Chapter 359: Phoenix Flame, Ice Yi (Mid)
The Tian Jian Domain, the supreme domain of the Tian Jian Throne. This was a pure attack-type domain, an advanced form of the Tian Jian basic domain "Ten Thousand Sword Domain," and also widely recognized as the strongest domain in the Cang Feng Mystic Realm, without equal. Once the Tian Jian Domain was unleashed, no one within Cang Feng could resist it.
And Ling Tianni, who had only just begun exchanging blows with Yun Che, had been forced to use the Tian Jian Domain—a first in his life. But the power Yun Che had suddenly erupted with was far too terrifying. If Ling Tianni hadn't used his strongest domain technique, he could have been severely injured under Yun Che's strike.
This was Yun Che's third time using Annihilation of Heaven and Earth. The first time had defeated Xia Qingyue, whose strength far surpassed his own. The second time had left two King Xuan—one dead, one wounded. And this time, it had forced the incomparably powerful number one of Cang Feng to use his full strength.
Boom boom boom boom...
The ear-splitting sounds of air explosions roared chaotically, causing the very space to almost collapse. The power of the heavy sword raged like thunder, and thousands of sword lights tore through dimensions. Sword lights shattered into pieces, while the berserk force was gradually weakened layer by layer. The Sword Saint stood at the very center of the storm, yet his entire body remained motionless, like a weathered boulder that had stood for ten thousand years. Then, his eyes suddenly burst wide open. Over seventy percent of his sword lights exploded simultaneously, transforming into thousands of sword-intent vortices that rapidly expelled and devoured all the surrounding berserk profound force...
Boom!
With the final explosive sound, the power of "Annihilation of Heaven and Earth" dissipated completely. The Sword Saint remained in his original position, without the slightest movement. There were no signs of injury on his body, and even his hair and clothes remained undamaged... However, this by no means indicated that Ling Tianni had an easy time. The milky-white light on his body's surface had completely vanished, his power aura had greatly diminished, and his Tian Jian Domain, once invincible in Cang Feng, had been destroyed by about ninety percent, leaving only a few hundred sword lights of the original thousands.
Behind him, Ling Jie stood completely stunned. This was the first time he had seen Yun Che take action since being separated for over a year. He knew that Yun Che, who had single-handedly destroyed the Fen Tian Gate, must have reached an extremely terrifying level of strength, but he never imagined it would be so terrifying that he would force his grandfather to use the Tian Jian Domain—and damage it to such an extent!
Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it. And no one in the Tian Jian Villa would ever believe it either.
Seeing Ling Tianni completely unharmed, Yun Che's gaze darkened sharply.
On the surface, Ling Tianni remained calm, but within him surged a storm of shock. To block Yun Che's strike, his Tian Jian Domain had nearly collapsed entirely... and his profound force had been depleted by a full forty percent!
Blocking one of his opponent's moves had consumed forty percent of his power! To him, this was utterly unimaginable. At the same time, his murderous intent surged once more. With Earth Xuan profound strength, Yun Che could already wield such terrifying combat power, and with his rate of growth, by the time he reached Heavenly Xuan, even Ling Tianni himself might not be his match. Within Cang Feng, no one would be able to restrain him. Today, no matter what, he had to kill him here.
On the other side, Yun Che had forcibly opened Purgatory and then forcibly unleashed Annihilation of Heaven and Earth. His power consumption exceeded eighty percent. However, he had not exhausted everything—he had reserved some strength for escape.
"Wretch! Die!"
Yun Che's power aura had weakened drastically. Ling Tianni understood that Yun Che's previous strike must have been a last-ditch effort, and now he was practically spent, with almost no remaining strength. With a loud shout, Ling Tianni sent the hundreds of sword lights behind him flying out, quickly converging into a golden heavenly sword ten zhang long and one zhang wide, carrying an unmatched sharpness that looked down upon the world as it flew toward Yun Che.
"Grandfather... stop!"
Ling Jie had not yet recovered from his shock when he suddenly saw that terrifying heavenly sword from his grandfather. His expression changed drastically, and he lunged forward. But his speed was no match for the heavenly sword's speed. Ling Tianni paid no heed to his shout; instead, the heavenly sword's pace abruptly accelerated, crashing down with a roar.
"Big brother!" Ling Jie's pupils contracted as he roared at the top of his lungs. Anyone with even a bit of profound force could clearly sense how greatly Yun Che's power aura had fallen. In his current state, he might not even be able to block an ordinary sword strike from Ling Tianni, let alone this terrifying heavenly sword. And this heavenly sword was the true core of the "Tian Jian Domain." After thousands of sword lights shattered all the opponent's attacks and defenses, they would ultimately converge into a sky-covering sword, delivering a strike of despair. Although, due to the collapsed Tian Jian Domain, the power of this heavenly sword was reduced to only ten percent, it was still more than enough to completely pulverize Yun Che in his current state.
The light above suddenly shifted. Yun Che looked up and saw a blinding golden radiance covering the sky. The unmatched aura contained within the sword light was so overwhelming that his body felt as if crushed by a ten-thousand-jun boulder, unable to move at all.
"Cloud-Sealing Sun-Locking!"
As the heavenly sword descended, Yun Che straightened his body and instantly deployed the defensive barrier from the Evil God.
Boom!!!
The heavenly sword struck the Cloud-Sealing Sun-Locking barrier. Endless sword intent, accompanied by a deluge of sword lights, erupted wildly, like a golden sun exploding on the ground. The heavenly sword pushed forward layer by layer, but could not break through the Evil God barrier, only managing to shove Yun Che's body backward step by step...
Crack! Crack!
At the same time, a crack appeared on both the heavenly sword and the Evil God barrier. The two cracks spread rapidly—one extending across the entire sword body, the other across the entire barrier!
Bang!!
At almost the same moment, the Evil God barrier and the heavenly sword completely exploded, scattering into fragments of power flying through the air. Yun Che's body was pushed several dozen zhang away. The moment he landed, he swiftly used a Star God Remnant Shadow to evade all the residual waves from the heavenly sword's explosion, not a single hair on him harmed. However, his power aura weakened further. When he stopped, he was panting heavily.
"!?" Under the heavenly sword, Yun Che had emerged completely unscathed. Shock once again flickered across Ling Tianni's face, but his reaction was lightning fast. With a wave of his arm, the shattered power fragments from the heavenly sword instantly recondensed into dozens of golden sword lights, flying toward Yun Che, who had just landed, with a screeching tear through the air.
Yun Che had just withstood the heavenly sword and used Star God Remnant Shadow to dodge the aftermath. His power was depleted, with no strength yet to regenerate. The golden sword lights followed almost on his heels. The moment his toes touched the ground, the golden sword lights were less than three chi away, leaving him no chance to evade.
But with his Dragon God's Body, the sword lights hastily condensed by the Sword Saint could not pierce his body; at most, they would leave a few dozen minor wounds. Just as he gritted his teeth, preparing to take the sword lights head-on, a cold blue light suddenly rained down from the sky. The surrounding space instantly froze. The flying sword lights suddenly halted less than half a chi from Yun Che, then rapidly changed from gold to an increasingly deep blue.
Then, with a crisp "bang," they shattered, turning into fine, icy blue fragments... These fragments fell naturally, but before they hit the ground, they completely vanished into the air.
"This is..."
Yun Che quickly looked up toward the sky above.
Ling Tianni frowned deeply, muttering under his breath: "Ice Cloud Art? No... wait! Could it be..."
The eerie ice-blue color, along with a mysterious and powerful aura that did not belong to the Ice Cloud Art, suddenly made Ling Tianni think of something. In that instant, his expression changed drastically, and he abruptly turned his head to look up at the sky.
A hundred zhang high in the sky, a pale blue figure appeared. Her arrival instantly dimmed all the radiance of heaven and earth, making it impossible for anyone who saw her to look away. It was as if a divine maiden had descended from a celestial pavilion—ethereal, mysterious, stunningly beautiful, dreamlike.
"Qingyue..." Yun Che murmured.
Earlier, when he had gone to the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, he had not seen her. He never expected that their reunion would occur under such circumstances. And after more than a year apart, Xia Qingyue gave him a very different feeling. She was still so beautiful that she seemed not of this world, but she carried an indescribable sense of mystery and aloofness. Ice spirits still drifted around her, but they were completely different from before... The ice spirits of the past were the frozen crystals naturally released by the cold aura of their bearers—beautiful, ethereal, cold yet pleasing to the eye. But aside from being nice to look at, they served no purpose.
However, the ice spirits now drifting around Xia Qingyue seemed almost alive, like snow and ice fairies with vivid lives and independent existences. These spirits danced freely, clustering around their mistress like a myriad of stars surrounding the moon.
"Ice Moon Fairy... Xia Qingyue! Why is she... here? And she actually completely froze Grandfather's attack from so far away!" Ling Jie looked up, stunned. Around him, voices murmured in discussion. Now, everyone in Cang Feng knew about the relationship between Xia Qingyue and Yun Che. Her sudden appearance stirred the hearts of all present.
Yun Che gazed at Xia Qingyue, and she gazed back at him. After their "separation of heaven and earth," they met again, their eyes and emotions filled with an indescribable complexity. Since their marriage three years ago, this was only their second meeting. Each time they met, they felt both familiar and strange to each other. He was no longer the Yun Che of their last meeting, and she was no longer the Xia Qingyue of those years.
The improvement of strength inevitably brings changes in mentality, even sublimation. Neither could know whether the things the other now valued and pursued were still the same as before, nor could they know whether the emotions that had quietly warmed between them in the Heavenly Pond Secret Realm had cooled again due to this "separation of heaven and earth."
Perhaps the answers in their own hearts were equally vague.
Ling Tianni did not continue attacking Yun Che. He raised his head, looking at Xia Qingyue, who had appeared without warning, and let out a long sigh: "I heard last year that a stunningly talented disciple had appeared at the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, not only with amazing natural talent but also blessed by fortune. At seventeen, she was already at the second level of the King Xuan Realm... And now, she is at the fourth level. I recall that when I advanced from the second to the fourth level of King Xuan, it took me a full fifteen years, while you took less than two years. It seems my era has completely passed. Your future accomplishments will be forever beyond my reach."
Xia Qingyue spoke slowly: "Senior, your praise is undeserved. I humbly accept it. I was presumptuous in my earlier action. I hope Senior will forgive me. I only ask that Senior spare Yun Che. He is not a great villain or an evil person."
Ling Tianni's expression remained unchanged as he spoke with a sigh: "You wish to protect Yun Che—is that your personal wish, or the intention of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace?"