Chapter 434: End of the Six Kingdoms (Part 1)
The nine Canglan profound practitioners who had been sent flying by Yun Che all climbed back to their feet. They stood where they were, staring blankly at Yun Che on the stage, their faces pale, their entire bodies trembling, as if their souls had already left their bodies…
“Yu’er… Yu’er!!”
From the seats of the Canglan Kingdom came a mournful cry. A middle-aged man had rushed to Han Ruyu, who was collapsed on the ground, his body and voice trembling violently. Han Ruyu was the foremost among the younger generation of the Canglan Kingdom, a miraculous talent unseen in a thousand years, and even the hope of their Canglan profound realm. In this Seven Kingdoms Ranking Battle, he had borne the heaviest and most numerous hopes of Canglan. But in his one and only Seven Kingdoms Ranking Battle, in this very first match… he had been defeated so miserably in a single encounter.
After all, Han Ruyu was at least an initial-level King Throne. If he had faced Yun Che head-on, even though Yun Che could have defeated him easily, it would have taken at least five sword strikes, and he could never have won so completely and effortlessly. Naturally, everything could only be blamed on Han Ruyu’s own folly. He had not taken Yun Che seriously at all, and was caught off guard by Yun Che’s sudden burst, leaving him without even a chance to react.
The sword strike Yun Che had landed on his face was not heavy; otherwise, his entire head would have exploded. But it was more than enough to easily ruin half his face. Because Yun Che hated it most when people called him ugly, even the term “clown” was unacceptable.
The middle-aged man shook Han Ruyu for a long time, but he never woke up. He suddenly turned around, his gaze venomously fixed on Yun Che: “You junior of Cangfeng! How can your heart be so vicious! The Ranking Battle is merely a sparring match, yet your attack was… was so cruel!!”
This middle-aged man was Han Ruyu’s father, named Han Hongyu, the sect master of the “Hanlan Sect,” the number one sect of the Canglan Kingdom. He was an transcendent figure whose mere footstep would cause the entire profound realm of Canglan to tremble. His pressure and fury would make even the Canglan monarch tremble with fear. But how could Yun Che be intimidated by him? He sneered, “You’re inferior in skill, and you blame me for striking too hard? In the rules announced by Elder Feng, there is no restriction on the severity of attacks. Even if he died on the Phoenix Stage, it would only be because he was too weak and couldn’t gauge his own limits. Coming to this Seven Kingdoms Ranking Battle seeking death—no one can be blamed!”
Yun Che had severely injured and disfigured Han Ruyu, who was hailed as the hope of Canglan’s future, yet he showed not a shred of guilt and responded with such arrogance. Han Hongyu trembled with rage. If this weren’t the site of the Seven Kingdoms Ranking Battle, he would have undoubtedly rushed up to fight Yun Che to the death.
“Enough!” Feng Feiyan finally spoke at this moment. She suppressed her shocked expression, cast a deep glance at Yun Che, and announced in a relatively calm voice: “First match, Cangfeng Kingdom wins!”
With Feng Feiyan speaking, Han Hongyu, no matter how deep his resentment and anger, naturally dared not say anything more. He picked up Han Ruyu, took out all the medicinal herbs he had, and quickly began to treat him… But in his heart, he knew that in this Seven Kingdoms Ranking Battle, Canglan Kingdom was finished. Nine people were lightly injured, and Han Ruyu’s severe injury was secondary. The key was the psychological blow… their confidence, pride, and even their convictions had probably been completely shattered by Yun Che. In the subsequent matches, even if Han Ruyu woke up and forced himself onto the stage, he would never be able to muster any momentum.
Anyone with discerning eyes could see that Yun Che had deliberately swept through and severely injured the top ten profound practitioners of Canglan. The reason was also obvious… They had pushed and shoved on the stage, and every action, every word, every glance was a naked display of contempt and humiliation toward Yun Che. And what Yun Che gave them was a ruthless retaliation! That the Canglan Kingdom had fallen to such a state in an instant was also their own fault.
Yun Che walked down from the Phoenix Stage and slowly made his way to the preparation area. The profound practitioners of other kingdoms now looked at Yun Che with completely changed expressions. The previous contempt had turned into deep wariness… and even fear.
“Heh, quite interesting.” Among the Fenghuang God Sect’s participating profound practitioners, Feng Xiluo propped his chin with his hand, glanced at Yun Che, and smiled faintly.
“Aiyo yo! This is truly astonishing.” Ji Qianrou leaned forward, his peach-blossom eyes shimmering: “This little brother has really given me such a big surprise… The intensity of the power he just erupted with is enough to rival the level of King Xuan Realm Level 4.”
“Earth Xuan Realm peak comparable to mid-stage King Xuan… I have seen this only once in my lifetime.” Gu Cang, who had remained silent, finally spoke softly, giving an extremely high evaluation… Clearly, Yun Che’s combat power, which was wildly inconsistent with his profound strength, had astonished even this Emperor Lord figure from Huangji Sacred Domain.
“Father, he is very strong.” Feng Xue’er tried to suppress her emotions, but still couldn’t help speaking out. Her voice was as light as the wind, and no one could see her cheeks or expression. The emotions contained in her voice were also difficult to discern: “But isn’t his profound strength only at the Earth Xuan Realm? Why is he so powerful?”
Feng Hengkong heard his daughter take the initiative to praise someone for the first time. He raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhat grave: “It seems that I completely misjudged this person… His profound strength is indeed at the Earth Xuan Realm; under my eyes, he cannot fake it. But just now, the power he erupted with was close to mid-stage King Xuan intensity…”
Feng Hengkong didn’t finish. The disciples of their Fenghuang God Sect, when facing disciples from other sects, could basically all fight above their level.
But an Earth Xuan realm manifesting King Xuan realm power—he had lived for several hundred years and had never seen or heard of such a thing! Although he had learned the name Yun Che through the matter of the Phoenix Bloodline, he had never taken it to heart, because such a small figure was not worth the attention of a Phoenix Emperor. Even the lowest disciple of the Fenghuang God Sect could handle him. But at this moment, the shock of those four short breaths forced him to truly take note of this Cangfeng profound practitioner who was clearly only at the Earth Xuan Realm.
Feng Hengkong turned around and fixed a gaze of extreme indifference on Feng Xichen… Feng Xichen was someone who had witnessed Yun Che’s strength, but to cover up the shame of being brutally defeated by a Cangfeng profound practitioner, he had fabricated a huge lie. Then, to cover up that lie, he sent Feng Chihuo to assassinate Yun Che… After news came that Feng Chihuo had died miserably in the Phoenix Mountain Range, he had been constantly restless. Then he sent several more waves of people, but could no longer find any trace of Yun Che… When Yun Che appeared on the Phoenix Stage, his heart had been pounding wildly.
And the fleeting glance Feng Hengkong gave him made his entire body stiffen suddenly. His face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead… He sat there, not daring to move at all.
The atmosphere of the entire Ranking Battle venue changed in a way no one had expected. Cangfeng Kingdom, Yun Che… these names, originally viewed by all as jokes, laughingstocks, and cannon fodder, had now completely become the biggest focus of the entire competition. They were shocked, horrified, unable to believe… And the arrogant mockery and contempt they had previously displayed from their imagined heights now seemed so foolish and laughable, their faces burning as if someone had slapped them hard.
One person instantly defeating ten… Earth Xuan instantly defeating King Xuan… Everyone could already foresee that the pattern of this Ranking Battle, due to this freak who had suddenly emerged from Cangfeng Kingdom, was destined to be completely overturned.
The Seven Kingdoms Ranking Battle continued. The second match was Heisha Kingdom against Tianxiang Kingdom.
Heisha Kingdom was ranked third in the last competition, Tianxiang Kingdom sixth, but this match still remained very tense. In team battles, top-tier individual ability was no longer the decisive factor; instead, it was a contest of comprehensive combat power and mutual cooperation… Ultimately, after two quarters of an hour of competition, Heisha Kingdom, which possessed an initial-level King Throne, suppressed their opponents all the way and defeated Tianxiang Kingdom.
This should have been a brilliant and exciting match, but the cheers from the audience were not that enthusiastic. Because even if it were ten times more exciting, it could not compare with the visual impact and spiritual shock of Yun Che single-handedly sweeping through Canglan Kingdom in four breaths. A large portion of the audience was still stuck in the previous spiritual trembling, not fully recovered.
The third match was Canglan against Kuishui.
In terms of overall strength, Canglan undoubtedly surpassed Kuishui.
But in this match, Canglan Kingdom was beaten by Kuishui with almost no ability to fight back. Han Ruyu was still unconscious… It was estimated that even if he woke up, he would pretend to be unconscious, absolutely lacking the face to face the audience. The other nine were all lightly injured, but the most serious was that their minds were still in a state of half-collapse. Nine people fought ten, and without any fighting spirit, Kuishui ultimately won.
And the disgraced Canglan profound practitioners who left the stage were immediately drowned in the spittle of the Canglan spectators.
Fourth match: Cangfeng against Kuishui.
When the words “Cangfeng Kingdom” appeared on the profound stone, the venue suddenly became quiet.
If Kuishui Kingdom had been the first to battle Cangfeng, the reaction of the Kuishui audience would undoubtedly have been the same as that of Canglan. But now, all the Kuishui spectators were dead silent. No one showed excitement or mockery any longer. The joy of just having defeated Canglan was completely suppressed, vanishing without a trace.
And the sovereigns and overlords of Kuishui, as well as the ten participating profound practitioners of Kuishui, all changed color abruptly. In their eyes, deep wariness appeared.
“It’s… this guy!” A Kuishui profound practitioner sucked in a sharp breath of cold air. The thought of someone sweeping through Canglan’s entire force in four breaths was enough to make one tremble in fear. And even more terrifying was his ruthless, or rather vicious, method of attack—severe injury was one thing, but he directly disfigured faces!
“No losing heart!” The core profound practitioner of Kuishui gritted his teeth and said sternly, “Don’t forget, the reason Yun Che was able to sweep through Canglan was most critically due to Canglan’s underestimation of the enemy and Yun Che’s sudden sneak attack! If we go all out and cooperate with each other… fighting him alone, we can’t believe we won’t win!”
The other nine quickly nodded in agreement, but in their hearts, they were cursing: Yun Che swept through Canglan by sneak attack? Sneak attack your grandfather! You try sneaking up on Canglan’s ten profound practitioners!!
Even if the other party were just underestimating the enemy, even if all ten of them were squatting carelessly in a latrine without any guard, they could still counterattack and turn you into a dog in minutes!