Chapter 686: Profound Force Inheritance?
As Yun Che's voice fell, his figure suddenly became illusory. Feng Huwei, whose entire body was tensed, was immediately alert, but before he could react, a hand had already locked tightly around his neck—so fast that his naked eye couldn't even track it.
Feng Huwei was startled and quickly activated his full Profound Force, but just as his Profound Qi was about to burst, a force like a tidal wave surged violently into his body, instantly suppressing his Profound Force and causing the Profound Qi he had just summoned to vanish without a trace.
Feng Huwei was horrified. Yun Che had appeared silently behind him and had silently wiped out Tian Yi, which was enough to tell Feng Huwei that Yun Che's current strength was likely far beyond his own. But he never imagined the gap between them would be so enormous. As the Tiger Might General, who held a very high status in the Divine Phoenix Empire, he had always been extremely proud of his strength. Yet under Yun Che's Profound Force suppression, his Profound Force couldn't even circulate, let alone erupt!
"You..." Feng Huwei's pupils dilated as if they would burst. He had originally calculated that even if he couldn't defeat Yun Che, he would still have at least a sixty percent chance of escaping safely. But with Yun Che gripping his throat with one hand, he couldn't muster any strength to struggle, and even making a sound was extremely difficult.
"Are you still going to say I don't have the guts to kill you?" Yun Che sneered contemptuously. "You, the so-called Tiger Might General, are as naive as a stupid pig!"
Boom!!
As Yun Che's power mercilessly poured into Feng Huwei's body, a dull rumble sounded inside him. His whole body trembled violently, blood seeped from his seven orifices, and his consciousness quickly scattered and blurred. At that moment, Yun Che's Arcane Firmament surged forward, straight into Feng Huwei's soul, rapidly reading his memories.
What exactly was the Divine Phoenix Army doing here? It was normal for an ordinary Divine Phoenix soldier not to know, but as the supreme commander, Feng Huwei couldn't possibly be ignorant.
Feng Huwei's memories were being continuously read. However, just as Yun Che was about to reach the memory concerning the "Flowing Cloud City Mission," a strange blank suddenly appeared in Feng Huwei's memory space!
More precisely, it was a shadow!!
This shadow was clearly formed by extremely powerful spiritual Profound Force. In both its aura and intensity, it absolutely did not belong to Feng Huwei; it had been imposed by someone else. The location of the shadow perfectly covered the core memory related to the "Flowing Cloud City Mission," making it impossible for Yun Che to read.
"This is a memory prison set up with powerful spiritual force!" Mo Li said slowly. "The part of the memory inside this prison still belongs to Feng Huwei himself. He knows it clearly, but he cannot use words, Profound Force sound transmission, writing, or any other method to tell others. If he has such thoughts or actions, this spiritual force will instantly trigger and destroy that part of his memory. If someone else tries to read this memory through soul-searching or similar means, it's also impossible! Your Arcane Firmament can't do it either!"
Since Mo Li said it was impossible, then it was definitely impossible. Moreover, Yun Che could clearly sense that this shadow was connected to that part of Feng Huwei's memory. If he forcibly erased the shadow with his Arcane Firmament, the memory linked to the shadow would also be erased, leaving him still unable to obtain the information.
After a brief hesitation, Yun Che did not attempt a forcible extraction. He finished reading all of Feng Huwei's other memories and withdrew his Arcane Firmament.
"It seems that among these two hundred thousand Divine Phoenix troops, only this Feng Huwei knows the answer I want." Yun Che pondered. "Obviously, the reason the Phoenix God Sect set up such a memory prison for Feng Huwei is that they were worried the Four Sacred Grounds would target Feng Huwei and forcibly search his soul."
After all, on the Tian Xuan Continent, only the Four Sacred Grounds could threaten the Phoenix God Sect.
When he had infiltrated this large tent, he had indeed heard Feng Huwei and his deputy general Tian Yi mention the "Four Sacred Grounds." They had clearly stated that the occasional disappearance of soldiers was the work of the Four Sacred Grounds.
"To set up such a memory prison requires not only extremely high spiritual power but also unpredictable and uncontrollable risks." Mo Li sneered. "It seems this Phoenix God Sect really is hiding a big secret."
"Indeed, at least much bigger than I expected..." Yun Che's gaze flickered. "I've always wondered why the Divine Phoenix Empire suddenly attacked the Cang Feng Empire. Perhaps annexing the Cang Feng Empire is just a smokescreen... and this place is the real purpose!!"
"Suddenly, I'm a bit curious," Mo Li said with interest. "When do you plan to set out for the Divine Phoenix Empire?"
The most flourishing thing on a woman is always her curiosity... and Mo Li was no exception.
Yun Che answered without hesitation: "Today!"
"For debt collection, you can't afford to waste even a single day."
"Hmph." Mo Li sniffed, roughly meaning "I figured as much."
Feng Huwei, still in Yun Che's grip, finally regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and immediately saw Yun Che's coldly smiling face, instantly feeling an ice-cold sensation throughout his body. He trembled as he said, "You... what did you just do to me!"
As soon as he spoke, he found his voice extremely weak, almost to the point of exhaustion.
Yun Che didn't answer him. He simply turned his face away, looking straight ahead, and the words that escaped his lips carried a chilling cruelty and killing intent: "Feng Hengkong, seeing that I'm still alive, aren't you disappointed!"
"Feng Xue'er has a debt of gratitude with me. Three years ago, you came after me over the bloodline issue, disrupting my peace, and then you had Feng Feiyan try to assassinate me on the Primordial Mystic Ark. For Xue'er's sake, I had intended to put those accounts behind me and not pursue them..."
"But you've given me such a wonderful surprise!!"
Yun Che's voice was so icy that Feng Huwei, standing right next to him, felt a chill run through his entire body... He suddenly understood: Yun Che wasn't talking to himself; he was clearly using his Death Soul Imprint to speak to the Divine Phoenix Emperor and Phoenix Sect Master, Feng Hengkong!!
Which meant that once Yun Che finished speaking, his death would follow!
The Death Soul Imprint he had relied on as a deterrent had not only failed to intimidate Yun Che but had instead been used as a tool!
"You must be wondering where those hundreds of thousands of troops went by now... Yes, I did it. But this is just the beginning—oh no! It's not even the beginning!"
"Killing my father, trampling the land of my Cang Feng Empire, slaughtering countless of my compatriots, turning my homeland into a hell of fear, despair, and flight! For this debt, I will make your Divine Phoenix Empire pay back a thousandfold! Wash your necks and wait!"
Boom!!
With an explosive sound, Feng Huwei was slammed viciously to the ground. His body instantly shattered, sending up a spray of fine flesh and blood specks... but not a single drop landed on Yun Che.
No one would have imagined that this Tiger Might General, renowned throughout the Divine Phoenix Empire and the terror of six kingdoms, would die so miserably—without even leaving a complete finger, let alone a corpse. All because he had touched Yun Che's inverse scale!
Although he hadn't obtained the answer he wanted, he had killed those who deserved to die. Moreover, as one of the important figures of the Phoenix God Sect, Feng Huwei's memory contained far too many things about the Phoenix God Sect—including some secrets.
Withdrawing the Ice God Illusory Mirror, Yun Che silently left and returned toward Flowing Cloud City. Outside the large tent where he had just been, guards stood in orderly rows with solemn expressions, completely unaware that their supreme commander, Feng Huwei, had already died without a whole corpse.
"You chose to challenge Fen Juechen in three months. Is this to take revenge on the Divine Phoenix Empire during that time?" Mo Li asked lightly.
"Yes!" Yun Che flew at extreme speed, with Flowing Cloud City growing closer in his sight. "Three months is enough for me to bathe the Divine Phoenix City in blood! Even if I can't completely massacre it... at least I'll turn the Phoenix God Sect upside down! Otherwise, I won't be able to quell the hatred in my heart!"
"Moreover, the Phoenix God Sect is still powerful. I can't confront them head-on. This bloodbath will carry varying degrees of danger, but it will also significantly boost my Profound Force. By then, I should be confident enough to fight Fen Juechen!" Yun Che said with certainty.
"If that's what you think, then you're dead wrong!" Mo Li said coldly. "Within these three months of the agreed battle, Fen Juechen's growth rate will far surpass yours! You'll find it very difficult to defeat him now, but you can barely put up a fight. However, if you wait another three months... you might not even have the strength to resist him at all."
"What?" Yun Che's flying speed immediately slowed. "Why?"
"I told you before, his demonic Profound Force didn't arise from his own conviction; it came from someone else! Inside his body—more precisely, in his soul and Mysterious Vein—a powerful Demon Source has been implanted! The reason he has become as strong as he is today is because he has absorbed the power of that Demon Source. But that is by no means his full power after completely absorbing the Demon Source! If my perception hasn't deviated, he has only absorbed thirty percent of that Demon Source's power!"
"Thirty percent?" Yun Che showed a shocked expression. At four-tenths, Fen Juechen was already at the level of a mid-stage Emperor Lord. If he absorbed it all... how terrifying would that be!
"He hates you to the bone. You proactively set a three-month deadline for the final battle. Therefore, to ensure he can kill you, within these three months, he will definitely exhaust himself to absorb the power of the Demon Source! The rate of strength increase from this method is something you can never match through any kind of cultivation."
"... " Yun Che slowed his flight even more, and a heavy pressure suddenly weighed on his heart. He frowned and was silent for a while before muttering quietly, "In legends or records, certain techniques might have a special method of inheritance that can be passed from one person to another. However, something like Profound Force must be honed through personal cultivation, or absorbed and refined from heavenly materials and earthly treasures. It accumulates over time, gradually and sequentially. It's absolutely impossible to pass from one person to another! This can be considered one of the most basic common senses of the Profound Path! Otherwise, if Profound Force could be inherited, a powerful expert at the end of his lifespan could pass his lifelong Profound Force to a child... or even dozens of Overlord Emperors could transfer their entire Profound Force to one person, forcibly creating an Emperor Lord... wouldn't the entire Profound Realm fall into chaos!"
"The Demon Source you mentioned is clearly a demonic Profound Force cultivated by someone else! Why can such a thing be directly transferred into another person's body and be absorbed as their own power?" Yun Che asked, puzzled. "Is this a property of demonic Profound Force?"
"Of course not!" Mo Li directly denied. "If demonic Profound Force had such properties, the entire Hongmeng would have long been a world of demons!"
And Mo Li's next sentence made Yun Che's heart jump in alarm: "The Demon Source on Fen Juechen... even I find it extremely puzzling!"
"You don't know either?" Yun Che stopped midair, his brow furrowing deeply. For Mo Li to be puzzled... what exactly had happened to Fen Juechen?
"The world you can see is far smaller than you imagine, and the pinnacle of the Profound Path is something you can't even conceive of now. Never naively think that the so-called 'basic common sense' you know is the truth! Profound Force inheritance is indeed extremely difficult, but it is absolutely not impossible... Do you know how I obtained my Profound Force?"
Mo Li used a tone devoid of any emotion to pose a question that Yun Che had always wanted to ask but had never dared to.