Chapter 433: Slap in the Face
"These guys from the Canglan Kingdom are way too much!" Ling Jie clenched his fists, his face full of indignation. "Just wait! Soon, you won't be able to laugh at all."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly saw Yan Xiaohua gnashing his teeth, stamping his feet, looking like he was having an epileptic fit. He opened his eyes wide and quickly asked, "Brother Hua, what's wrong with you?"
"I... hate... ahhh!!" Hua Minghai grabbed his own hair and yanked wildly. "If I had known this freak... oh no, Boss Yun was coming to the ranking battle, I shouldn't have come in here. Instead, I should have set up a betting ring outside... buy Canglan Kingdom wins at one to one point two, buy Cang Feng Kingdom wins at one to ten. Everyone would have thought I was an idiot and bet heavily on Canglan Kingdom... and then, I'd be rich... rich! But there's no chance now! This was my golden opportunity to become the richest man in the Tian Xuan Continent!!"
"..." Ling Jie looked at him with utter disdain.
As the Canglan Kingdom participating profound practitioners pushed and shoved each other, the previously silent "Flower-Cherishing Young Master" Han Ruyu finally spoke. He smiled faintly, using a tone of disdain and pity. "He's just a pitiful clown, not even worth wasting our strength on... none of you need to make a move. Just let him admit defeat and get down by himself."
Han Ruyu was the number one young expert of the Canglan Kingdom, the strongest and the core among the ten of them. His words naturally received immediate agreement from the other nine. "Young Master Han is right. Let's just let this guy roll back down on his own. I bet he's hoping for that himself."
And at that moment, Yun Che's voice suddenly came from behind them. "Have you all finished discussing? Please hurry up. I'm on a tight schedule."
Yun Che's voice was harsh with a hint of arrogance... a waste-level figure they deemed unworthy of even a glance, someone not worth lifting a finger against, was speaking to them in such a tone. As powerful figures standing on high ground, they naturally found it extremely displeasing. The Canglan profound practitioner standing at the front turned around and sneered at Yun Che. "What, are you in a hurry to roll down?"
"You're half right." Yun Che grinned darkly. "I'm in a hurry to send you all rolling down."
"You're asking for death!" The Canglan profound practitioner who spoke was instantly enraged... a "waste" not even worthy of his notice actually dared to be so arrogant in front of him! That was outrageous!
"It seems you idiots can't come to any conclusion either."
The blatantly insulting word "idiot" made all ten people from Canglan Kingdom change color... They could freely insult and mock the other party because they considered themselves high and mighty experts. It was only natural for them to insult a weakling. But being called "idiot" by a weakling was an unforgivable blood feud.
They were about to shout curses when, in their line of sight, Yun Che's figure suddenly flickered and vanished from where he stood... And none of the ten people could see clearly how he disappeared. Before they could even turn around, a disastrous gale had suddenly arrived from behind them.
Boom!!
On the Phoenix Stage, a sound like a thunderclap shaking the world erupted. Four profound practitioners standing together, who hadn't seen what happened, felt as if they had been struck hard by a massive hammer weighing ten thousand jun. Their minds went blank, and they flew far away like bundles of straw thrown out...
Yun Che already had the Dragon Gate in hand. With one sword strike, he blasted four people away. Then, with a flash of Star God Remnant Shadow, he followed up with two consecutive strikes of Overlord's Wrath, smashing down heavily.
Boom!!
Boom!!
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Finally, one of the Canglan profound practitioners reacted. But all he could do... was let out a miserable scream.
In just two breaths, Yun Che had swung three sword strikes. Under those three strikes, nine figures, accompanied by skyward spurts of blood, flew far away in different directions... all off the Phoenix Stage. The farthest one flew over two hundred zhang away and crashed heavily into the spectator area.
On the third breath, Yun Che had charged toward the last Canglan profound practitioner... Han Ruyu.
This sudden change caused Han Ruyu's pupils to shrink to the size of pinholes. The oncoming blast of air was so terrifying that every nerve in his body tightened instantly. In utter panic and chaos, he had no time to counter or dodge. He could only instinctively raise a profound energy defense.
Bam!!
Under the violent force of the Dragon Gate, his profound energy defense shattered like fragile glass. Han Ruyu's entire body shook. It felt as if a mountain had slammed into his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body was launched straight into the air. But Yun Che's movements did not stop there. He suddenly leaped up, instantly catching up to Han Ruyu's height, a cruel smirk spreading across his face...
"You kept calling me a 'pitiful clown' earlier? Then what are you? Heh... Flower-Cherishing Young Master? I think from now on, you'd better become... a Wilted Flower Young Master!!"
Amidst the low voice, Yun Che's Dragon Gate swung down fiercely... and viciously smacked Han Ruyu in the... face!
Smack!!!!
The crisp sound of the slap and bone cracking was clearly heard by everyone. Han Ruyu's right cheekbone and teeth shattered into powder, half of his face completely caved in. He let out a scream and, like a top struck with great force, spun rapidly as he shot downward, crashing with a loud "boom" into the Canglan Kingdom's seating area.
"Ugh..." Han Ruyu's eyes bulged, his face covered in blood. His originally nearly perfect facial structure was now ruined and grotesque... If he had ever been to the Cang Feng Kingdom and heard of Yun Che's strength and how ruthlessly he struck, then even with ten times the courage, he wouldn't have dared mock Yun Che as a "clown." He stared at the bloodstains before his eyes, let out an extremely pained moan, then collapsed headfirst, unconscious.
The vast arena fell into complete dead silence. Everyone stared wide-eyed, as if they had all suddenly fallen into a dream.
Everything had happened too fast. From Yun Che's sudden attack to all nine Canglan profound practitioners being blasted off the Phoenix Stage, it took only two breaths! In the next two breaths, the number one young expert of the Canglan Kingdom was beaten back to the Canglan seating area by Yun Che with two sword strikes.
In four breaths... just four breaths, one person had blasted all the participating Canglan profound practitioners off the Phoenix Stage! And the strongest among them, the miracle praised as the Canglan Kingdom's wonder, Han Ruyu, was directly grievously injured and unconscious!!
All those people... those who had mocked, laughed, sneered, jeered, ignored, paid no attention... were all dumbfounded at this moment. Even Feng Hengkong's expression stiffened for an instant.
Boom!
Yun Che landed from the air. He didn't deliberately control his landing momentum. His body, carrying the Dragon Gate weighing over twenty thousand jin, crashed down, producing a deafening impact sound. This sound jolted everyone out of their complete shock... Looking at Yun Che, holding the heavy sword, his gaze calm and undisturbed, standing alone proudly on the Phoenix Stage, they all heard the sound of their hearts twitching and trembling.
"Ho... ho... how... how is this possible... what just happened?" a profound practitioner asked, eyes wide. Even now, he still couldn't believe his eyes.
"He's only... Earth Xuan Realm? Really just Earth Xuan Realm... one person... instantly defeating the entire Canglan team?" The profound practitioner who spoke had a trembling voice, his eyes glazed over, looking at Yun Che as if seeing a god or demon from another world.
"Illusion... it must be... fake, right..."
The previously boisterous Canglan profound practitioners had all fallen silent. They watched helplessly as the Cang Feng practitioner they had despised, mocked, and treated as a joke, alone like an autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, instantly blasted away all the Canglan geniuses they were so proud of. The miracle genius they considered unparalleled, Han Ruyu, was beaten beyond recognition by the opponent with just two simple sword strikes...
They felt like their entire world was collapsing.
"Yun Che!! Yun Che!! This is our Cang Feng Kingdom's Yun Che!! Do you see that! This is our Cang Feng Kingdom's Yun Che!"
The profound practitioners of the Cang Feng Kingdom also snapped out of their daze at this moment. Almost all of them stood up, unable to contain their excitement. What had their eyes witnessed... four breaths, just four breaths! He alone had blasted all ten of Canglan Kingdom's top geniuses off the Phoenix Stage... and Canglan Kingdom was the second-place team from the previous ranking battle! Under Yun Che's sword, they couldn't even put up any defense, let alone counterattack!
What majesty! What dominance! What glory!! All the taunts, sneers, and humiliation they had endured earlier were now released a thousandfold. Pride and arrogance filled every corner of their bodies and spirits. Never in their lives, not even for a moment, had they been so proud of being a citizen of the Cang Feng Kingdom.
"Boss!! You, you, you, you, you... you're way too cool!" Ling Jie stood up, his face as red as blood, too excited to find words to describe his feelings. Back during the Cang Feng ranking battle, Yun Che had been majestic and won first place. But this four-breath dominance was millions of times more impressive than that! Because this was on the highest stage of seven kingdoms, in front of the heroes of the entire Tian Xuan Continent, sweeping away the very top profound practitioners of an entire kingdom!!
"Hiss..." Hua Minghai took a deep breath. Not out of fear, of course, but excitement. "Beautifully done... hiss! That slap, so crisp and loud! I've lived this many years, but this is the first time I've seen a face slapped so loudly and satisfyingly... Those Canglan Kingdom people are probably feeling as miserable as if they swallowed a turd right now, oh ho ho ho ho..."
The nine Canglan profound practitioners blasted away by Yun Che had all gotten up. They stood there, staring blankly at Yun Che on the stage, faces pale, bodies trembling, as if their souls had already left their bodies...
————————————————
[I've practically been killing myself over the coding. Because I've been quiet for too long, this month, we need to show our face on the monthly ticket leaderboard!! Hmm... we're already second. Do you guys want to throw in a ticket too, ha·ha·ha·(finally managed to make three thousand words).]
...
...