Chapter 117: Second Kill

Yun Che suddenly appeared before Lan Xueruo, and her gaze became hazy. She stared blankly at him for a while before finally believing that none of this was an illusion or a dream. A warm smile touched her lips, and her eyes shimmered with surprise, joy, relief... and a hint of tenderness she hadn't even realized.

"Junior Brother Yun, you're alive... That's wonderful," she whispered with a gentle smile. It was the first time she had been held so tightly by a man, his arm around her waist, yet she felt no repulsion whatsoever. Instead, her tightly wound nerves completely relaxed. The knowledge that Yun Che was alive replaced all her tension, fear, and physical pain with pure joy. Held by Yun Che like this, she felt a sense of contentment and peace she had never experienced before.

"I told Senior Sister, I'm the one who values my life the most, so how could I die so easily?" Yun Che said, taking out a Heaven Returning Pellet and gently placing it in Lan Xueruo's mouth. Lan Xueruo swallowed it without hesitation, and a look of profound astonishment appeared on her face. The moment the pellet entered her mouth, she felt a warm current rapidly spread throughout her body. All her injuries quickly stopped hurting, then began to heal at an astonishing speed.

"A Heaven Returning Pellet?" A medicine that could rapidly heal injuries in a short time was secondary in terms of precious ingredients; it demanded extremely stringent refining techniques and a lengthy refining process. The moment the pellet entered her mouth, Lan Xueruo knew it was unequivocally a Heaven Returning Pellet, a healing holy medicine, and specifically, a Mid-Grade Heaven Returning Pellet, second only to a Grand Heaven Returning Pellet. Even among top sects, such a Heaven Returning Pellet would be considered an extremely valuable, high-grade medicinal pill.

Yun Che smiled slightly, helped Lan Xueruo to her feet, and softly said, "Senior Sister, rest well for a bit. I'll handle these villains."

On the other side, the previous fire blast had instantly killed thirteen Black Demon mercenaries, leaving Black Demon himself trembling with fear. Black Wolf, standing beside him, said, "Leader, don't panic! That must be another special weapon, just like a month ago! And there should only be one such weapon; otherwise, he wouldn't have waited until now to use it!" Hearing Black Wolf's words, Black Demon's apprehension vanished without a trace. This was undoubtedly the most reasonable explanation; he would never believe that an Elementary Profound Realm practitioner could unleash such an attack. He took a large step forward, pointed at Yun Che, and roared wildly, "You little brat, how dare you kill a dozen of my brothers! I'll skin you alive! Go, seize both of them! I want them both alive!"

The surrounding Black Demon mercenaries let out a shout, swinging their weapons and attacking simultaneously. Lan Xueruo's recently calmed heart instantly tensed again. She urgently said, "Junior Brother Yun, run! You have such powerful movement profound skills, you can definitely escape. After you escape, I also have a way to quickly get away and meet up with you!" Yun Che smiled and shook his head, saying, "If Senior Sister really had a way, you wouldn't have almost been captured by them just now. I won't run, and I don't need to run... As long as I'm here, I will never let Senior Sister suffer any harm!"

As his voice fell, Yun Che suddenly swung the Tiger Soul Blade forward. As he did so, a seven-foot-long tongue of fire erupted from the three-foot blade, detaching from the sword and sweeping towards the charging Black Demon mercenaries. "Ah!!" The swirling flames, like an enraged fire dragon, roared and crashed into the Black Demon mercenaries. Amidst overlapping screams, five mercenaries were simultaneously sent flying. Each had a wound over half a foot long, bleeding profusely. Near the wounds, their clothes and skin were scorched bright red... The one furthest front had already turned charred black around the wound. The five men writhed on the ground, howling in pain, their cries like wails of ghosts and wolves.

Lan Xueruo's beautiful eyes widened instantly. She froze for a moment before exclaiming in shock and joy, "Junior Brother Yun, your profound strength... it's actually... at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm!?" She could perceive Yun Che's current profound strength, but her voice was filled with deep disbelief. Only a month had passed! He had actually advanced from the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm to the tenth level! In just one month, he had crossed almost an entire major realm! Not only that, the fire attack he had just unleashed was many times more powerful than the fire profound art he had previously demonstrated.

"Yes! Because I successfully passed that Phoenix trial! I obtained a miraculous Phoenix God Pill, which directly elevated my profound strength to the peak of the Elementary Profound Realm," Yun Che said with a smile, partially shielding Lan Xueruo. He had initially thought the Phoenix God Pill would raise his profound strength by about five or six levels, but he never expected it to break through nine levels consecutively. This was clearly also related to him possessing the Evil God's Fire Seed, allowing him to absorb almost 100% of the Phoenix God Pill's power.

With one sword strike, Yun Che sent five Black Demon mercenaries, whose average profound strength was at the fifth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, flying back. Black Demon and the others were all greatly astonished. Staring at the flame-engulfed Tiger Soul Blade in Yun Che's hand, Black Wolf loudly exclaimed, "So you're not from the Xiao Sect, you're from the Burning Heaven Clan!!" With Yun Che's single attack just now, they had also figured out his profound strength level — the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm! And to be able to unleash such astonishing fire profound energy at the Elementary Profound Realm, Black Wolf couldn't think of any other sect capable of it besides the Burning Heaven Clan disciples!

"Burning Heaven Clan... Whether he's from the Xiao Sect or the Burning Heaven Clan, he must die! Otherwise, we're all finished!" Black Demon said with a grim expression. However, there was no fear in his eyes. Though it was a minor inconvenience, he was merely at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, not worth fearing at all. He wouldn't even need to act himself; any one of his three vice-leaders could defeat Yun Che.

"This brat, he's so arrogant... I'll cripple him!" Black Wolf let out a low roar, his True Profound Realm energy enveloping his entire body. He stamped the ground and shot towards Yun Che, his spiked mace aimed directly at Yun Che's face... Clearly, Yun Che's young and handsome face had subconsciously sparked jealousy in him.

Yun Che's brow furrowed. He hooked his arm around Lan Xueruo's slender waist, and his figure flickered slightly. The mace swung viciously, easily smashing into Yun Che's face... But before Black Wolf could even smile, his expression suddenly changed. The mace had clearly struck, yet it didn't stop upon hitting the target; instead, it passed directly through Yun Che's "body." Only after completely passing through did the phantom image vanish. Yun Che's true body, still holding Lan Xueruo, had already appeared to Black Wolf's side. Without looking back or sideways, he abruptly thrust his left elbow backward, slamming it violently into Black Wolf's kidney area, then instantly retracted it. The entire action was completed in one fluid motion. With the increase in his profound strength, the speed and distance of Star God's Broken Shadow had also greatly improved. His instant movement just now was so fast that not only Black Wolf, but even Black Demon and Lan Xueruo couldn't clearly see it... and this was while he was carrying Lan Xueruo with him.

Struck heavily from the side by Yun Che, Black Wolf awkwardly fell to the ground, his limbs twitching. Black Tiger and Black Ghost stared dumbfounded. Black Tiger took a breath and said, "Hmph, as expected of someone from the Four Major Sects. This movement profound skill is indeed extraordinary." "Tch! So what?" Black Ghost sneered, "No matter what, he's just at the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm. Although Black Wolf suffered a small setback, taking him down would be a matter of thirty to forty moves... Hey, Black Wolf, what are you doing lying there, showing off your butt? Get up and kill this brat... Black Wolf? Black Wolf!?" Black Ghost called out several times, but Black Wolf remained sprawled there, motionless and unresponsive.

"No need to call," Yun Che said with a low chuckle, a grin spreading across his lips. "He won't be able to answer you ever again in this lifetime." "What!?" Black Tiger and Black Ghost's faces fell. They simultaneously rushed forward and kicked Black Wolf over. Instantly, both their expressions drastically changed. Black Wolf's entire face was a ghastly blue-black, his mouth smeared with blood and white foam. His eyes were wide open and protruding, but utterly unfocused and lifeless, filled only with a dull grayness. Dead!! He actually... died! "Impossible! Impossible! How could he just die like that? He only took one hit from this brat! This is impossible!" Seeing Black Wolf's pathetic state, Black Demon turned pale with fright, unable to believe his own eyes. How could a first-level True Profound Realm practitioner die instantly from a single blow from a tenth-level Elementary Profound Realm practitioner? The difference wasn't just one level, but a major realm's dividing line! Even Lan Xueruo's beautiful eyes widened in a daze, but then remembering that he had crippled Xiao Luocheng, a tenth-level Elementary Profound Realm practitioner, when he was only at the first level, she immediately felt a sense of relief and understanding.

Of course, a single blow from a tenth-level Elementary Profound Realm practitioner couldn't directly kill a True Profound Realm practitioner like that. However, although Yun Che's profound strength level was the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, under "Evil Soul," his profound energy intensity was far beyond that. Furthermore, having killed countless people, he was exceptionally familiar with human anatomy and knew the locations of all major vital points. A single fatal blow was no surprise!

"You... you actually killed our third brother! I'll tear you to shreds!!" Black Ghost and Black Tiger erupted in simultaneous rage, their bodies brimming with fury and murderous intent. They charged at Yun Che together, their two maces stirring up an astonishing profound energy storm, heavily smashing towards him.

Yun Che gently pushed Lan Xueruo behind him. This time, he didn't dodge. Instead, he took a shallow breath and let out a low roar. With Evil Soul activated and the Tiger Soul Blade in hand, its blade ignited with blazing fire, clearly intending to directly withstand the combined attack of two True Profound Realm practitioners! "Junior Brother Yun, be careful!" Lan Xueruo was instantly startled and cried out. How could an Elementary Profound Realm practitioner possibly withstand the attacks of two True Profound Realm practitioners head-on?

CLANG!! The Tiger Soul Blade solidly collided with the two maces, and a piercing metallic hum echoed relentlessly. In that instant, cold sneers appeared on Black Ghost's and Black Tiger's lips. If their opponent had used that mysterious movement profound skill from before, they might have had a headache, but by foolishly meeting them head-on, they were certain the only outcome would be severely shaken arms, perhaps even an immediate defeat. But their sneers lasted only a moment before freezing completely. The counter-shock force transmitted through their arms was so immense that it was unbelievable, causing their arms to ache intensely and the webs between their thumbs and forefingers to tear open. Yun Che's arms also sank, but immediately, the Phoenix imprint on his forehead flickered. He let out a low roar, and after the Tiger Soul Blade paused for a breath under the maces' suppression, it suddenly released a deafening tiger's roar, sweeping across both maces with scorching flames towards Black Ghost and Black Tiger, whose pupils were extremely dilated.

SWISH!!!! The two maces were neatly severed. At that same instant, Yun Che's Star God's Broken Shadow was activated, and he flashed like lightning, a streak of fire passing through both men's bodies, reappearing five steps behind them. Black Tiger's and Black Ghost's expressions froze, their pupils dilated. In the deathly silence, their heads neatly fell from their necks, rolling onto the dry earth.