Against the Gods

The crimson-black devil flame quickly approached Yun Che. It was as if there was a boundless sea of flames behind him. He quickly stepped forward and swung the Heaven Smiting Sword casually. The instant the sword was swung, a ferocious wave of air was swept up and the sound of the blast was shockingly deafening.

Riiip!

The air became heavily distorted and a sound like cloth ripping apart rang through the hall. The fire which had blanketed the entire area was easily torn apart, and a huge vacuum appeared amidst the flames. Yun Che started to move as he rushed straight into the sea of flames. His heavy sword danced in the air, resembling a flood dragon dancing in the waves. Wherever the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword landed, it completely blasted, broke and cut away those incomparably fearsome crimson-black devil flames as a huge heavy sword energy storm wreaked havoc in the inferno. In the span of a few short breaths, the sea of fire that had blanketed the entire arena had been blasted into smithereens.

“Wha… What?!!” Duke Hui Ye’s face paled in shock and both of his hands trembled as he swiftly raised up the Obsidian Devil Sword. Three flame devils howled in an unholy cacophony as they rushed towards Yun Che.

“Phoenix Flame… Sears the Heavens!!”

The image of a phoenix flashed into life as a phoenix cry split the air and Yun Che’s entire body morphed into the form of a phoenix composed of raging flames, as he explosively charged at the three Flame Devils.

Using the same Phoenix Flame Sears the Heavens without any weapons, he had only knocked aside one flame devil!

But this Phoenix Flame Sears the Heavens was performed with his heavy sword!

That instant of awesome might and pressure caused the entire Demon Imperial Hall to fall into complete silence.

Boom!!!

The silhouette of the phoenix smashed into the first flame devil and with a loud explosion, the phoenix directly tore through the flame devil, leaving countless flame devil fragments fluttering across the sky in its wake.

Boom!!

The second flame devil was also pierced through.

Boom!!

The third flame devil was sent flying in an instant and smashed against the roof of the hall violently. The entire great hall violently trembled and the flame devil had exploded as well, raining down large fragments of the crimson-black blaze.

In an instant, all three flame devils had been completely destroyed, and all of this had occurred at the speed of light. Even though all of this had happened, the power of Phoenix Flames Sears the Heavens had still not completely dissipated; it carried the might and pressure of a phoenix as it shot towards Duke Hui Ye. Duke Hui Ye was so shocked that his eyes were practically bulging out of his face as the phoenix violently smashed into his chest.

Boom!!!

The profound energy shielding Duke Hui Ye’s body was instantly shattered by the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword and the remaining power of Phoenix Flame Sears the Heavens plowed into Duke Hui Ye’s body. Following the roaring explosion of phoenix flames, Duke Hui Ye’s body flew out like a kicked rubber ball as he miserably screamed while being sent flying into the distance.

Yun Che raised his head and looked in the direction Duke Hui Ye had flown. When he had smashed Duke Hui Ye’s chest just now, he had clearly felt his own strength being heavily obstructed by something… Duke Hui Ye seemed to be wearing some kind of profound armor with an extremely strong defense, and so Phoenix Flame Sears the Heavens, which had been weakened due to the obstruction of the three flame devils, was unable to deal any heavy damage to him.

“Hmph!” The corner of Yun Che’s lips curled upward as he revealed a faintly cruel and cold smile. When facing an opponent who wanted to consign him to the cruel embrace of death, how was it possible that he would allow that opponent to suffer a comfortable defeat?

Yun Che’s figure blurred as he combined Extreme Mirage Lightning with Star God’s Broken Shadow. In the blink of an eye, he had appeared in the air above the still flying Duke Hui Ye. With a brandishing of the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword, the image of a wolf flashed behind him as the body of the sword ignited with phoenix flames, and he explosively smashed his sword downwards.

“Phoenix Sky Wolf Slash!”

The image of the Sky Wolf pulled along phoenix flames as it split the air and rocketed downwards; it was as if it had grown a long phoenix tail. Amidst the keening hiss of broken air, the image of the Sky Wolf quickly combined together with the phoenix flames, morphing into the image of a blazing, furious sky wolf as it mercilessly exploded towards Duke Hui Ye.

Phoenix Sky Wolf Slash… It was a derivative move which combined the flames of the Phoenix with Sirius’ First Sword Style! It was also a masterpiece which Yun Che had just managed to complete fifteen days ago!

After the three flame devils had been demolished in a split second and Duke Hui Ye had been sent flying, Duke Huai’s heart had already been filled with alarm. Now that he saw Yun Che’s movement, he quickly flew out as his face paled in complete fright. His right arm burst into flames, but before the flames could even begin to rush towards Yun Che, a figure blurred in front of him and a cluster of deep purple lightning rushed towards his face, forcing him to backflip as he made a distant leap.

“Duke Huai, are you trying to break the rules of the tournament?!” Yun Qinghong coldly declared as he blocked Duke Huai’s advance. The words he had shouted out were exactly the same words Duke Huai had said before.

With Yun Qinghong’s obstruction, even if Duke Huai wanted to save Duke Hui Ye, he would not make it in time. Following a loud ringing sound, the burning image of the Sky Wolf heavily smashed into Duke Hui Ye’s body.

“Arghhhhh…”

A loud, miserable cry as shrill as the wailing of an evil spirit split the air and nearly suppressed the sound of the exploding profound energy. Under the immensely strong destructive power of Yun Che’s strike, Duke Hui Ye’s protective profound armor could only last for a mere instant before it was shattered like fragile glass. Duke Hui Ye’s body fell like a falling meteor. In the next moment, he crashed into the ground with an ear-piercing scream, then immediately bounced off the ground. When his body had impacted the ground a second time, he had landed outside the arena and many pockets of phoenix flames still burned on his body. Instead of dying down, the fires seemed to burn even hotter and harder, causing him to instantly become a human torch.

Surrounding him was the scattered fragments of his profound armor, littering the ground.

“Duke Hui Ye!!”

Many people from the east wing hurriedly surrounded him and several young disciples promptly released profound energy in an attempt to extinguish the flames on Duke Hui Ye’s body. But how could phoenix flames be so easily extinguished? Once their hands came into contact with phoenix fire, they screamed out in pain as they were scorched by the heat. Even after flailing about for a good long while, they had still not even come close to extinguishing the flames on Duke Hui Ye’s body.

“Out of the way!”

Duke Huai descended from the air and slapped his palm on Duke Hui Ye’s chest. Under the incomparably deep and thick profound energy, the flames on his body began to recede like a breaking tide and swiftly disappeared. After the phoenix flames had been completely extinguished, one-third of Duke Hui Ye’s body had been charred black and his hair and eyebrows had been completely burned away. His wounds were numerous beyond count and many of those wounds were deep enough to expose bone… and all of these were only external injuries. What caused Duke Huai to be truly enraged was that at least thirty percent of Hui Ye’s meridians had been ruined and at least half of his bones were broken. For him to make a complete recovery, even with the vast resources Duke Huai Palace had, it would still take many months.

The profound armor that Duke Hui Ye had always worn on his person had disappeared, and all that was left was the faint aura of the profound armor that had been scattered all around. Duke Huai himself was incomparably clear about how resilient this profound armor was, and he was even more clear that if not for the protection of this profound armor, even if Hui Ye had not died under that previous sword strike, he would still have been completely crippled.

“Too bad huh. This guy was actually wearing such an incredible life-preserving charm, or else I would have at the very least shaved off half his life,” Yun Che said softly to himself in regret, emoting a heavy and rough gasp.

Within the great hall, nearly everyone present had unwittingly rose to their feet with stunned expressions on every single one of their faces. The silence lasted for a long time and it was as if all the sound present in this world had been completely removed.

In a single instant, he had destroyed three flame devils and had followed that up by heavily injuring Duke Hui Ye with a single stroke of his sword. The conclusion that seemed to be foregone had been completely turned upon its head once that vermilion greatsword had appeared. In the span of a few short breaths, a complete reversal that no one had ever dreamed of had happened...

Duke Hui Ye laid on the ground with half his face charred black and the other half pale as a sheet. Even though he had been heavily injured, it was not to the point where he had lost consciousness. Both his eyes were opened and they had widened to an extreme degree; it was as though his soul had left his body due to the shock and trauma.

The reactions of everyone in Duke Huai Palace and all of those seated in the east wing were largely the same. They could scarcely believe their own eyes, because once Hui Ye had revealed the Obsidian Devil Sword, they were completely sure that Yun Che was going to admit defeat, or even die. No one had expected that this would actually be the result.

Shock and amazement was writ large on Yun Qinghong’s face and it was only after a while that he came to his senses. But he still was not able to fathom the commotion that was currently occurring in his mind. He looked toward the Yun Family’s seats and without exception, from the lowest of disciples to the grandest of elders, every single one of them had a dazed expression. Even the three Grand Elders, Yun Jiang, Yun He and Yun Xi had risen up from their seats and stood there for a good long while.

Yun Qinghong began to faintly laugh, and his gaze grew indistinct for a moment. He could hardly believe that this young man, who had time and again shocked the entire audience and stunned all the heroes of the realm, was actually his own biological son. His previous worries and interference had been completely unnecessary. When he recalled Yun Che’s confident demeanor and unwavering gaze, he lightly nodded his head and said to himself, “Che’er, your true limit, where exactly does it lie…”

The Yun Che who had not used his heavy sword was dominated by Duke Hui Ye but once that heavy sword had appeared, in the blink of an eye, it was Duke Hui Ye who had lost miserably and suffered serious wounds. For a profound practitioner, training in one type of weapon was a must, and once a practitioner held his or her preferred weapon, that person’s ability would also rise, but not to an overly exaggerated extent. Someone who was at the fifth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm could still easily defeat an opponent who was one level lower than him with bare fists, even if that opponent had a weapon equipped.

But Yun Che was definitely not the same. The Yun Che who had no heavy sword in his hand versus the Yun Che who did, it was not only a difference in strength at this point… it was practically a difference in entire levels! With Dragon Fault in Yun Che’s hands, he would have already surpassed Duke Hui Ye, so when he used the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword which was far stronger, the result was already predetermined.

But at the same time, the energy consumed in the process of wielding the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword was far greater than that of Dragon Fault. While he had heavily wounded Duke Hui Ye, Yun Che’s breathing had become noticeably rougher.

“Father, he… what sort of person is he?” Su Zhizhan exclaimed in astonishment. The scenario that unfolded in those few short breaths had fiercely impacted his very soul and completely overturned his world.

Su Xiangnan shook his head and replied in a voice that was also rather baffled, “Your father wants to know this answer even more than you do.” And when he thought of how Yun Qinghong almost forcibly intervened, he continued, “And I’m afraid that even Yun Qinghong did not know that he was actually this strong!”

Someone able to cause these peerless experts who came from all over the Illusory Demon Realm to experience shock and marvel time and again; Yun Che was definitely the first person who had ever done so. The kind of shock he created with a profound strength that was just at the Sky Profound Realm could not help but cause calamitous waves to rage about in the hearts of all these peerless experts, and the impact he created the moment he had heavily injured Duke Hui Ye far surpassed any of the previous shock he had caused.

“Who is next?!!”

His vermilion greatsword dug into the ground and Yun Che supported himself by leaning on the sword with one hand. His forehead was filled with sweat but his voice was still thunderous as it rang clear. At this point, not a single person dared to mock him or take him lightly and all eyes were glued to his figure. Even the Little Demon Empress, who was seated on her throne, had been reduced to a supporting role under his dazzling brilliance.

For the first time in his life, Duke Huai had been driven to vexation by a young person. Duke Hui Ye’s injuries were completely secondary, because even his confidence, dignity, and arrogance had been completely shattered by Yun Che. From this day forth, if Yun Che managed to survive, his name would shake all of Illusory Demon Realm while Duke Huai’s son would be reduced to a mere stepping stone on Yun Che’s path to glory!

This person, he definitely must die...

Duke Huai inclined his head and shot a fierce gaze towards Duke Zhong. Duke Zhong’s expression had long ago turned sour and he lowered his head. He sent a silent sound transmission to his own son, Duke Yuan Que, “Yun Che has already revealed an opening. It is clear that using that sword consumes a large amount of energy and he should not have too much strength left! Use any and all means that you have at your disposal to kill him.... no matter what the cost!”

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