian Gate's Heavenly Xuan experts in one go... Among them, three—Fen Moli, Fen Duancang, and Fen Moran—were among the only seven late Heavenly Xuan experts Fen Tian Gate possessed!!
Adding the two just now, out of sixty Heavenly Xuan experts, Yun Che alone had wiped out nine!
This was a colossal loss that Fen Tian Gate had never dreamed of, nor dared to imagine, in the past.
The gathered elders and pavilion masters were all trembling inside. For a moment, no one dared to step forward. They had thought that by luring Yun Che here—even at the cost of their sect's honor—they would be catching a turtle in a jar. But they never imagined that the bait they had used would attract not a lamb led to slaughter, but a ferocious, bloodthirsty wolf—one so powerful and wild that it surpassed all imagination and control! They had not even managed to harm a single hair on his head, yet they had already lost one elder, one pavilion master, and several hundred disciples... among them, many were their own descendants and relatives!
Standing on the half-mountain wall of the Juechen Celestial Pavilion, Fen Juecheng's entire face was twitching. He had watched Yun Che successfully lured in, but instead of seeing him surrounded and subdued, he witnessed a one-sided massacre. Thousands of Fen Tian disciples swarming him were being slaughtered in return, wailing in terror, corpses strewn everywhere... Fen Tian Gate—their own territory—had become a butcher yard for Yun Che to kill at will!
Back when Yun Che had ruined his wedding procession in the imperial city, he was no match for Fen Duancang. Yet less than a month later, his strength had grown so terrifyingly... Only now did Fen Juecheng truly realize that the deaths of the Grand Elder and the others were not due to Yun Che's cunning tricks, but genuinely the result of his overwhelming power!
No! Given the horrifying strength Yun Che was displaying now, not just one Fen Moli—even ten would have been killed!
"Why... why is this happening!" Fen Juecheng's eyes bulged, his teeth grinding audibly.
Atop the Juechen Celestial Pavilion, Fen Juechen's face was also convulsing. Watching Yun Che in the distance, his heart was trembling so violently it felt like it might split open.
"Gate Master, what should we do now?" Fen Moji gathered all his Profound Force to suppress his injuries, his voice clearly trembling as he spoke. "This Yun Che... he's like a demon or god reincarnated! How can someone under twenty have such terrifying strength? Gate Master, should we..."
"Immediately send a sound transmission to all elders and pavilion masters..." Fen Duanhun clutched his chest, gasping for breath. "Begin preparing the 'Nine Heavens Arcane Formation'! No matter what, he must be killed today!"
Hearing the words "Nine Heavens Arcane Formation," Fen Moji's pupils visibly contracted. Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from Yun Che, he didn't find this decision the least bit exaggerated. He nodded forcefully. "Good! If we use the 'Nine Heavens Arcane Formation,' even if he were ten times stronger, he would surely die!"
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