Chapter 563: Reversal
The red-black demon flames had already closed in before him, and behind them was a vast expanse of seemingly boundless fire. Yun Che took a step forward and casually swung the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword. The moment the sword danced, the airwaves it stirred up were like the raging waves of a furious sea, and the explosive sounds were as deafening as thunder.
Ssssss!!
The space twisted violently, and a sound like tearing cloth rang out. The overwhelming flames were effortlessly sliced open, creating a large vacuum of fire. Yun Che moved his feet and charged straight into the sea of flames. The heavy sword danced like a dragon in the sea. Wherever the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword passed, the originally terrifying red-black demon flames were all smashed aside, pried open, and broken apart. Waves of heavy sword storms raged wildly within the sea of flames. In just a few breaths, the originally sky-covering sea of fire was blasted into scattered pieces.
"What... what?!" Huiye Junwang was greatly shocked. His hands trembled as he quickly raised the Obsidian Demon Sword. The three Flame Demons roared in unison and lunged straight at Yun Che.
"Phoenix... Wing... Firmament!!"
The phoenix shadow flashed, and a phoenix cry tore through the air. Yun Che transformed into a furious phoenix, crashing toward the three Flame Demons.
It was the same Phoenix Wing Firmament. Earlier, when unarmed, he had only managed to knock back one Flame Demon!
But this time, Phoenix Wing Firmament was unleashed with the heavy sword!
The overwhelming pressure at that instant caused the entire Yaohuang Palace to fall into a momentary complete silence.
Boom!!!
The phoenix shadow slammed into the first Flame Demon. With a thunderous roar, the phoenix shadow pierced straight through it, sending fragments of the Flame Demon flying everywhere behind it.
Boom!!
The second Flame Demon was also pierced through.
Boom!!
The third Flame Demon was instantly sent flying, smashing heavily into the palace ceiling. The entire hall shook violently, and the Flame Demon exploded, scattering large fragments of broken red-black flames.
In the flash of a moment, the three Flame Demons were all annihilated. Yet even so, the power of Phoenix Wing Firmament was not completely neutralized. Carrying the phoenix's pressure, it shot straight toward Huiye Junwang, whose eyes were bulging with shock, and slammed fiercely into his chest.
Boom!!!
Huiye Junwang's protective profound force was instantly shattered by the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword. The remaining power of Phoenix Wing Firmament struck Huiye Junwang's body. With the blooming and roar of phoenix flames, Huiye Junwang, like a kicked leather ball, flew far away amid screams.
Yun Che raised his head and looked in the direction Huiye Junwang had flown. When it had struck his chest earlier, he had clearly felt his power being greatly obstructed... Huiye Junwang seemed to be wearing a profound armor with extremely strong defensive properties. The Phoenix Wing Firmament, weakened by the three Flame Demons' obstruction, had not been able to inflict severe injuries on him.
"Hmph!" Yun Che curled his lips, revealing a cruel smile. Facing someone who wanted him dead, how could he let him lose so comfortably?
Yun Che's figure flickered. Using Phantom Lightning Extreme combined with Star God Remnant Shadow, he instantly appeared above Huiye Junwang, who was still flying backward. He raised the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword. Behind him, the wolf shadow flickered. Phoenix flames burned on the blade, and he struck down with a single sword strike.
"Phoenix Heavenly Wolf Strike!"
The shadow of the Celestial Wolf, carrying phoenix flames, tore through the air, as if dragging a long phoenix tail. Amid the sharp whistling, the wolf shadow and the phoenix flames rapidly merged, transforming into a blazing enraged Celestial Wolf that mercilessly crashed toward Huiye Junwang.
Phoenix Heavenly Wolf Strike... a derivative technique that fused phoenix flame power into the Heavenly Wolf's first strike! It was also a masterpiece that Yun Che had only just completed fifteen days ago!
"Stop!!"
The three Flame Demons had been destroyed in an instant, and Huiye Junwang had been sent flying with a single sword strike. Huai Wang was already filled with shock. Seeing Yun Che's action now, he leaped up in alarm, his right arm blazing with fire. But before the flames could strike Yun Che, a figure flickered before him, and a ball of deep purple lightning blasted toward his face, forcing him to flip and leap far away.
"Huai Wang, are you trying to break the competition rules?" Yun Qinghong blocked in front of Huai Wang, speaking coldly, uttering the exact same words Huai Wang had used earlier.
With Yun Qinghong's obstruction, Huai Wang had no chance to save Huiye Junwang. With a loud crash, the burning wolf shadow heavily slammed into Huiye Junwang's body.
Boom!!!!
"Uwaaaah..."
The agonizing scream almost drowned out the roar of profound force, as shrill as the wailing of a malicious ghost. Under the overwhelmingly destructive power, Huiye Junwang's protective profound armor barely held for an instant before shattering like fragile glass. His body, like a meteor falling from the sky, crashed to the ground with a piercing howl, then bounced high up before landing again—this time outside the arena. The remaining dozen or so clusters of phoenix flames on his body did not extinguish but instead burned even brighter, turning him into a human torch in the blink of an eye.
Scattered around him were fragments of the shattered profound armor.
"Your Highness Huiye!!"
The people on the eastern seats hurriedly surrounded him. Several young disciples hastily released their profound power, trying to extinguish the flames on Huiye Junwang. But phoenix flames were not so easily put out. Their palms, upon touching the phoenix flames, were scorched and they screamed in pain. After a flurry of frantic attempts, they had not diminished the flames in the slightest.
"Get back!"
Huai Wang descended from the sky and slapped his palm on Huiye Junwang's chest. With his profound and formidable profound power, the flames on Huiye Junwang receded like a retreating tide. By the time the phoenix flames were completely extinguished, nearly a third of Huiye Junwang's body was charred black. His hair and eyebrows were completely burned off, and he had countless wounds, most of them deep enough to reveal the bone... These were just external injuries. What enraged Huai Wang was that at least thirty percent of Huiye's meridians had been shattered, and at least half of his bones were broken. To fully recover, even with the abundant resources of the Huai Wang Mansion, it would take at least several months.
The profound armor that Huiye Junwang had always worn was gone, leaving only a faint aura of the armor scattered around. Huai Wang knew exactly how tough that armor was, and he was even more certain that if not for that armor's protection, Huiye would have been either dead or completely crippled by that sword strike.
"What a pity. That guy was wearing an incredible life-saving charm. Otherwise, I could have taken at least half his life." Yun Che panted heavily, muttering regretfully under his breath.
In the great hall, almost everyone had unknowingly stood up. Every face was blank, and for a long time, there was silence, as if the sound of this world had been completely drained away.
Three Flame Demons destroyed in an instant, and Huiye Junwang severely wounded with a single sword strike. What had seemed like a foregone conclusion had, in the mere few breaths after that crimson heavy sword appeared, undergone a complete reversal that no one could have ever dreamed of...
Huiye Junwang lay collapsed on the ground, his face half charred and half pale as paper. Though heavily injured, he had not lost consciousness. His eyes were open, but his pupils were extremely dilated, as if his soul had left his body due to shock and devastation.
The reactions of the Huai Wang Mansion members and the eastern seats were largely the same. They simply could not believe their eyes. When Huiye had revealed the Obsidian Demon Sword, they were fully certain that Yun Che would either admit defeat or die. They never expected such an outcome.
Yun Qinghong's face was also filled with astonishment. It took him a long while to snap out of it, but he could no longer describe the turmoil in his heart at that moment. He looked toward the Yun Clan's seats. Unsurprisingly, from the disciples to the elders, all were wearing dazed expressions. Even the three supreme elders, Yun Jiang, Yun He, and Yun Xi, had lifted their backsides from their seats and did not sit down for a long time.
Yun Qinghong smiled. In a daze, he found it hard to believe that this young man, who had shocked the entire audience time and again and stunned the world's heroes, was his own son. His earlier worries and intervention were completely unnecessary. Recalling Yun Che's earlier confidence and the firmness in his eyes, he nodded gently and murmured to himself, "Che'er, where exactly is your true limit..."
When Yun Che did not use his heavy sword, he was suppressed by Huiye Junwang. Once the heavy sword appeared, Huiye Junwang was swiftly defeated and severely wounded. For a profound practitioner, training in a weapon is essential. When they wield their preferred weapon, their strength naturally increases, but the increase is usually not too exaggerated. A Level 5 Overlord Xuan Realm practitioner can easily defeat a Level 4 Overlord Xuan Realm practitioner with a weapon, even with bare hands.
But Yun Che was utterly different. The Yun Che without the heavy sword and the Yun Che with the heavy sword were not just a difference in intensity... they were almost a difference in realm! Holding the Dragon Gate, Yun Che could already defeat Huiye Junwang, let alone the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword, whose power far surpassed the Dragon Gate.
At the same time, the consumption of wielding the Heaven-Defying Demon-Slaying Sword was far greater than handling the Dragon Gate. After severely wounding Huiye Junwang, Yun Che's breathing had clearly become heavier.
"Father... who exactly is he?" Su Zhicheng asked in astonishment. The brief scene from moments ago had violently impacted his mind and overturned his understanding.
Su Xiangnan shook his head and said somewhat dazedly, "Your father wants to know the answer even more than you do." Thinking of Yun Qinghong's earlier forceful intervention, he continued, "I'm afraid even Yun Qinghong doesn't know that his true strength has reached such a level!"
To make these peerless experts from all over the Huan Yao Realm experience shock and disbelief time and again, Yun Che was definitely the first. The shock he created with his Heavenly Xuan Realm profound cultivation made waves of great waves surge in the hearts of these peerless experts. Especially the scene where he severely wounded Huiye Junwang—it impacted them more than everything before.
"Who's next!!"
The crimson heavy sword was thrust diagonally into the ground. Yun Che supported himself on the sword, sweat covering his forehead, but his voice was still as thunderous as ever. By this point, no one dared to belittle or mock him. All eyes were fixed firmly on him. Even the Little Demon Empress on the imperial throne had been relegated to a supporting role under his dazzling brilliance.
For the first time, Huai Wang gritted his teeth because of a young man. Huiye Junwang's severe injury was secondary; his confidence, dignity, and pride had been utterly shattered by Yun Che. After today, if Yun Che still lived, he would surely shake the Huan Yao Realm, while his son, the son of Huai Wang, would become nothing but a stepping stone for Yun Che's rise to fame!
This man must die...
Huai Wang turned his head and shot a vicious glare at Zhong Wang. Zhong Wang's face had also turned ugly. He lowered his head and secretly transmitted a message to his son, Yuanque Junwang: "Yun Che has shown signs of exhaustion. Clearly, using that sword consumes a great deal. He probably doesn't have much strength left. Spare no effort or means... kill him!"