# Chapter 674: Absolute Deterrence
"But as for fighting, there's no need." The black-robed elder spoke indifferently. He raised his left arm, and from beneath his wide, pitch-black sleeve extended a pale, slender hand. The hand slowly turned over, and a flame the size of a fist appeared silently, burning quietly in the center of his palm.
It was a cluster of blue flames. Among profound flames, blue profound flames were only relatively low-level, belonging to the lower realms. Above the Earth Xuan Realm, all profound flames burned with a purple color. In other words, a blue profound flame — let alone against these incomparably powerful Emperor Lords, even against a Heaven Xuan Realm profound practitioner — couldn't possibly cause any harm.
But unlike normal profound flames, this flame's blue was a somewhat strange ice blue... nearly the color of extremely dense ice power. Even stranger, from this cluster of ice-blue flames, not even the slightest ripple of profound force could be sensed. As if it were no profound flame at all, but the most ordinary, powerless natural flame that could only burn common objects.
"You only need to receive this wisp of my Star Fire, and I will immediately leave, no longer interfering in your Sun Moon Divine Palace's affairs. But if you can't even receive this wisp of my Star Fire... then you must immediately withdraw, and never set foot here again!"
The ice-blue flame flickered slightly in the black-robed elder's palm. His heavy voice remained calm, carrying an immense pressure. And his tone was not one of negotiation, but an unquestionable command... Moreover, the subtext of his words was clear: You aren't even worthy to fight me. If you can receive this small flame of mine, that counts as your victory!
Having attained the Emperor Lord realm, one stood at the highest level of this world, looking down upon the masses. When had they ever been so despised? Ye Shi's anger flared, and he sneered, "Even if it were the Phoenix God of the Fenghuang God Sect, possessing Divine Xuan power, they would never dare to despise the elders of my Sun Moon Divine Palace. With such big words, aren't you afraid of biting your tongue?"
"Heh..." The black-robed elder chuckled faintly, saying nothing more. Instead, he gently pushed his hand forward. The ice-blue flame in his palm slowly floated out, unhurriedly flying toward Ye Shi's chest.
The stronger the profound force, the higher the laws, and the denser and more powerful the released force naturally became. At the Emperor Lord level, even the force from a flick of a finger would cause space to tremble and distort. Yet this ice-blue flame, as it flew out, still displayed not the slightest fluctuation of profound force. Wherever it passed, space showed no ripples or distortion... not to mention space, even the surrounding natural elements didn't become the least bit chaotic...
When it was in the black-robed elder's hand, one could barely explain the lack of force as being suppressed by his immense profound energy. But now that it had left his hand and was flying out, it still showed no trace of force... The only explanation was that this flame had no laws to speak of at all — it was just the most ordinary common flame!!
There could be no other possibility!
Ye Shi's last trace of tension vanished. At this moment, he was completely certain that this black-robed elder who had appeared out of nowhere was just bluffing. His unbelievably imposing aura was surely manufactured by some extremely special method to intimidate people... That's right! Other than the Phoenix God of the Fenghuang God Sect, there couldn't possibly exist anyone in this world who could surpass Holy Emperor, Sea Emperor, Heavenly Lord, and Sword Master! They had almost been fooled!
Ye Shi's face darkened. He sneered, and too lazy to even circulate his profound force, he swung his palm to slap the incoming ice-blue flame. When his hand touched the flame, he didn't feel even the slightest burning sensation. The flame vanished completely from sight, leaving no trace at all.
"Hahahaha!" Ye Shi burst into loud, wild laughter. "I thought it was some eminent master, but it's just a pretentious jumping jack! Hahaha, truly laughable!" As he laughed, he turned to Ye Xinghan and continued, "Young Master, Ninth Elder, it seems we today—"
He stopped mid-sentence, because he suddenly noticed that Ye Xinghan, Ye Guying, Ye Juanyun, and Ye Xiaoran all had their eyes wide open, pupils dilated, as if they were looking at something extremely terrifying. And behind them, the fifteen guardians — their faces were filled with deep terror, their facial muscles, even their entire bodies, were trembling... and the trembling grew more violent by the second. Their mouths were wide open as if trying to shout something, but in their extreme terror, no sound would come out.
The whole world seemed to freeze, there was a brief dead silence, and then Ye Guying's hoarse roar broke through: "Your hand! Your hand!!"
Ye Shi instinctively looked down at his own palm... In an instant, his pupils dilated ten times over, his entire face turning deathly pale in extreme terror.
Because on the arm he had raised... he could no longer see his hand!!
His right hand... had disappeared!!
And a cluster of ice-blue flames was burning silently on his wrist, where his hand had been... No! It wasn't burning, but more accurately, it was devouring! Wherever the ice-blue flames passed, his arm vanished inch by inch... In the blink of an eye, the flames spread to his elbow joint, and half of his arm had completely disappeared from his body.
Throughout the entire process, there was no aura, no sound, and no trace of pain or any other sensation! Not even a mark of burning... not even a wisp of ash!
It was as if his arm was being mercilessly devoured by an invisible black hole!
And what it was devouring was the body of a powerful Emperor Lord!!
This was a terrifying scene that no one present had ever seen, ever heard of, something completely beyond their comprehension. Ye Shi's pupils dilated to nearly bursting. The greatest fear of his entire life surged into him in an instant, causing him to let out a hoarse, twisted scream. He madly channeled all his profound force into his right arm, trying to suppress this terrifying "flame." But when his profound force touched the ice-blue flame, it vanished like mud entering the sea, disappearing without a trace. The ice-blue flame wasn't suppressed in the slightest, not even a flicker of disturbance. It still burned slowly and steadily, gradually approaching his shoulder...
There was no pain... not the slightest pain at all. But to watch his own body disappear before his very eyes — this was a fear countless times more terrifying than falling into hell. His whole body trembled, his mouth letting out increasingly piercing screams. Under extreme terror, his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. The veins on his forehead bulged clearly like earthworms...
But no matter how he screamed or struggled, that flame, as pure and beautiful as an ice crystal, yet more terrifying than any demon, continued to burn quietly...
"Save... save me..."
Clang!!
Ye Xiaoran grabbed a purple longsword from his spatial ring. His body blurred into a residual image. A violet sword arc cut through the air as he slashed down at Ye Shi's shoulder, viciously severing the remnant arm contaminated by the ice-blue flame!
But before the people of Sun Moon Divine Palace could sigh in relief, they watched in horror as Ye Shi's severed arm completely vanished in midair. Yet the ice-blue flame still remained, scattering into a dozen or so clusters in the air... all falling back onto Ye Shi's body.
In an instant, a dozen holes appeared in Ye Shi's other arm, legs, chest, and abdomen... and as the flames spread, they rapidly enlarged, bit by bit bringing Ye Shi's body toward complete nothingness.
Ye Shi's terrified screams grew even more piercing. His whole body twisted in spasms. His remaining left arm frantically batted and clawed at his own body... But the moment his left hand touched the ice-blue flame, it began to disappear rapidly. His frantic struggles only caused the ice-blue flame to spread over his body more quickly, riddling this powerful Emperor Lord's frame with holes...
The Sun Moon Divine Palace disciples present were at least Overlord Xuan, and the strongest were close to late-stage Emperor Lord. Yet every single face was filled with deep terror. The Ice Cloud women were even more pale and horrified... because what they were seeing was something so terrifying they couldn't even comprehend it! At this moment, Ye Guying suddenly roared at Ye Xiaoran: "Xiaoran, drop the sword!!"
Ye Xiaoran was startled. He lowered his head instinctively, and was instantly frightened out of his wits... The purple sword he had just used to cut off Ye Shi's shoulder had a speck of ice-blue flame on it... Though it was just a speck, the entire tip of the sword had already vanished, and the flame was rapidly spreading upward.
Ye Xiaoran's hand trembled; he almost lost his soul in terror. But he didn't immediately throw the sword away, because this purple sword was Ye Shi's treasured blade, companion to him for over three hundred years, usually cherished as his own life. But in that instant of hesitation, the ice-blue flame had already swallowed the middle of the sword, rushing toward his hand.
Ye Guying charged over and slammed his fist heavily into Ye Xiaoran's wrist. This sudden strike held nothing back, directly dislocating Ye Xiaoran's wrist and sending the purple sword flying far away. Ye Guying stopped his momentum and growled, "Do you have a death wish?!"
Ye Xiaoran was drenched in cold sweat. If the flame had touched his hand just now, he would undoubtedly have suffered the same fate as Ye Shi! Trembling with after-fear, he quickly said, "Th-thank you, Ninth Elder, for saving my life."
By now, Ye Shi could no longer make a sound. Most of his body had vanished. What remained no longer resembled a human shape and was disappearing even faster under the devouring of the ice-blue flame. Occasional twitching proved that this Sun Moon Elder, possessed of Emperor Lord power, still retained a wisp of life force, but moments later, that final breath faded completely... His entire body had utterly vanished from that spot!
Not a single trace remained!
Staring at where Ye Shi had disappeared, everyone wore expressions of terror and shock, frozen like stone statues. A cold wind blew, and they all shuddered simultaneously. A chill a thousand times more biting than the wind raged wildly through their bodies... Their clothes were already soaked through with cold sweat.
Sun Moon Young Master, Sun Moon Elder — undoubtedly figures at the pinnacle of this world. But at this moment, all they had in their hearts was fear... even their shock was suppressed by the overwhelming terror. This black-robed elder possessed an incredibly powerful aura. They had imagined that he might truly have strength to the extreme, but they never expected that when he made a move, it would be so terrifying!
A single spark of fire, yet it caused a powerful Emperor Lord to vanish from the world without any resistance... The scene just now was not merely terrifying — that was a power that should not exist in the mortal world, only in illusory myths and legends!
And this spark of fire was just casually kindled by the black-robed elder, without even a ripple of profound aura.
"Sigh..." The black-robed elder let out a light sigh. "I only intended to give a warning punishment. I never expected that an elder of a Sacred Ground would directly perish under this Star Fire. Has the profound path of the Tian Xuan Continent declined to such an extent..."
The black-robed elder's sigh seemed to carry disappointment, perhaps melancholy... His words implied that he had only wanted to use this flame to warn Ye Shi, but he never expected that an honorable elder of a Sacred Ground couldn't even offer the slightest resistance and just died outright...
In other words... I knew you were weak, but I never imagined you were this weak!
"Since the taboo against killing has been broken... then all of you will remain here as well." The black-robed elder sighed again. He extended his pale hand, and a cluster of ice-blue flame identical to before ignited in his palm... And this cluster of ice-blue flame was more than double the size of the previous one!!
Still just casually ignited, without even a trace of profound force circulation! As if this was nothing more than the most ordinary power for this black-robed elder, not even requiring concentration.
At the sight of this ice-blue flame, the remaining three Sun Moon Elders felt their every hair stand on end. Ye Xinghan even retreated several steps, his face no longer holding a trace of arrogance or pride, only ghastly pale terror.
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