Chapter 442: Defeating the Divine Phoenix
Whoosh!!
Relying on the burning of his lifeblood to forcefully suppress Yun Che, Feng Xiluo's face twisted into a wild grin. But while his mad laughter still echoed, he suddenly felt a terrifyingly scorching heat envelop him, making his entire body feel as if it were about to combust. The powerful Phoenix Flame he had exchanged with his lifeblood was, in that instant, like a small boat encountering a monstrous wave, swallowed up in the blink of an eye...
"Waaahhh!"
A wretched scream, shrill to the extreme, tore across the entire arena. The flames that had been locked in stalemate now toppled like a towering mountain toward Feng Xiluo. A body engulfed in fire flew out from the sea of flames like a broken leaf swept up by a wild wind, slamming heavily into the defensive barrier erected by several Overlord Emperors.
"Xiluo!"
"Fourteenth Prince!"
The gold embroidery on Feng Xiluo's Phoenix robe was made of extremely precious and rare materials, extremely difficult to destroy. From the remnants of gold on the burning figure, the people of the Fenghuang God Sect immediately recognized it as Feng Xiluo, and all were greatly alarmed.
Feng Feiyan, the closest, flew forward like lightning, rushing over and hooking the fully burning Feng Xiluo, extinguishing all the flames on him with profound force.
Feng Xiluo's entire body went limp, his breath as faint as a thread, and he had already fallen unconscious. His hair had been completely burned off, most of his body was scorched, and severely damaged areas had turned black and charred. However, apart from that, he had no major internal injuries. Though the burns were serious, they were still external wounds; with the resources of the Fenghuang God Sect, a full recovery was entirely possible. But spreading words like "forced Feng Xiluo to burn his lifeblood" — if even burning his lifeblood failed to defeat Yun Che, that would be an even greater laughingstock.
Feng Xiluo was no weakling after all. Though Yun Che had not sustained significant injuries from defeating Feng Xiluo, who had burned his lifeblood, his stamina was severely depleted. He panted heavily, seemingly with no strength left to stand, but his eyes remained sharp as ever. His reply was righteous and stern: "So what! This is the arena of the Seven Nations Ranking Battle. I defeated Feng Xiluo here, fair and square! In a contest on the battlefield, getting hurt only means you're not skilled enough! Could it be that your mighty Fenghuang God Sect can't afford to lose or suffer injuries? Are you going to fly into a rage from shame and kill me with one palm strike?"
"You!" Feng Feiyan was already furious, and now being scolded by Yun Che instead made his face twist with rage. But before he could erupt, an indignant roar came from the spectator stands:
"Well said! This is the ranking battle arena. Whether you get hurt in a match depends entirely on your own strength! If you lack strength and get injured, who can you blame! What right do you have to accuse Yun Che!" Ling Jie shouted at the top of his lungs, pouring all his profound force into his voice.
No sooner had Ling Jie finished than Hua Minghai also bellowed: "Exactly! In the ranking battle, even death is not to be pursued—this is a rule that has never changed since the Seven Nations Ranking Battle began, a rule even a fool knows! It was a rule set by your Shenhuang Empire itself! Practitioners from other nations can get injured, but your Fenghuang God Sect cannot?"
These two voices instantly set the entire arena ablaze. The Cang Feng profound practitioners, whose excitement had already nearly burst their bodies, felt a surge of blood rushing to their heads and joined in the shouting. Soon, the number of voices grew, not just from the Cang Feng cultivators, but also from the other five nations, who added their voices to Yun Che's defense. Because Yun Che's defeat of Feng Xiluo was not just a pride for Cang Feng, but a pride for all six nations—it was the first time in history that any of the six had broken the Shenhuang myth!
In a flash, the chaotic uproar swiftly engulfed the entire arena...
"In so many sessions of the ranking battle, countless practitioners from our nations have been injured, and we were never allowed to hold anyone accountable. Your Shenhuang loses one person, and you immediately question him on the spot? And it looks like you're even planning to retaliate directly?"
"With such a grand empire like Shenhuang, is this the extent of your magnanimity and courage?"
"Even a fool can see that Yun Che was holding back. Otherwise, that Fourteenth Prince would have been burned to ashes long ago. Instead of thanking Yun Che, you question and threaten him!"
"As the premier sect of Tian Xuan, have at least a shred of basic decency!"
"If this is how it's going to be, then there's no need for the Seven Nations Ranking Battle to exist anymore! It's fine for us six nations to suffer casualties, but the moment one person from Shenhuang gets hurt, it's unacceptable?"
"If you dare to fly into a rage and attack Yun Che, even if you were ten times stronger, our six nations would look down on you for generations to come!"
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The wave of voices spread wildly, the entire arena filled with condemnations on Yun Che's behalf, until the noise nearly shattered people's eardrums. If it had been just a single person, facing the absolute pressure of the Shenhuang Empire, even if they felt dissatisfied, disdainful, and contemptuous, they would never have dared to question Shenhuang. But with millions of cultivators from the six nations present, and someone taking the lead, they naturally stood unafraid, attacking in a group and growing fiercer the more they spoke. Yun Che's defeat of the Fenghuang God Sect made every cultivator from the six nations feel proud and vindicated, and being able to directly question Shenhuang together on the spot was an incredibly satisfying feeling.
And this was exactly what Yun Che had hoped to see, or rather, the result he had anticipated.
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