Chapter 443: Coming to Join the Battle!
As the Grand Elder of the Phoenix God Sect and a premier figure renowned throughout the world, even Feng Feiyan's face showed traces of disarray. Having lived for several centuries, this was the first time he had encountered such a scene. Completely at a loss for how to respond, he was utterly furious inside, yet he had entirely lost the courage to make a rash move against Yun Che. Killing Yun Che would be easy for him, but faced with the accusations from all around, if he actually made a move, it would undoubtedly provoke the wrath of the profound practitioners of the six nations. The entire Tian Xuan Continent, even the people of the Shenhuang Empire, would look upon them with disdain and contempt.
The Shenhuang Empire being questioned by six nations—unprecedented!
Shenhuang Crown Prince Feng Ximing rose to his feet. With his formidable profound force, his deep voice instantly suppressed the uproar and spread throughout the arena: "Rest assured, although our Shenhuang Empire has never lost in the Ranking Battle, we are certainly not incapable of accepting defeat! Moreover, none of our Phoenix disciples are afraid of getting hurt! What our Shenhuang questions is not Yun Che injuring our imperial prince, but his bloodline and cultivation art!!"
"He claims to be from Cang Feng Nation, but his bloodline is the Phoenix bloodline of our Phoenix God Sect! The cultivation art he just displayed is the Phoenix Ode Scripture, renowned throughout the world as our Phoenix God Sect's signature art!"
"The outflow of bloodline is a major taboo of our Phoenix God Sect, which we have never tolerated in five thousand years! The outflow of cultivation arts is an even greater taboo! Among you all, which sect can tolerate its core cultivation art appearing in an outsider?... Grand Elder's interrogation of Yun Che is justified!"
Feng Ximing's shout caused people's ears to tremble, and the majesty of the Shenhuang Crown Prince directly shook everyone's hearts. The noise in the arena subsided somewhat. Yun Che lifted his head and sneered: "Heh! You still have the nerve to claim that my Phoenix bloodline comes from you! You repeatedly say I am a half-breed whose bloodline leaked out from your Phoenix God Sect... Then why is it that the one who inherited your royal bloodline, and is said to have the strongest bloodline talent in the entire sect, lost to me in a pure Phoenix Flame contest?! Who truly deserves to be called a half-breed? If I am a half-breed bloodline leaked from you, then what are you?!"
These words from Yun Che left Feng Ximing unable to produce a single word for a long time. He barely managed to formulate a response to speak, but before he could get out anything more than the word "you," a calm yet dignified voice rang out from the air above, making him immediately shut his mouth.
Because the voice belonged to Feng Hengkong.
"Enough. Say no more."
Feng Hengkong shifted his position in mid-air, turned around, and returned to his seat. His face was extraordinarily calm—unnaturally calm—with not even a trace of anger visible. Even his voice was as placid as dead water: "For now, let's set aside the dispute over bloodline and cultivation arts. After all, this is the Ranking Battle arena. The heroes of the world and our friends from the Sacred Grounds have come here for the Ranking Battle, not to watch us clean house. Let everything else be discussed after the Ranking Battle."
The moment Feng Hengkong spoke, the entire arena fell silent. He turned his gaze to Yun Che and said flatly, "Yun Che, regardless of everything else, defeating Feng Xiluo is indeed impressive. But you have made one mistake: you have only defeated Feng Xiluo, not the Phoenix God Sect!"
As Feng Hengkong's voice fell, nine crimson figures soared into the air, floating in a circle around Yun Che. Each person's body blazed with violent Phoenix flames.
Whoosh—
The arena instantly erupted into an uproar!
Everyone then realized: Yun Che had indeed defeated Feng Xiluo... but that was all! The Phoenix God Sect's participating team consisted of ten people!
Apart from Feng Xiluo, there were nine more!
Yun Che had defeated Feng Xiluo, but his profound energy was severely depleted. Having the nine Phoenix disciples step up would be a victory that was anything but honorable, even somewhat shameless... yet it completely adhered to the rules of the Ranking Battle.
Under normal circumstances, the Phoenix God Sect would never stoop to such self-depreciation. Before engaging Yun Che, they had only deployed Feng Xiluo alone.
But now, things had come to this. Feng Xiluo had suffered a crushing defeat, and their face had already been lost. They could not afford to lose the Ranking Battle as well! Furthermore... this was the perfect opportunity to kill Yun Che!!
"Damn it!" Hua Minghai's face changed abruptly. Gritting his teeth, he said, "This Phoenix Emperor... clearly intends to use this method to kill Boss Yun!"
"What!" Ling Jie's face filled with shock.
"Feng Xiluo was defeated, so the other nine Phoenix disciples continue to battle—completely within the rules. No one can even criticize it. And earlier, the entire arena was shouting on Boss Yun's behalf, most of them clamoring that during the Ranking Battle, no one would hold anyone accountable even for severe injuries or death... This emperor is simply using our own earlier shouts to turn the tables, allowing these nine people to 'justifiably' kill Yun Che!"
"Holy... this... this dog emperor!" Ling Jie's eyes widened. He urgently yelled, "Boss, quickly surrender!"
"Surrender your sister!" Hua Minghai smacked Ling Jie's head and said through gritted teeth, "Boss Yun's nature is harder than profound steel. Even if he's certain to die, he won't surrender!"
"Don't panic just yet!" Hua Minghai took a deep breath. "Boss Yun doesn't seem like someone who came here to die today. He might have anticipated this kind of situation... Maybe he has a way to deal with it!"
Ling Jie nodded and could only clench his teeth and stare wide-eyed. Although he desperately wanted to charge up and fight alongside Yun Che in the name of a Cang Feng profound practitioner, even if a hundred of him went up, it would be utterly useless.
What Hua Minghai said was exactly what Feng Hengkong had in mind. Though it seemed utterly inconceivable, the vague sense of realm suppression he felt from Yun Che's Phoenix flames—and the overwhelming power of Yun Che's Phoenix profound force—made Feng Hengkong begin to suspect... perhaps Yun Che's bloodline really did not come from their Phoenix God Sect!
Yun Che had defeated the strongest of the younger generation, Feng Xiluo. He had gained the upper hand in everything. Even many of the Phoenix disciples present might be starting to doubt whether Yun Che's bloodline really was leaked from the Phoenix God Sect. After all, how else could his pure Phoenix Flame be even stronger than that of the strongest Shenhuang prince? Moreover, a long time ago, the Phoenix God of their sect had clearly stated that there indeed existed another Phoenix inheritance on the Tian Xuan Continent!
Feng Hengkong was now fully convinced that Yun Che's participation in this Ranking Battle was to use the battle's influence and the attention of the masses to prove before the world that his bloodline did not come from the Phoenix God Sect. If they did not kill him as quickly as possible, and he actually produced irrefutable evidence, then the Phoenix God Sect would have no reason left to act against him or control him—at least not openly. And covertly... given the world-shaking influence he had created today, it would be extremely difficult to make a move!
Given the current enmity between the Phoenix God Sect and Yun Che, they were destined never to be friends, only enemies. With his terrifying talent, if he became an enemy in the future, no one would doubt that he would pose a huge threat to the Phoenix God Sect... Put that aside, the Phoenix God Sect had dominated the seven nations for five thousand years, always priding itself on possessing the only divine bloodline and divine cultivation art. How could they allow another Phoenix sect to emerge?!
Therefore, regardless of where Yun Che's bloodline actually came from, no matter what... he had to die today! Killing him on the Ranking Battle battlefield—even if everyone present, including those from the Sacred Grounds, knew they were intentionally killing Yun Che—no one could say anything against it, because it completely adhered to the Ranking Battle rules that had been shouted out earlier.
The nine Phoenix disciples each had faces full of murderous intent. Feng Xiluo's crushing defeat had humiliated them all. And these nine were no ordinary Phoenix disciples; they were the nine greatest prodigies of the younger generation of the Phoenix God Sect, second only to Feng Xiluo. Although individually they couldn't match Feng Xiluo, with eight being sixth-level Overlords and one a fifth-level Overlord, their combined power was undoubtedly far greater than that of a single Feng Xiluo!
Yun Che had only barely managed to defeat Feng Xiluo and had expended a great deal of profound energy. There was simply no possibility that he could defeat the combined forces of these nine gifted Phoenix profound practitioners.
"Yun Che, you have only defeated our Fourteenth Prince. If you think you can defeat our Phoenix God Sect, keep dreaming!" The Phoenix disciple directly in front of Yun Che raised his flame sword and shouted loudly.
"Ten against one, and you still have the nerve to say that so confidently?" Yun Che supported himself with his sword and stood up, his face full of mockery.
"Ridiculous!" The Phoenix disciple on the right sneered coldly through gritted teeth: "Do you really think that by defeating our prince, your Cang Feng Nation can surpass our Phoenix God Sect? You are nothing but a freak of Cang Feng—one that won't appear even once in ten thousand years! In our Phoenix God Sect, strong enough to crush your entire nation can be found everywhere!"
"That's right!" The disciple behind him chimed in: "It's no wonder Cang Feng only sent you to participate in this Ranking Battle. The whole of Cang Feng, aside from you, probably can't produce a single person who can even hold up on stage, even if you search the entire nation. Heh, a Cang Feng without anyone—just thinking about it is laughable. And with that, you still dare to dream of defeating our Shenhuang Empire!"
At that moment, an abnormal crashing sound suddenly came from outside, followed by the startled roar of a Phoenix disciple: "Who dares to trespass into our... Ah!!"
"Get lost!!"
BOOM!!
A deafeningly furious voice came from outside. Hearing this voice, Yun Che, who had been frowning deeply, was suddenly shocked. Then, the sound of profound energy explosions and the screams of Phoenix disciples rang out simultaneously. When people instinctively looked towards the source of the sound, a wall at the high edge of the arena suddenly exploded. A tall figure burst out through the shattered gap, and a thunderous voice resounded throughout the venue:
"Who said Cang Feng has no one?!"
"Cang Feng profound practitioner, Xia Yuanba... has come to join the battle!!"
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Organizing Yun Che's current attributes:
Physique: Evil God's Mysterious Vein (Peerless Mysterious Vein), Dragon God Bloodline (Powerful Physique), Dragon God's Marrow (Powerful Recovery Ability, Thickens Dragon Blood), Phoenix Bloodline (Can Burn Phoenix Flame and Cultivate Phoenix Ode Scripture), Evil God Fire Seed (Fire Immunity + Thorough Fire Law Comprehension), Evil God Water Seed (Water Immunity + Thorough Water Law Comprehension).
Cultivation Arts: (S > A > B > C > D > E > F, O = None.)
1. Evil God Art: Attribute: Amplification, Trait: Profound Force Rampage, Realm: Barely Third Realm.
Techniques: [Falling Moon and Sinking Star (Evil Soul): Power: A, Range: F, Consumption: Medium] / [Cloud-Sealing Sun-Locking (Heart Incineration): Power: O, Range: F, Consumption: Medium] / [Annihilation of Heaven and Earth (Purgatory): Power: S+, Range: A, Consumption: Enormous] / [Moon-Pulling Star-Returning (Heaven-Shattering): Power: O, Range: O, Consumption: Small].
2. Great Dao Pagoda Art: Attribute: Sacred Body, Trait: Primordial Chaos Body, Realm: Third Realm.
3. Phoenix Ode Scripture: Attribute: Flame Annihilation, Trait: World-Incinerating Fire, Realm: Sixth Realm.
Techniques: [Phoenix Fire Lotus: Power: D+, Range: E, Consumption: Very Low] / [Phoenix Arrow: Power: C+, Range: D, Consumption: Low] / [Scorching Flame Burns Wilderness: Power: B, Range: C, Consumption: Low] / [Wind Flame Burns Heaven: Power: A-, Range: B, Consumption: Low] / [Phoenix Wing Firmament Dance (Complete): Power: S, Range: C, Consumption: Relatively High] / [Burning Star Demon Lotus (Complete): Power: S, Range: D—S, Consumption: Medium—Enormous].
4. Celestial Wolf Prison God Scripture: Attribute: Powerful Attack, Trait: Strongest Heavy Sword, Realm: First Realm.
Techniques: [Celestial Wolf Strike: Power: S, Range: D, Consumption: Relatively High].
5. Ice God Divine Art: Attribute: Ice Seal, Trait: Absolute Zero, Realm: Fourth Realm.
6 (Hidden): Star God Art: Attribute: Annihilation, Trait: Profound Force Compression, Realm: O.
Techniques: [Line of the Sky: Power: S, Range: F, Consumption: Low] / [Star God Radiant Annihilation Slash: Power: SS+, Range: D, Consumption: Medium].
Others: [Overlord's Wrath: Power: C, Range: E, Consumption: Low] / [Phoenix Heaven Breaker: Power: A, Range: D, Consumption: Medium] / [Dragon Soul Domain: Power: SS, Range: E—C, Consumption: Enormous].
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