Chapter 1008: Ice Exile Seals the Heavens, Yellow Springs Ashes

Yun Che retreated to Mu Xuanyin’s side, silently watching ahead, his gaze fixed not on Mu Hanyi, but on Huo Poyun opposite him.

Among Yan Zhuo, Yan Mingxuan, and Huo Poyun, Huo Poyun’s profound energy was the lowest, making him relatively inconspicuous. While most people focused their astonished gazes on Yan Zhuo, who possessed the highest profound energy, Yun Che had noticed Huo Poyun from the very beginning.

Yun Che was extremely sensitive to flame power. Despite Huo Poyun having the lowest profound energy, Yun Che distinctly felt that his flame aura was far purer than that of Yan Zhuo and Yan Mingxuan—and not by a small margin.

“You go first,” Huo Poyun said.

Unlike his calm demeanor when facing Yun Che, Huo Poyun’s voice towards Mu Hanyi was cold, hard, and slightly domineering, his eyes clearly reflecting a heart-stopping red glow. Evidently, Mu Hanyi’s earlier words had somewhat provoked him; he too was a person of immense pride.

“No, you’ve come from afar as a guest, so naturally, you should make the first move.”

It had been previously stated that no fighting was allowed before the Divine Hall. Although Mu Hanyi had intervened, he still had to abide by the pre-established rules.

The two would exchange three attacks each… the one being attacked could only defend, without counter-attacking or dodging!

Under such rules, the one who attacked first naturally held a considerable advantage. However, neither of these two individuals, both possessing supreme talent and immense pride, was willing to take it.

“Hanyi, attack directly. There’s no need for pleasantries with him,” Mu Xuanyin said coldly.

Mu Hanyi’s body tensed slightly, and he respectfully responded, “Yes!”

With a faint sound like shattering ice crystals, Mu Hanyi struck out with his palm, radiating cold energy. The ice beneath Huo Poyun’s feet suddenly burst open, and three enormous ice crystal trees instantly shot up, forming a triangle that trapped Huo Poyun in the center. As the trees rapidly grew, terrifying cold energy and deadly ice mercilessly enveloped him.

“Ice Phoenix Trees,” Yun Che murmured. It seemed Mu Hanyi had created them casually, yet the intensity of the cold energy released by his Ice Phoenix Trees was dozens of times stronger than Yun Che’s.

After all, Mu Hanyi possessed a faint trace of Ice Phoenix blood, and his profound energy was at the Divine Tribulation Realm, a level Yun Che was currently far from reaching.

Huo Poyun, however, remained motionless, not even raising a hand; he merely furrowed his brow.

Boom!!

A fierce burst of fire exploded from his body, then instantly dissipated. Simultaneously, the three Ice Phoenix Trees shattered into countless ice crystals, all incinerated into nothingness before they even touched the ground.

“No need for pleasantries,” Huo Poyun said with a deep frown. “You’d better honestly use your full power and let me truly witness the basis of your arrogance.”

“Hahaha, such arrogance is truly unwarranted,” Mu Hanyi laughed heartily. As his laughter faded, his expression instantly turned cold. “Since that’s the case, I won’t hold back… Second move!”

Dense cold energy transformed into tangible blue light, rapidly expanding around Mu Hanyi. The air completely ceased to flow, and the falling snow came to a standstill. Astonishing cold energy spread outwards at an equally astonishing speed, almost instantly covering the entire Divine Hall area.

“Hanyi is finally getting serious,” one of the Ice Phoenix Palace Masters whispered.

“Let’s see how Huo Poyun handles this,” another Ice Phoenix Palace Master said confidently. In this Divine Hall area, Mu Hanyi’s ice profound energy would receive a significant power boost.

At this moment, Mu Hanyi’s hands abruptly crossed, and an overwhelming wave of cold energy converged downwards with his movement, surging directly towards Huo Poyun.

This strike was colorless and formless.

Only extreme cold energy capable of freezing heaven and earth remained.

Huo Poyun’s expression grew more cautious. Sensing the compression and approach of the cold energy, he crouched low, then spun into the air. As his body rotated, Golden Crow flames intensely ignited within the cold energy, transforming into dragon-shaped flames that danced wildly around him.

The cold energy surged forward, almost freezing the void. Extremely dense water mist rose from the dragon-shaped flames, yet there was no sign of them extinguishing; even their flight speed and astonishing Golden Crow aura remained completely undiminished.

“Hah!”

After a few breaths of stalemate, the cold energy was forced back layer by layer, unable to advance. Huo Poyun let out a low roar at that moment, and all the dancing flames instantly burst apart. Flames shot into the sky, and the white firmament briefly turned crimson. Mu Hanyi’s cold energy immediately scattered like thick fog swept away by a storm, disintegrating in an instant.

The air quickly transformed from extreme cold to scorching heat.

“You have one last move,” Huo Poyun said, slowly landing in precisely the same spot he had previously stood.

“As expected of Sect Master Huo’s esteemed disciple, truly extraordinary,” Mu Hanyi praised sincerely.

“Hanyi, don’t hold back. Let him truly witness the Ice Phoenix Sealing God Manual!” Mu Yunzhi said gravely.

Mu Hanyi slowly nodded, all expression receding from his face as he slowly clenched his hands.

If he had held back even a little before, he would naturally give his all in this final strike.

In contrast, Huo Poyun stood perfectly still, with only a faint glimmer of fire around him, completely exposed, showing no intention of activating his Golden Crow profound energy to defend.

Mu Hanyi frowned, and his hand gesture slowed accordingly. Seeing his actions, Huo Poyun said flatly, “I am ready. Go ahead and strike!”

His stance and words made Mu Hanyi frown deeply, leaving half of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect members surprised and the other half visibly angered.

“What does this guy mean? Is he looking down on Senior Brother Hanyi!?”

“Hmph! Does he even deserve it? I think he’s tired of living! Senior Brother Hanyi, you were too polite with your last two moves. Don’t hold back anymore; just knock him down.”

In contrast to the Ice Phoenix Sect’s anger and ridicule, Huo Rulie, facing Huo Poyun’s clearly arrogant and disdainful stance, not only didn’t scold him but even let out a faint chuckle.

Mu Hanyi took a slight breath and said no more, but anger was already hidden in his eyes. In silence, the cold light around him rapidly deepened.

The subtly shifting atmosphere silenced all expressions of discontent from the Ice Phoenix disciples, as if frozen. When the cold energy reached a critical point, Mu Hanyi’s eyes suddenly turned ice-blue. His hair then flew up in the cold wind, quickly turning crystalline white-blue amidst the blue light.

This scene made all the disciples, and even the Palace Masters and Elders, hold their breath.

This was the ice profound energy operating at its absolute limit! With this strike, Mu Hanyi would hold nothing back whatsoever!

A giant blue halo, centered on Huo Poyun’s body, silently appeared high in the sky. This halo was initially deep blue, then slowly became lighter and lighter still, eventually becoming almost colorless and formless.

But within the blue halo, the cold energy was rapidly intensifying at a terrifying speed.

“This is… the Ice Phoenix Sealing God Manual… the seventh stage, the Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array… It seems only Senior Brother Hanyi and Senior Sister Feixue have mastered it in the Divine Hall…”

“Hiss! Senior Brother Hanyi is truly angered… That person named Huo Poyun… he won’t die, will he?”

“He deserves it if he dies! I’ve only seen the Palace Master use it once before. Who would have thought that Senior Brother Hanyi, without bloodline inheritance, managed to truly master the seventh stage just by relying on elder’s essence blood… It’s terrifying.”

All the Ice Phoenix disciples widened their eyes and held their breath, fearing to miss even a single moment in their extreme excitement and exhilaration.

Huo Poyun, however, remained standing ramrod straight, completely motionless, with only a slight shift in his gaze.

“Ice—Phoenix—Heaven—Sealing—Array!!”

As Mu Hanyi murmured, a phantom image of an Ice Phoenix flashed on his body.

In an instant, heaven and earth fell silent. The floating blue halo suddenly converged, and the space within it instantly transformed into an icy hell. Countless layers of ice and ice cones materialized as if from thin air, and a terrifying ice storm, like the arrival of doomsday, mercilessly swept towards Huo Poyun, who was at the center of this icy hell.

“Ahhh—” The Ice Phoenix disciples let out a continuous chorus of startled cries.

Huo Poyun slightly raised his head, watching the approaching ice calamity. Then, without any warning, he let out an earth-shattering roar.

“GRAAAH!!”

Boom!!!

One moment he was perfectly still, with only a faint flame aura around him, but with just a single roar, a column of fire instantly burst from his body, soaring a hundred zhang high. And this was merely the beginning.

Boom!!

Boom!!!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM…

The roaring explosions of Golden Crow Flames rang out incredibly densely. Under Mu Hanyi’s Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array, the extremely heavy cold energy would prevent fire-attribute profound practitioners with slightly weaker profound energy from igniting even a momentary flame. Yet, at the center of the Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array, these Golden Crow Flames instantly ignited with immense ferocity, then exploded with even greater ferocity, still erupting into a sky full of Golden Crow Divine Flames amidst the ice storm.

Air, space, tiny particles, and even ice, snow, and cold energy all became mediums for the Golden Crow Flames to burn and explode. At the center of the icy hell and ice storm, crimson-gold flames burned layer by layer, exploded layer by layer, and spread outwards layer by layer at a considerably fast pace.

“What…!” Mu Yunzhi let out a shocked cry. As an elder of the Divine Hall, her eyeballs clearly bulged out at this moment.

“This is…” Mu Bingyun’s expression also changed dramatically. She looked at Mu Xuanyin, clearly catching a fleeting flash of surprise in her eyes.

“Underworld Ash!” Yun Che murmured, his gaze piercing through layers of cold energy and fiery light, firmly fixed on Huo Poyun.

The speed at which he released Underworld Ash was surprisingly not much slower than Yun Che’s own!

Not only was the release speed incredibly fast, but even while initially suppressed by Mu Hanyi’s first move, the very instant Underworld Ash was unleashed, it resisted the fully formed Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array. Subsequently, it forcibly withstood the array’s core power, suppressing it step by step—a truly domineering and violent suppression!

In just five breaths, the core area of the Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array was completely filled with Golden Crow Flames; the cold energy could not penetrate even a fraction.

After ten breaths, the crimson-gold flames had, in turn, eroded nearly half of the ice domain!

This person named Huo Poyun…

“Haa!!!!”

With another great roar that made one’s blood surge, a Golden Crow flame shadow suddenly appeared on Huo Poyun’s body. This shadow, covered in crimson-gold flames, soared into the sky amidst his explosive roar, as a long cry of the Golden Crow tore through the heavens, piercing straight into one’s soul.

Caww!!

BOOM————

With a muffled explosion, the Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array completely collapsed amidst a towering column of fire. The cold energy, which had exhausted Mu Hanyi’s peak power, was rapidly consumed by the flames. Even the ice layers and ice cones, imbued with Ice Phoenix power, were engulfed by the Golden Crow Flames and melted in an instant.

With his domain broken, Mu Hanyi felt as though he had suffered a heavy blow. The immense backlash caused his whole body to stiffen instantly, and a surge of blood rushed up, filling his mouth. He forcibly swallowed it back, but his face turned a sickly pale.

The fiery light dispersed, and the cold energy had long since vanished. Huo Poyun still stood firmly in the same spot, not a single step shifted from his original position. Compared to Mu Hanyi’s sickly pallor, his own expression showed no change whatsoever.

“It seems this must be the limit of your strength,” Huo Poyun said very calmly, his words clearly implying, “nothing special.”

“Now, it’s my turn to attack,” Huo Poyun slowly extended a palm.

“…” Mu Hanyi’s expression was as calm as ever, yet he remained speechless for a long time.

The entire Divine Ice Phoenix Sect was astonished and stunned. Mu Hanyi had gathered Ice Phoenix power for ten breaths to form the Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array, yet Huo Poyun, though completely suppressed and locked in the very center of the domain, managed to counter-attack and shatter Mu Hanyi’s Ice Phoenix Heaven Sealing Array in less than twenty breaths.

Both of their profound energies were at the fifth level of the Divine Tribulation Realm.

But who was stronger and who was weaker was clear even to a blind person.

Mu Hanyi’s mastery of ice was recognized as one of the best among the current generation of disciples in the Snow Song Realm, rivaled only by Mu Feixue. This meant that, let alone those of the same level, even profound practitioners one or two minor realms higher than him might not be his match.

Yet, in the domain battle just now, he was at a disadvantage against an opponent of the same profound energy level.

And it was a considerable disadvantage!

Compared to the shock of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, Yan Wancang and others remained completely calm, having clearly anticipated such a situation.

Icy gazes converged on Huo Poyun, focusing on the Golden Crow Divine Flames released at extreme speed, yet with power that absolutely should not belong to someone at the fifth level of the Divine Tribulation Realm! This Huo Poyun, newly taken in by Huo Rulie and brought specifically for display…

To be able to wield Golden Crow Flames to such an extent, even Huo Rulie in his prime could never have achieved it.

Such a character has actually appeared in this generation of the Golden Crow Sect in the Blazing Heaven Realm!