# Chapter 655: Yellow Springs Ashes
Qi Zhencang and Duan Qinghang had never before today witnessed the power of an Emperor Lord, but they clearly understood what the concept of "Overlord Emperor" meant. In the most powerful of the seven nations, the Shenhuang Empire, an Overlord Emperor was revered as a divine being, an existence beyond the ordinary... But after Feng Feiying, they then watched with their own eyes as Feng Feiheng, a late-stage Overlord Emperor, perished at Yun Che's hands in just two exchanges.
The shock and terror in their hearts had reached an unimaginable level. Turning back midair, they were horrified to discover that the once-mighty Shenhuang army had been reduced to pathetic remnants in the blink of an eye. The flames of disaster continued to fall from the sky relentlessly, sending wave after wave of Shenhuang soldiers into the hell of death.
Qi Zhencang pinched his Sound Transmission Jade with trembling fingers and roared: "Scatter in all directions! Forward army to the east, central army to the west, rear army to the south!!"
Under Qi Zhencang's command, the fleeing Shenhuang army began to disperse in three directions. Concentrating in one direction would only make it easier for the enemy to slaughter them, but scattering in three directions would force Yun Che to pursue only one group, unable to attend to the others.
Facing the scattered Shenhuang army, Yun Che halted midair, ceasing his pursuit, as if hesitating which direction to chase. Qi Zhencang, fleeing eastward, saw Yun Che stop there and let out a heavy sigh of relief, pouring all his profound energy into fleeing forward as fast as possible... In this life, he had never fled so completely, so wretchedly. Even in the most brutal defeat in war, he would never have been reduced to such a state... But this was not a rout on a battlefield; this was escaping the slaughter of a demon!
After a long while, Yun Che still did not continue chasing. He simply watched the three columns of the Shenhuang army rapidly disappear into the distance. But the flames of resentment burning wildly in his eyes and the killing intent boiling throughout his body showed no sign of abating... Finally, he made a move, but it was still not a pursuit. Instead, he slowly rose into the air until he was a thousand zhang high.
From this height, looking down, his vision encompassed the entire fleeing Shenhuang army.
"All you sinful dogs of the Shenhuang Empire... all of you... must die!!"
Yun Che's resentful whisper was very low, yet it pierced the heart like a demon's curse, ringing out clearly in everyone's ears and souls.
His arms slowly spread open in the air, and a layer of crimson flame gradually ignited on the surface of his body. This layer of flame was not intense, but it eerily reflected against the sky above, which slowly turned red... Facing these Shenhuang soldiers, the flame he burned was always the Golden Crow Flame, not the easier-to-control Phoenix Flame. Because only the heartlessness and explosiveness of the Golden Crow Flame could release the resentment and fury in his heart.
That terrifying "demon" remained there, not chasing for a long time. The Shenhuang army, in their desperate flight, relaxed slightly, thinking they had escaped the cruel blade of that demon. Just then, they suddenly felt the temperature of the surrounding air rising at an extremely exaggerated rate—from warm, to hot, to scorching that made their bodies uncomfortable... In just a few breaths, it became as if countless red-hot branding irons were burning their skin.
Even the air they breathed turned into scorching hot streams, searing their internal organs with violent convulsions. And the terrible temperature continued to rise rapidly with every breath. In panic, they looked back toward the shadow burning with crimson flames in the sky behind them... It was as if the air itself had turned into invisible flames, scorching their skin bright red. The crimson armor clinging to their bodies was like red-hot branding irons, causing more and more Shenhuang soldiers to let out agonized screams.
"What... what's going on!" Qi Zhencang, protected by his King Xuan profound energy, still felt as if he were inside a giant furnace, every part of his body burning with excruciating pain. His pupils dilated as he held his breath desperately, because the air he inhaled was hotter than fire. Below him, more than half of the Shenhuang army had stopped fleeing, rolling on the ground in unbearable agony, frantically tearing at their armor. But these suits of armor were already as hot as molten lava, firmly branded onto their skin. When forcibly ripped off, they brought with them large chunks of flesh and blood mixed with a burnt smell.
Those roars were as miserable as the screams of ghosts suffering the torments of purgatory.
This slowly descending sea of flames enveloped an area of fully seventy li around Yun Che, completely engulfing the entire Shenhuang army without exception. To the north, the Cangfeng Imperial City and the Cangfeng army were naturally unaffected, only feeling the air become somewhat hotter. But they all witnessed the strange state of the Shenhuang army, and the increasingly piercing screams were exceptionally clear.
"What's happening?" Tianxia Diqi asked in surprise. Suddenly, her mouth dropped open as she pointed toward Yun Che's direction. "That... that is..."
A huge golden shadow appeared behind Yun Che. It was the silhouette of a bird, outwardly magnificent and noble to the extreme, in a state of spreading its wings in flight. Its head was held high, just like the head of a phoenix. Its feathers were all of the purest gold, like clusters of burning golden flames. It had three legs beneath its body, and its tail feathers were long, also a dazzling brilliant gold.
And accompanying this supremely beautiful and noble golden shadow was a pressure that made heaven and earth tremble, along with an aura of destruction.
"It's the Golden Crow's shadow!" Tianxia Diyi exclaimed in shock. This was not the first time he had seen the Golden Crow's shadow. Every time a Demon Emperor activated the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record, the Golden Crow's shadow would appear for an instant or for a long time. But the Golden Crow shadows he had seen before were all faint and indistinct, semi-transparent, with a relatively dull gold. Yet the Golden Crow Flame Shadow behind Yun Che now was almost solid... as if the Golden Crow deity itself had truly descended into the world. The dazzling golden light was so bright he could hardly open his eyes. The overwhelmingly powerful pressure and destructive aura caused his soul to tremble deeply, even though he was far away and not targeted by Yun Che's aura.
Throughout history, when Demon Emperors of the Illusion Demon Realm awakened their bloodline at the Golden Crow Ancestral Land, they were granted three drops of source blood, and the comprehension of the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record was only given three months. The strongest Demon Emperor in the history of the Demon Emperor Clan had only reached the fourth realm of the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record.
But Yun Che had been granted nine drops of source blood, and because of his special evil spirit fire body and extremely high comprehension, he had comprehended a full seven realms in less than three months.
In other words, Yun Che, this adopted son-in-law of the Demon Emperor Clan, possessed Golden Crow Flame power that surpassed every Demon Emperor in the entire clan's history... Even the Ancestral Demon Emperor could not compare! At this moment, let alone Tianxia Diyi, even if all the past Demon Emperors were reborn and present, they would be stunned dumb by the Golden Crow aura Yun Che was releasing.
Because what Yun Che was now unleashing was the seventh realm of the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record—one they had never touched, not even dared to dream of in their wildest fantasies...
"All of you... die... now..." Yun Che murmured lowly, listening to the sounds of agonized wailing in his ears, a sense of catharsis flashing in his eyes. The seventh realm of the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record... even with his current abilities, controlling it was somewhat difficult and would come with immense consumption. But these invaders who had committed heinous crimes in the Cangfeng Kingdom, crimes worthy of a million deaths... they must die... every single one of them!!
"Golden Crow Annihilation Domain... Yellow Springs Ashes!!!"
The flames on Yun Che's body and the Golden Crow Flame Shadow behind him exploded with his roar...
BOOM!!!!!!!!!
A deafening roar like doomsday drowned out all sounds. On the walls of Cangfeng Imperial City, everyone below—their world was instantly filled completely with crimson flames, transformed into a pure world of fire... The Shenhuang army, the earth, the horizon, even the sky above—everything was entirely obscured by the flames. There was nothing else to see but fire, as if the entire world had turned into a sea of flames in that instant.
Pairs of pupils dilated, mouths opened to the extreme, yet not a single person could make a sound. Their ears had all gone deaf, and their eyes were all dazzled crimson.
In what seemed like an endless sea of flames, everything was being mercilessly incinerated. What each of them witnessed was the most shocking and terrifying scene of their lives. They were certain that even the most violent volcanic eruption on the Tian Xuan Continent could not produce this boundless fire that blotted out the sky and sun, possessing almost world-destroying power. Tianxia Diyi, Tianxia Diqi, and Xiao Yun had all grown up in the guardian clans at the highest level of the Illusion Demon Realm. Their knowledge and experience far surpassed ordinary people by many realms. Yet even they were so stunned by this sky-covering fire that their souls almost fled their bodies... let alone others.
The boundless sky was completely reflected in crimson red. This sky-covering fire did not last too long, because for those fragile Shenhuang soldiers, this terrifying Golden Crow domain only needed an instant. After ten breaths, the greatly expanded air whistled, and the towering flames quickly extinguished... But the dazed faces on the Cangfeng Imperial City walls did not turn away. Even more horrified expressions appeared on their faces and in their eyes.
"Ah... ah... ah... ah..." As his ears began to recover from deafness, Xiao Yun heard the trembling sounds continuously spilling from his own throat.
The vast land before Cangfeng Imperial City had become a terrifying emptiness. For a full seventy li in all directions, everything—everything—had vanished: withered trees, collapsed buildings, uneven sand dunes, scattered rubble, mountains of corpses, streams of congealed blood... all completely gone!
The mighty hundreds of thousands of troops, the massive Shenhuang army that moved like raging waves of the sea—had completely disappeared! It was disappearance, not death! Because in that empty world, there were no corpses, no shattered armor, not even a trace of blood... It had vanished utterly, leaving not a single shred behind.
The ground had sunk by over ten zhang. The land for seventy li in every direction was as flat as a mirror, its color an eerie pale white... Aside from that pale white, there was not a single distinguishable speck of color visible to the naked eye. In the sky above, the crimson began to fade, but the clouds that had been scattered there were all gone, not even a tiny fragment of cloud remaining.
This was not killing... not destruction. It was turning this world of seventy li into a blank slate!
Yun Che became the only existence in this world.
In the silent world, Yun Che slowly lowered his arms. As the sky-covering flames extinguished, the violent aura in his eyes also gradually subsided. Looking at the completely empty land below, his face was calm. Slowly, he turned his head to look southwest—the direction where the Shenhuang Empire lay.
Destroying this Shenhuang army... was only the beginning!
He was a man who would repay hatred without fail... let alone this national destruction, this towering grievance!!