Against the Gods - Volume 07 - Heaven Smiting Shakes the World

by Mars Gravity

  “This isn’t possible!” Feng Hengkong said gravely, “Yun Che is clearly in our Divine Phoenix Empire right now! With Yun Che gone, how can a mere Blue Wind Nation withstand the might of our Divine Phoenix Army!? Just what is going on!? Could it be that Yun Che actually made his way back to the Blue Wind Imperial City in the span of a single night!!”

  “The Western Army and the Eastern Army each had two hundred thousand troops, and they rushed towards Blue Wind Imperial City through the night so they roughly arrived at their destination sometime this morning. After Western Army had sent news that they were approaching Blue Wind Imperial City, there was no further news from them, even from the supervising elder who was with them. It was exactly the same as the Middle Army who had disappeared before! The elder supervising the Eastern Army, Feng Leiming, also fought with someone, and he met a crushing defeat. In his despair, Feng Leiming most likely ignited all of the profound energy in his body in a bid to incinerate Blue Wind Imperial City but it was rebounded back on our army by his opponent’s exceedingly strong wind profound energy, causing the Eastern Army to suffer terrible casualties and in the end, only forty thousand troops were able to get out of that bloodbath alive.” Feng Feiran said solemnly.

  “Wind profound energy? Could it be that there is another powerhouse besides Yun Che in Blue Wind Nation who exceeds our Divine Phoenix Elders?” Feng Hengkong’s face grew darker and darker by the second. Yun Che had never used wind profound energy before, so this person was naturally not Yun Che… but an elder of his Divine Phoenix Sect was an invincible existence who could do as they pleased within the Profound Sky Seven Nations. For Blue Wind Nation to produce one Yun Che was already shocking enough, and this had even sent shockwaves throughout the entire Profound Sky Continent, so how could there be someone else like him!?

  “That person is indeed not Yun Che. As for his identity, I will dispatch people to swiftly investigate it for us. It’s just that the Middle Army has completely fallen, and the Western and Eastern Army have also suffered heavy casualties, so the morale of the troops garrisoned in the Blue Wind Nation has severely plummeted…. Ah.” Feng Feiran let out a long sigh after speaking.

  “That doesn’t really matter anymore.” The Crown Prince Feng Ximing spoke of words that would cause any outsider to have serious misgivings over the whole affair, “In any case, we have practically already gotten what we wanted to obtain, so even if we pull out our troops now….”

  “But Yun Che must definitely die!” Feng Hengkong said in a voice filled with hatred.

  At that very moment, a nightmarish voice that came from the outside swiftly followed Feng Hengkong’s furious outburst, “All you old dogs of the Divine Phoenix Sect, your granddaddy Yun Che has come to pay you a visit, so what are you waiting for!? Hurry up and welcome me!!”

  “Yun… Che!” The rage-filled Feng Hengkong immediately located where the source of the voice came from; all the hair on his head nearly instantly stood on end, and the phoenix mark on his forehead appeared as it began to burn violently. This time, Yun Che’s voice had not come from the middle of Phoenix City, but he was at its gates. This clearly showed that he could not be bothered to silently infiltrate the city the way he did yesterday. Instead, he brazenly swaggered up to the city gates and even announced his arrival with a shout, as if he was scared that the Divine Phoenix Sect would not discover his presence.

  This was clearly and undoubtedly the naked contempt that Yun Che had for the Divine Phoenix Sect!!

  We… will definitely personally rip him to pieces this very day!!” Feng Hengkong had already said those words far too many times, and every time he uttered them, his hatred for Yun Che would grow by leaps and bounds. Just as he was about to rush out, Feng Feiran swifty held out a hand to restrain him, “Sect Master, please keep your cool for the moment. We have completely relaxed our guard and recalled all the disciples back from their search efforts. We did all of this in order to tempt him to infiltrate our city in the same manner he did yesterday, so we could trap him in the Phoenix Sealing Imprisonment Formation. But it seems like our plan has come to naught as his voice is clearly coming from the city gates…. And no matter whether the profound technique he is using is Extreme Mirage Lightning or not, his speed is definitely not something we can catch up to, so the most dependable method we can rely on to capture him is to lure him into the midst of the Phoenix Sealing Imprisonment Formation.”

  Feng Hengkong stopped in his tracks as his gaze swept across every single person who was present before it finally fell on Ninth Prince Feng Xilin, “Xi’er, among all of our sons, besides Feng Ximing, you are the one who is the steadiest and also the one who has the most leadership qualities. If we were to hand over this heavy duty to you, would you dare to take it?”

  Feng Xilin strode forward and said without a hint of hesitation, “This son will definitely not disappoint our Royal Father.”

  “Good!” Feng Hengkong heavily nodded his head and said, “With just these words of yours alone, you have already fully lived up to our expectations. Do not worry, Xichen and Xiluo have already suffered at the vicious hands of Yun Che, so we will definitely not allow anymore of you to meet the same end. The Phoenix Sealing Imprisonment Formation was constructed using the strength of thirty-six of our elders; so even your grandfather would have a hard time resisting it if he was ensnared by it. If you can lure Yun Che inside of it, even if he has the ability to traverse the heavens… he can still forget about escaping again!!”

  Boom!!!

  Feng Hengkong shot into the air with a furious conflagration trailing behind him; several thick roofs of the main hall instantly crumbled in his wake. Yun Che floated in the air directly above the gates of Phoenix City; both his arms were crossed over his chest, and his face was still calm and disdainful. The expression on his face was the one that made all the Divine Phoenix disciples enter a frenzy, inducing their desire to directly rip that smirk off his face. All of the Divine Phoenix Elders took action at the same time as well, but they did not surround him like they did yesterday, instead they scattered across the air above Phoenix City while they locked onto him using their eyes and their auras.

  Behind each wave of elders was a prince that they were protecting. It was clear that after two princes had died one after the other at the hands of Yun Che, the Divine Phoenix Sect had now become exceedingly cautious. Every prince had several elders by his side protecting him, as their only fear was that Yun Che would once again move against one of the princes. They had even thought of hiding all the princes in another location, but the safest and most secure place in the entire Divine Phoenix Empire also happened to be this Phoenix City….

  Compared to the past two days, when Yun Che once again appeared today, all the Divine Phoenix Sect members, from the elders to the lowliest disciples, felt a deep spike of fear and apprehension lodged in their guts. When he had arrived on the first day, the only thought that flitted through their minds was that he was seeking his own death. But within the span of two days, he had been able to kill two princes of the Divine Phoenix Sect consecutively despite nearly all the elders being present. Not only did he not lose his life in the process, he had hardly even received a single scratch.

  This was the first time someone had trampled upon the dignity and might of the Divine Phoenix Sect.

  When he saw Feng Hengkong arrive, Yun Che’s gaze immediately turned towards him, “Feng Hengkong, it is a beautiful day once again, and we have also met once more. So why don’t you take a guess as to whether you will be losing another one of your sons today?”

  This kind of greeting would cause even a normal person to instantly go up in flames, much less the Divine Phoenix Sect Master. Feng Hengkong gritted his teeth so hard that they bled. Only when he had forcibly suppressed the urge to recklessly rush towards Yun Che so that he could rip him to pieces that he spoke to him in an extremely low voice, “Yun Che… you killed two of our sons… and as for this debt of vengeance and hatred that we owe you, we will definitely
make you pay ten thousand, no, one hundred thousand times for it!!!”

  “Hehe.” Yun Che gave a bland and cold smile, “Whether you even have the ability to avenge your sons’ deaths is something that I do not know. But the debt of vengeance and hatred that your Divine Phoenix Sect owes my Blue Wind Nation for killing my royal father and trampling all over our citizens is something that I will make you pay off with the blood of every single one of the princes of your Divine Phoenix Sect!”

  Chapter 706: Atrocious Performance

  “However, I, Yun Che, am not a person who revels in killing other people. At least not to the point where I would be a human-faced beast like you, Divine Phoenix Sect Master. Not to the point where I would be willing to harm the thousands of people in my Blue Wind Nation in order to fulfill my own selfish desires! I came from many miles away to your Divine Phoenix Empire just so that I could take back something that is owed to my Blue Wind Nation. As long as all of you sincerely and honestly agree to implement all of the conditions that I had proposed, I would not even be bothered to take a step into your Divine Phoenix Sect. So if you still refuse to repent until you see a coffin…”

  Yun Che’s mouth curled up into a cold smile filled with killing intent. “I will not be able to guarantee which son of yours will die today!”

  Every single one of the four conditions proposed by Yun Che yesterday was designed to humiliate the Divine Phoenix Sect and cause the dignity of the nation to hit rock bottom. And let us not talk about Feng Hengkong agreeing to it because just even thinking about it caused him to nearly go into rage-induced frenzy. This added to the bone-piercing hatred he had for Yun Che because he had killed two of his sons, resulted in Feng Hengkong being unable to maintain his cool when he faced Yun Che now even if he used all his willpower to do so.

  Moreover, in the past two days, a prince had been taken captive by Yun Che each day. But today, he had come alone, without any captives while all the elders, pavilion lords, hall masters, protectorates, and high-level disciples had moved at first notice, and everyone was on their highest guard—Today’s situation was completely different to how it was for the previous two days; how could they let Yun Che do whatever he wanted yet again?

  Feng Hengkong’s eyes burned with the fire of hatred and he yelled in a low voice, “Feilie, Feiran… regardless of the cost, use all your power to capture him!!”

  The instant Feng Hengkong’s voice fell, both Feng Feilie and Feng Feiran, who were behind him, shot into the air as they zoomed in on where Yun Che was. As the new great elder and second elder of the Divine Phoenix Sect, they had the greatest profound strength among all the current elders of the Divine Phoenix Sect, and they were both at the peak of the Tyrant Profound Realm. If they had met with enough fortunate circumstances, it was possible that they wouldstep into the Sovereign Profound Realm within the next century or so.

  “Yun Che, you brat! Prepare to die!!”

  The instant the both of them shot into the sky, all the profound energy in their bodies exploded outwards without reserve. The Phoenix flame that filled the air as a result bathed more than half of the Divine Phoenix Sect in a crimson red light, and their speed had also reached the very limits of what they were capable of. Their profound energy and mental energy had doggedly locked onto Yun Che.

  But what they were unaware of was that even though Yun Che’s profound strength was only in the Emperor Profound Realm, the suppressive aura of the Tyrant Profound Realm did not work on him at all. So the moment Feng Feilie and Feng Feiran took to the air, Yun Che also made his move…

  The instant right before this, he was still crossing his arms over his chest with a cold smile playing on his face with no profound energy fluctuations across his body.

  But the very next instant, without seeing him make any moves at all, his whole body suddenly become illusory as another figure immediately appeared a dozen or so meters away…

  His movement was so fast that it was practically teleportation!!

  This kind of speed exceeded even the limits of what a practitioner of the Tyrant Profound Realm could capture with his eyes. In addition, before the yells of the onrushing Feng Feiran and Feng Feilie had receded, the scene blurred before their very eyes. They completely lost the target that was previously in their sights, and even the aura lock that they had targeted Yun Che with had been completely shaken off.

  As the strongest among all the elders within the Divine Phoenix Sect, both of them had been through many battles, yet at this moment, they both had identical blank stares on their faces. When they had locked onto Yun Che’s location once again, he was already more than one hundred and fifty meters away from where he used to be. Furthermore, before the two of them fell into shock because of that lightning speed, their expressions abruptly changed as they roared anxiously, “Protect the Eleventh Prince!!”

  The direction Yun Che was heading in was where the Eleventh Prince, Feng Ximin, was located. The six Divine Phoenix elders in front of him formed a tight barrier, and behind them, there were still many hall masters and the hundreds of disciples who were under the tutelage of these six elders.

  Yun Che was so fast that his speed was nearly unfathomable, and the people who were in other locations were not fast enough to rush over and provide support. The six elders, who were put on the highest alert the moment Yun Che suddenly started rushing in their direction, simultaneously took action with flawless teamwork even before he drew near. They attacked him from six different angles as they tried to ensure that he could not even advance an inch towards them.

  As Yun Che approached with lightning speed, he hardly slowed down in the face of the six elders’ attacks. The moment he was within fifteen meters of them, five afterimages immediately appeared, causing the six elders to instantly lose track of their target. Regardless of their stance, an instance of stagnation and disorder appeared in their attack patterns.

  Boom!!

  Phoenix flames blew apart and covered the entire sky with scattered flames. Amidst the firelight, Yun Che’s afterimages disappeared simultaneously and a scream of terror rang out from behind the six elders.

  “Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!”

  The six elders turned around at lightning speed, their eyeballs protruding and their entire bodies shaking. The greatest expression of alarm and incredulity they ever had in their lives appeared on their faces…

  “Eleve… Eleventh Prince!!”

  “This… this isn’t possible! Just when did he… how… how is this possible!?”

  Eleventh Prince Feng Ximin, whom they had securely protected, had, at this very moment, fallen into the hands of the enemy. His actions, state… and even the look on his face was exactly the same as Feng Xichen’s yesterday. And the person who stood at his side was Yun Che himself.

  The moment Yun Che had rushed in his direction, Feng Ximin immediately grew ashen-faced, and he anxiously circulated all the profound energy in his body. But his profound strength, which was only at the fourth level of the Emperor Profound Realm, amounted to nothing in the face of Yun Che’s might. Not only that, but given Yun Che’s lightning speed, he was not even given the opportunity to release it as Yun Che’s blow smashed against his dantian and instantly suppressed his profound energy, causing him to become completely helpless and weak; he did not even have the strength to stand straight anymore.

  All the six Divine Phoenix elders, who were in the mid to late stages of the Tyrant Profound Realm, were unable to see or feel how Yun Che had suddenly appeared behind them. The six of them had banded together to protect the Eleventh Prince, but in one instant, the other party had… in just a single instant, captured the Eleventh Prince; the six of them had combined all their power to attack Yun Che, but they had not even singed the corner of his robe.

  “Eleventh Prince!!”

  “Min’er!!”

  The exact same scene, the exact same circumstances, and the exact same nightmare played itself out for the third time before the eyes of the entire Divine Phoenix Sect.

>   The first time it happened they could console themselves by telling themselves they had been caught unaware by Yun Che’s sudden and explosive speed. The second time they could console themselves by saying that it was all down to Yun Che’s insidiousness and ingenuity as he used a special method to avoid all detection while he infiltrated deep into the sect in order to take Feng Xichen captive.

  But this time, Yun Che had made a brazen appearance, and not only had he not launched a surprise attack on the Divine Phoenix Sect, he had even loudly announced his presence to everybody. After that, he was basically surrounded by all the people within the Divine Phoenix Sect while they had also made every preparation possible and taken every precaution, giving the various princes the highest degree of protection that could be afforded…

  Yet, Yun Che had in the span of three breaths of time… just merely three breaths of time, easily captured his third prince!!

  Every single hair on Feng Hengkong’s body trembled, and the spirits of every single Divine Phoenix elders and disciples had been severely shaken. Their present mood at the time was unable to be described with any words.

  They were the Divine Phoenix Sect, an existence that was second only to the Four Sacred Grounds, the strongest of the Profound Sky Seven Nations, and the only power within the Profound Sky Continent that possessed the bloodline of a Divine Spirit. They had the ability to cover the sky with one hand, had accrued five thousand years of glory and fame, and not a single person within the Profound Sky Seven Nations dared to disobey them…

  But today, all the glory and might that they had was turned into a complete and utter joke by a young man of only twenty-two, a young man who had come from the lowliest Blue Wind Nation.

  At this time, the Blue Wind Nation had already given birth to three Monarch-level powerhouses. The first was Yun Che, and the other two were Xia Yuanba and Fen Juechen. Given their current strength, Yun Che was weaker than both Fen Juechen and Xia Yuanba. But if either Fen Juechen or Xia Yuanba had come to confront the Divine Phoenix Sect, neither of them would have caused the sect to become so dejected and depressed. It was even possible that the both of them would have been heavily wounded or even lose their lives when the Divine Phoenix Sect began to box them in.