Chapter 745: The Counterattack Begins
"Die!!"
Boom——
Rumble——
Bang! Bang! Bang!——
In Liu Yun City, a continuous rumbling came from far in the east. Although it was extremely distant, it was still so oppressive that it made one's heart ache and feel like it might split. And if one were to tell the people of Liu Yun City at this moment that this was the sound of two people battling six hundred li away, absolutely no one would believe it.
And this extremely muffled rumbling was not only exceptionally dense, but it continued unabated for over an hour without stopping. Many residents of Liu Yun City came to the eastern side, gazing eastward, trying to find the source of the sound.
Sssssh!
Sssssh!!
Two long, pitch-black cracks tore through Yun Che's afterimage. Every sword strike Fen Juechen unleashed carried an icy, bone-piercing dark profound force. But his storm of dozens of consecutive strikes all struck only Yun Che's residual shadows. With his final sword swing, the sea waves were viciously split open, but Yun Che's figure grew farther and farther away in his line of sight.
"Urghhhh—ahhh!!"
The waves surged. A vast, pitch-black storm of profound force caused the wind and clouds to change color, hurtling toward Yun Che with the tremor of space itself. Yun Che's gaze fixed, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and let out a low roar...
Bang!!
The dark profound force storm slammed violently into Yun Che's body, sending him tumbling dozens of somersaults. A thousand-zhang giant reef directly below was flung into the air and, before it could even fall, crumbled into fine powder within the darkness.
Yun Che did not deliberately disperse the force. His body was carried a full seven or eight li by the impact of the dark profound force. When he stopped, he looked at his arms... the lower half of both arms had turned charred black. There was no bleeding, no pain... he could not even feel the existence of the flesh!
Whoosh!!
Phoenix flame ignited on his arms, and in an instant, it dispelled the eerie black char. The devoured flesh also began to slowly regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye... a speed that completely defied common sense.
"Fen Juechen, it's been an hour and a half! You have disappointed me greatly! Hahahahaha..."
Yun Che was still laughing wildly, but not a single part of his body was at ease. During every gap in Fen Juechen's attacks, he would mercilessly taunt him, as if he himself were the absolute strong one, toying with, humiliating, and playing with an opponent like a mouse. But the actual situation, he knew all too well.
And the longer the time dragged on, the more visibly irritable Fen Juechen became. His roars had long grown hoarse, and the dark profound force emanating from his body had also weakened significantly. Yet his attacks remained as fierce as ever, each time almost recklessly going all out... he was like a madman whose eyes were bloodshot, with only Yun Che in his gaze! Only the single thought of killing Yun Che in his heart and soul!
Sssssh!!
A several-dozen-zhang dark sword beam slashed across, violently and ruthlessly tearing through space. Yun Che's figure flickered slightly, appearing on the sea surface fifty-zhang below. He looked at Fen Juechen, who was once again roaring and charging up, and let out a silent sigh.
In terms of pure profound power, Fen Juechen indeed completely surpassed him. In a direct confrontation, although Yun Che would not suffer a crushing defeat in a short time, he would inevitably lose.
But Fen Juechen was ultimately too young.
And his temperament was far too extreme.
Back then at Fen Tian Gate, as the Young Master of Fen Tian, it was naturally impossible for him to have experienced any life-and-death battles.
And after obtaining this powerful dark profound force, he had not even encountered an evenly matched opponent.
Yun Che, on the other hand, had not only lived two lives but had also experienced countless life-and-death battles. Fen Juechen had previously roared that he had "experienced hell," but what Yun Che had gone through was something beyond even the imagination of someone who had been through hell.
Therefore, even if his strength surpassed Yun Che's, that did not mean... he could definitely defeat Yun Che!
On the Cang Yun Continent, there were countless people whose strength far exceeded Yun Che's, yet ultimately died by his hand!!
"It seems four hours won't be necessary." Yun Che muttered to himself, focused his spirit, and fully concentrated on dealing with Fen Juechen, who was approaching like a wild beast.
Liu Yun City, Xiao Sect.
Explosions, rumbles, tearing sounds... Tianxia Diyi floated in the air, silently gazing eastward. To ordinary Liu Yun City residents, it was just an unusual sound from afar, but he knew the terrifying power hidden behind each sound.
"They've been fighting for a full two hours now." Tianxia Diyi frowned deeply. "Brother Yun is someone who can severely wound Prince Huai with a single sword strike... that young man named Fen Juechen is astonishingly powerful to this extent!"
"And he's not even from the Sacred Grounds!"
"Two hours already, and it's still this intense... so terrifying." Tianxia Diqi instinctively shielded her lower abdomen, afraid of startling the child within.
"Big brother is so strong, he'll definitely win." Xiao Yun shouted with full confidence, though his voice trembled slightly.
"Little Aunt... don't worry. Big Brother Yun won't be in trouble. Even if he can't beat Fen Juechen, he can immediately return using the Mystic Ark." Feng Xue'er continuously comforted Xiao Lingxi... because Xiao Lingxi's aura had been in chaos the entire time. Her expression never calmed for a moment, her face covered with worry, fear, and terror, a fine layer of cold sweat on her forehead.
Xiao Lingxi's hand clutched tightly at Feng Xue'er's snowy robes, clutching very, very hard. She begged again, "Xue'er, please take me there... I'm so worried, I..."
"Big Brother Yun... he will definitely be fine." Feng Xue'er comforted her, then gently bit her lip. Her own worry was no less than Xiao Lingxi's. And she had heard Yun Che say with his own mouth... that he was not Fen Juechen's match.
"Little Che can't be hurt, and Brother Fen... neither of them can get hurt! Fen Juechen is really not a bad person; he even saved my life twice! If he is killed by Little Che, I will never be able to find peace for the rest of my life... I must go stop them... they have been fighting for so long, that's enough!"
Xiao Lingxi's voice trembled with panic. The sounds from the east revealed how brutal the battle was. This death match between the two would likely only end with one of them dead.
If Yun Che died, she would be heartbroken. If Fen Juechen died, she would find it equally hard to accept.
"But... but I promised Big Brother Yun, I can't disobey him." Feng Xue'er shook her head in panic and confusion.
Just then, the muffled explosions from the east suddenly stopped, and did not resume for a long time. The faint oppressive feeling from hundreds of li away also seemed to vanish.
"Ah? Finally... over?" Xiao Yun murmured, and at the same time, everyone's expressions became solemn.
A fierce battle lasting over two hours—it was impossible to imagine how brutal the outcome would be...
Feng Xue'er quickly took out her sound transmission jade and nervously sent a message: "Big Brother Yun, are you alright? Have you defeated him?"
After the transmission, every moment of waiting was suffocatingly heavy. But soon, Yun Che's voice came back.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. There's no way anything will happen to me. You don't need to worry at all... In at most another hour, I'll be back..."
Yun Che's voice was relaxed and carefree, full of energy, as if he were even smiling faintly.
Instantly, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief.
————————————
Tian Xuan Eastern Sea.
Yun Che slowly put away his sound transmission jade, then looked coldly at Fen Juechen ahead. His hair was completely disheveled, his clothes in tatters. Apart from the corner of his mouth, there was no visible blood on his body, but it was covered with black scorch marks. He was panting heavily... but far less heavily than Fen Juechen opposite him.
Fen Juechen had stopped attacking. His eyes were like a wolf's, his chest heaving so violently it seemed it might burst at any moment. His aura had weakened by more than half compared to the beginning, but it was still sinister, violent, and icy cold. His killing intent had not diminished in the slightest.
"You... deliberately... exhausted... my... strength!!" Fen Juechen's pitch-black pupils flashed with blood-red light.
He was proud and arrogant by nature, and harbored deep hatred and killing intent toward Yun Che, so he was easily provoked. In his rage, he attacked wildly, and the wild attacks made him even more furious... In these two hours, he had frenziedly attacked Yun Che, and now his profound power had declined by over sixty percent!!
As for Yun Che... his profound aura had only decreased by less than thirty percent!
When that sword strike just now stirred up a thousand-zhang wave, the cold seawater poured down, drenching his entire body, and the cold shock suddenly made him realize Yun Che's intention.
Yun Che, neither surprised nor flustered, said with a smile: "That's right. You've finally figured it out. But it took you two full hours to realize this—you really aren't very smart."
Fen Juechen sneered, the pitch-black sword in his hand letting out a chilling hum: "In my eyes now, you're nothing but a waste that must die! No matter what tricks you play, you won't leave here alive today!"
"Oh my, saying you're not smart is actually flattering you." Yun Che said with a leisurely smile. "I've been on the defensive for two consecutive hours under your attacks, not attacking back, yet not dead or severely injured. Even an idiot should understand that with my movement techniques and speed, for you to kill me now... is nothing but a pipe dream!"
Earlier, Fen Juechen's full-power attacks were terrifying in both force and momentum. But now, Yun Che was completely certain that in terms of movement techniques and speed, Fen Juechen was definitely inferior to him!
He had decided long ago to confront Fen Juechen in this manner, believing that he had a considerable advantage in movement and speed... Now it seemed that this advantage not only existed but was even greater than he had anticipated.
Now that Fen Juechen had realized it, naturally he could not continue like this. And Yun Che had no intention of remaining purely defensive any longer.
Zheng!!
Red light flashed sharply. Yun Che grabbed the Heaven-Defying Sword again. In an instant, under the overwhelming sword momentum, the waves and wind fell completely silent, as if utterly frozen. The faint smile on Yun Che's face turned into a low, cold sneer: "And the one who won't leave here alive today... is you!!"