Chapter 110: Phoenix Ode to the World Classic · Fragment (IV)

Yun Che felt as though he had entered purgatory. The churning sound of magma in his ears was like the ferocious roar of a purgatory demon.

A purgatory demon? The Phoenix Spirit had previously mentioned that the first trial was the Purgatory Fire Demon, but all Yun Che could see were volcanoes and magma, with no sign of any living creature.

Yun Che slowly walked forward. In this fiery purgatory environment, he profoundly realized how astonishing his immunity to fire was. While others would struggle to sustain themselves with profound energy, he felt no discomfort whatsoever. His fearlessness of high temperatures and burning was truly a heaven-defying ability.

As he took his tenth step, his footsteps suddenly halted. His gaze shifted to a large pool of magma on his left. The crimson magma pulsed with incredible heat, churning violently, rising higher and becoming more turbulent. Suddenly, with a thunderous roar, a vast amount of magma was forcefully displaced, scattering everywhere. A colossal, flame-covered body burst high out of the magma, landing with a resounding crash directly in front of Yun Che.

It was a towering fire giant, completely engulfed in flames, easily thirty meters tall. Every part of its body blazed with crimson fire. Its head featured two hideous horizontal eyes, and atop its head were two flame horns over a meter long. Faintly visible between the horns was a small golden mark.

Yun Che quickly stepped back, looking up at the extraordinarily tall fire giant. Was this the Purgatory Fire Demon the Phoenix Spirit had spoken of?

"Jasmine? What's the rank of this colossal creature?" Yun Che quickly asked.

"It's a high-level True Profound Flame Beast," Jasmine's voice warned deeply. "But in this fiery environment, not only can its profound energy and vitality recover at an extreme rate, but the power of its flames is also comparable to the Spirit Profound Realm!"

Normally, a low-level Nascent Profound Realm practitioner would stand no chance against a high-level True Profound Realm beast comparable to the Spirit Profound Realm. However, this being a pure flame beast, the situation might be different.

The Purgatory Fire Demon let out a furious roar, its flaming eyes locking onto Yun Che. A massive mouth opened below its eyes, spewing out over a dozen large fireballs that whistled as they flew towards him.

Yun Che stood his ground, unmoving, allowing the fireballs to strike him.

*Poof, poof, poof, poof...*

The fireballs successively exploded on Yun Che's body, unleashing violent fiery power. However, upon contact, the flames vanished as if falling into a bottomless abyss, causing not the slightest harm to Yun Che. Amidst the flashing explosions, Yun Che counter-charged towards the Purgatory Fire Demon, reaching its front in an instant. Yet, against the Purgatory Fire Demon's thirty-meter tall body, he appeared incredibly tiny, barely reaching its feet. With a low shout, he activated "Evil Soul," concentrating his profound energy into a fierce strike on its lower leg.

*Bang!!*

The heavy blow was like striking an ancient bronze bell, causing sharp pain to Yun Che's hand bones from the rebound. The Purgatory Fire Demon's lower leg didn't even flinch; only the flames at that spot briefly flickered out before instantly reigniting.

"Such a tough body..." Yun Che gasped inwardly. After all, this Purgatory Fire Demon was a high-level True Profound Beast. Even with Evil Soul activated, his full-power attacks could barely harm it. If things continued this way, while the Purgatory Fire Demon's flames were indeed ineffective against him, his attacks were equally incapable of injuring the demon.

Since his bare hands couldn't inflict damage, then...

Yun Che reached for his left hand and drew out the Tiger Soul Sword, a unique Earth Profound Artifact from New Moon City, treasured as a priceless artifact by the Xiao Sect's branch. Infusing it with profound energy, he fiercely slashed at the Purgatory Fire Demon.

Yun Che wasn't entirely clear about the concept of Earth Profound Artifacts. Above Earth Profound Artifacts were Sky Profound Artifacts, and in the entire Azure Wind Empire, there were fewer than ten Sky Profound Artifacts in total. It was easy to imagine how precious and rare Earth Profound Artifacts were, being only one level below Sky Profound Artifacts. With an Earth Profound Weapon in hand, even without infusing any profound energy, even a mortal could directly cut through the profound energy defense of a Spirit Profound Realm practitioner.

The moment the Tiger Soul Sword sliced into the Purgatory Fire Demon's body, a faint tiger roar echoed in Yun Che's ears. The flames at the struck area of the Purgatory Fire Demon instantly extinguished in large patches, revealing its dark body. Large chunks of flesh were directly sliced off by the Tiger Soul Sword, flying away mixed with flames.

"Aooohhh!!!"

Roaring in pain, the Purgatory Fire Demon became furious. It stomped its foot towards Yun Che, while a dense rain of fire cascaded down from its flailing claws, completely covering an area tens of meters around. Such a widespread flame attack was normally beyond the capabilities of a True Profound Beast, but the environment here had amplified the Purgatory Fire Demon's flame power by several times.

Yun Che completely ignored the rain of fire, but the Purgatory Fire Demon's heavy stomp was something he couldn't easily withstand. He was directly sent flying, landing thirty meters away. However, the Purgatory Fire Demon's slow movement speed was also fully revealed to Yun Che. Without waiting to regain his footing, he charged back amidst the fiery downpour, accelerating to his limit. Using the Star God's Broken Shadow, he continuously created illusions, his true and illusory forms crisscrossing chaotically around the Purgatory Fire Demon's feet. The Tiger Soul Sword sliced into its lower legs, strike after strike.

The Purgatory Fire Demon grew increasingly agitated with each strike, unleashing its flames wildly. The continuous fiery power transformed a large area around it into an ocean of fire. Every step Yun Che took was through flames over a meter high, yet he walked as if on flat ground, completely unharmed. The Purgatory Fire Demon, with its enormous body and slow movements, had its physical attacks easily dodged by Yun Che time and again. And with every illusion created by Yun Che, he would fiercely slice its lower leg with his sword, cutting off large pieces of its flesh.

*Slish!!*

Another fierce sword strike deeply pierced the Purgatory Fire Demon's foot. The Purgatory Fire Demon let out an earth-shattering roar. Flames suddenly surged on its right fist, which it then slammed violently onto the ground.

A dangerous aura emanated from above. Yun Che glanced upwards, then without hesitation, executed a Star God's Broken Shadow, retreating a dozen body lengths.

*Boom!!*

The Purgatory Fire Demon's heavy flame fist struck the ground, triggering a massive fiery explosion. Its might was no less than that of a Heaven-shaking Thunder. Although Yun Che had dodged the direct hit, he was still impacted by the aftermath, retreating several steps in a gasp, one foot stepping into the magma behind him.

The edge of the magma pool was shallow, only reaching Yun Che's calves. He didn't charge forward again. Instead, he stood in the magma, Tiger Soul Sword in hand, frowning. He had just realized that the thirty-plus wounds he had inflicted on the Purgatory Fire Demon with his thirty-plus sword strikes had all disappeared.

"I've already told you," Jasmine's voice was cold, "it possesses extremely strong recovery abilities in this fiery environment. Not only does its flame power never deplete, but ordinary wounds heal quickly. The minor damage you inflicted on it takes at most five or six breaths to recover. Even if you kept attacking it for another hundred years, you wouldn't be able to inflict any substantial harm."

Jasmine spoke with a cool tone. After a pause, she suddenly exclaimed, "Got it! Attack the golden mark on its head; that's its weakness!"

"Golden mark?" Yun Che looked up and instantly spotted the dazzling gold between its horns.

"The profound energy aura at that spot is the weakest. It should be its weakness; try attacking there."

Yun Che stood there for a long time, head tilted back, unmoving. The Purgatory Fire Demon was thirty meters tall. With his current profound energy, even in his Evil Soul state, he could only jump seven or eight meters high, completely unable to reach its forehead.

"It seems I'll have to risk it!"

Yun Che gritted his teeth and slowly approached the Purgatory Fire Demon. After circling it in the flames for a while longer, a sense of danger once again descended from above. The Purgatory Fire Demon had raised its furiously burning right fist, intending to smash it down precisely where Yun Che stood.

This was the moment Yun Che had been waiting for. He executed a Star God's Broken Shadow, instantly retreating about ten body lengths, avoiding the direct impact point of the Purgatory Fire Demon's heavy flame fist. Then, a second before the fist landed, he took a deep breath and leaped with all his might, soaring directly twenty-three meters high.

*Boom!!*

A roar erupted below. Even high in the air, Yun Che could feel the astonishing air current from below his feet. As the Purgatory Fire Demon's heavy fist slammed the ground, its body bent downwards, bringing its forehead area down to approximately eighteen meters... placing it diagonally below Yun Che.

While airborne, unless one reached the Sky Profound Realm and could manipulate profound energy to fly, it was impossible to exert force in the air. Moving in the air, let alone controlling one's descent, was nearly impossible. However, this didn't apply to Yun Che. His body flickered, activating the Star God's Broken Shadow, instantly shifting horizontally six meters in the air. He precisely moved directly above the Purgatory Fire Demon's head, his body falling vertically. The Tiger Soul Sword was gripped tightly in both his hands...

"Fallen... Moon... Sinking... Star... Haaah!!"

The Tiger Soul Sword suddenly burst with a brilliant aura of power. A distinct tiger roar echoed loudly through this purgatorial world, shaking the surroundings. Amidst the tiger's roar and Yun Che's battle cry, the Tiger Soul Sword, imbued with the power of Fallen Moon Sinking Star, precisely struck the golden gleam on the Purgatory Fire Demon's forehead. It then pierced in as if cutting through tofu... The entire one-meter long blade sank completely, and subsequently, even the hilt was forcefully driven in under the utterly violent momentum.

Yun Che landed on the ground, quickly deactivating his Evil Soul profound art, and began to gasp for breath. The Purgatory Fire Demon's body, however, remained frozen in place. A moment later, it suddenly let out a cry of immense pain and despair. Its massive body slowly toppled forward, collapsing heavily onto the ground with a resounding crash.

The flames on its body rapidly extinguished, leaving only a few tiny embers, revealing its colossal black true form. Then, even its body began to quickly dissipate, vanishing entirely as if turning into mist. On the crimson ground, only the Tiger Soul Sword, which had delivered the killing blow, remained.

"I... I succeeded!" Yun Che picked up the Tiger Soul Sword and let out a long sigh of relief.

Just then, the scene before his eyes suddenly distorted. It twisted, spun, and blurred. When everything finally settled, the crimson ground, volcanoes, and magma... all were gone. In their place lay a boundless, flat wasteland, so level that no raised ground was visible.

"Trial Stage Two: Phoenix Arrow."