Chapter 1388: Hope……

Lin Qingrou's eyes widened in an uncontainable shock. She then let out a forced, unpleasant laugh. "Hah! Hah! Hah! I never imagined that this lowly lower realm could hide such a big surprise!"

She knew full well whether it was a "surprise" or a "shock."

The Phoenix Flame was inherently a gentle "Flame of World Praise," yet the crimson flames raging around Feng Xue'er were as ferocious as Yun Che's Golden Crow Flame. The terrifying, high-level blaze instilled a dreadful sensation in Lin Qingrou, making her reluctant to meet its gaze for long. This feeling undeniably intensified the alarm in her heart.

Feng Xue'er rarely showed anger, and this was only the second time in her life she had felt such killing intent. She extended her palm, aiming the flames within directly at Lin Qingrou's chest.

"But you're not so naive as to think you... truly deserve to be my opponent, are you?" Lin Qingrou sneered. However, both her words and her face had entirely lost their previous composure and contempt, subtly revealing a hint of fear she was absolutely unwilling to acknowledge.

Feng Xue'er remained silent. A phoenix silhouette flickered in her eyes again. In an instant, the already roaring crimson flames on her body surged once more, rapidly forming a colossal firestorm that swept directly towards Lin Qingrou.

"Hmph!"

Lin Qingrou gritted her teeth slightly, and purple flames surged. This time, her profound energy unleashed without any reservation, intensely purple flames igniting on her arms. She then powerfully moved to seize the Phoenix Flame.

Had she known the flame before her was the Phoenix Flame, even with triple her courage, she would never have dared to attempt it.

As the flames approached her, her face instantly changed dramatically, and a profound shock and disbelief clearly flickered in her eyes. Her reaction, however, was incredibly swift. Her palm retracted like lightning, and with a quick twist of her slender waist, she executed a rather intricate and peculiar movement technique, flipping forcefully a thousand feet away. At the same moment, her arm unleashed its full power, sending purple flames billowing across the sky, instantly forming a hundred-zhang wolf shadow that lunged directly at Feng Xue'er.

Feng Xue'er remained still. With a slight flick of her wrist, the Phoenix Flame blazed into the sky, instantly incinerating the purple flame wolf shadow... like dry tinder.

"!!!" This sight sent a tremor through Lin Qingrou's body, as if a heartstring had snapped. She paled in terror, too stunned to believe her own eyes.

The opponent's profound energy was indeed only at level three of the Divine Origin Realm.

Yet, it could effortlessly suppress and incinerate her Divine Flame, which she was burning with all her might.

Only one answer could explain this: the opponent's profound art cultivation was superior to hers... far superior!

A profound practitioner from a lower realm, with a profound art cultivation far superior to hers... She had never heard such an absurd joke in her entire life!

The shattered purple flames rapidly dissipated in the air. Lin Qingrou watched her own flames disintegrate mid-air, feeling not just shock and trepidation... but an overwhelming sense of humiliation!

The greater her earlier mockery and disdain for Feng Xue'er, the greater her present humiliation.

"So, you're nothing more than this," Feng Xue'er said coldly.

This single sentence undoubtedly pierced Lin Qingrou's heart like a poisoned needle, instantly twisting her still-alluring face. Her voice turned somewhat hoarse: "Hah... hehe... You... a piece of trash from a lower realm... dare to act smug in front of me?"

"Trash from the lower realm... will always remain trash!"

Her chest heaved violently, purple flames swirling around her. In her hand, she gripped a long purple crystal sword. The instant purple flames ignited the blade, a peculiar purple glow suddenly reflected, and in a flash of that light, she abruptly thrust the sword at Feng Xue'er.

Boom!

The vast ocean churned, and the sky was once more engulfed by blazing light.

What did a battle of Divine Dao profound energy mean for this world? It was an unmitigated disaster, no less than a divine wrath. The spatial tremors swiftly spread across hundreds of miles.

To the south of Profound Sky, countless profound beasts roared in terror beneath the terrifying aura, either scrambling wildly like headless flies or collapsing, trembling, on the ground. People looked up towards the south, and in their widened eyes, the southern sky was vividly split into crimson and purple. An indescribable sensation told them it was the light of flames—flames they could not comprehend, flames capable of melting even the firmament.

Once profound energy reached the Divine Dao, even a small realm difference often implied absolute dominance. Consequently, even in the Divine Origin Realm, the lowest of the Seven Divine Profound Realms, each minor realm was further subdivided into "stages" like initial, mid, late, and peak, to distinguish levels within the same minor realm. As for transcending levels in Divine Dao profound energy, it either required exceptionally strong talent, an unusual comprehension of laws or mastery of profound energy, or absolute suppression in terms of physique and profound art cultivation. Both scenarios were undoubtedly exceedingly rare.

Before losing his profound energy, Yun Che was the only person in this era capable of defeating opponents across major Divine Dao realms, precisely because his abilities in both these aspects were exceptionally abnormal.

Inheriting the power of a Creation God—and a complete Creation God Profound Vein at that—when confronting profound practitioners who inherited only a tiny fraction of a true god's power, at most a bit of bloodline and profound art... it was tantamount to bullying at the same cultivation level.

However, his unique case was singular in this era. Facing Feng Xue'er, whose flame mastery was clearly far superior to her own, Lin Qingrou's heart was utterly overwhelmed with shock.

She had never encountered such a situation, not even in the God Realm.

Boom! Rumble!!

The sea churned frantically, vast expanses of seawater instantly incinerated into nothingness before even having a chance to vaporize.

It was fortunate that this was an ocean; had it been on the Profound Sky Continent or the Illusory Demon Realm, it would have long ago caused a catastrophic disaster.

The sky alternated between crimson and bright purple. After a prolonged stalemate, a phoenix cry soared through the air, and the purple flame light was utterly incinerated. Feng Xue'er's body twisted, and dozens of "Star-Burning Demonic Lotuses" bloomed mid-air within mere seconds.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!—

Half of the fiery lotuses were annihilated, while the remaining half engulfed Lin Qingrou in a demonic lotus fire prison. Amidst the explosion of flames that filled the sky, Lin Qingrou suddenly let out a miserable shriek, plummeting from the air surrounded by fire, and crashing into the ceaselessly churning sea.

Feng Xue'er's chest heaved, and she gasped for breath. Although she had managed to suppress Lin Qingrou with the Phoenix Flame, her opponent's profound energy was, after all, two full minor realms superior to hers, so she was far from having an easy time.

Although Lin Qingrou had been engulfed by the Phoenix Flame and plunged into the sea, Feng Xue'er was not naive enough to believe she had been defeated. With Lin Qingrou's profound energy, she wouldn't even have sustained serious injuries.

She did not pursue. After briefly catching her breath, she quickly unleashed her divine sense... but failed to locate the auras of Feng Xian'er, Yun Wuxin, or Yun Che.

She quickly picked up her sound transmission jade. "Xian'er, where are you? How is Big Brother Yun's injury?"

But as soon as she spoke urgently, she realized... she couldn't transmit a sound message!?

She immediately tried to transmit a message to Yun Wuxin... with the same result!

Her heart in disarray, she quickly sent a message to Su Ling'er. "Ling'er, are Big Brother Yun and Xin'er with you?"

"No," Su Ling'er replied. Feng Xue'er's urgent tone made her heart clench, and her voice clearly changed. "What happened?"

"Did they send you any messages?"

"No... What exactly happened?"

"He's injured. Xin'er and Xian'er are with him. Find them quickly!"

In her utter disarray, her profound energy spiraled out of control, and the sound transmission jade suddenly shattered in her hand, turning to dust.

Feng Xue'er clenched her hands, her gaze fixed on the ceaselessly churning sea. She desperately wanted to find Yun Che and Yun Wuxin, but she couldn't leave. Wherever she went, that woman would surely follow.

She had to kill her!

Whoosh!!

A ten-thousand-zhang colossal wave erupted without warning. From within the parting waves, a purple light shot directly towards Feng Xue'er's heart. Behind that purple light, Lin Qingrou emerged, disheveled and barely clothed, her eyes ablaze with chaotic hatred, as if facing a mortal enemy!

She seemed to have completely forgotten that she was the one who had initiated the unprovoked disdain, insults, and injuries!

Whoosh! Boom!!

The sky above the ocean was once again engulfed in blazing light.

There was, naturally, a reason Feng Xue'er couldn't contact Feng Xian'er and Yun Wuxin. At that moment, they were with Yun Che, within a special space.

It was the Phoenix Trial Realm.

The surrounding world was pitch black. Feng Xian'er clutched Yun Che tightly, and the moment they appeared, she immediately knelt, pleading frantically, "Lord Phoenix God, please save him quickly... please save Young Master... Lord Phoenix God!"

The sudden spatial shift and Feng Xian'er's cries left Yun Wuxin bewildered. Then, a pair of gigantic crimson eyes suddenly opened above them, casting a fiery red glow across the dark world and startling Yun Wuxin into a small gasp.

"Lord Phoenix God!" The Phoenix Soul materialized. Feng Xian'er cried out sorrowfully, her entire body nearly collapsing from fear.

"What happened?" The Phoenix Soul's voice abruptly deepened as its divine sense swept over Yun Che's body.

"It was a terrifying woman; she suddenly attacked and injured Young Master!" Feng Xian'er released profound energy from both hands, desperately sustaining Yun Che's incredibly faint last breath, her voice trembling violently. "That woman was extremely terrifying, even Sister Divine Maiden... it's very likely she's even stronger than Sister Divine Maiden."

The Phoenix's eyes distinctly tilted.

Although its divine sense rarely extended outside, it clearly knew who Feng Xian'er's "Sister Divine Maiden" was.

Feng Xue'er, the one who had received the complete inheritance and will of another Phoenix God, was also the first person in this world to truly achieve the Divine Dao and be worthy of the title "Phoenix Divine Maiden."

"Could it be someone from 'that world'?" the Phoenix Soul asked deeply. Anyone capable of defeating Feng Xue'er could only possibly originate from the God Realm—currently the highest plane in the chaotic space.

How could Feng Xian'er care about "that world" now? Yun Che's aura in her arms was terrifyingly faint; if she released her profound energy, he might die instantly. She pleaded, "Lord Phoenix God, Young Master is gravely injured... please save him first... Years ago, you bade me follow him, instructing me that if he ever faced a life-threatening or insoluble crisis, I should burn the phoenix feather you granted me and bring him and Wuxin here... You can surely save him... Please, save him quickly!"

A year and a half prior, as Yun Che was about to leave the Phoenix Remnant Clan, the Phoenix Soul had specifically summoned Feng Xian'er, instructing—no, *requesting*—her to stay by Yun Che's side. It had also given her a phoenix feather imbued with special spatial power, telling her that should Yun Che ever face an insoluble crisis, she must immediately burn the feather and bring both him and Yun Wuxin to this place.

It had specifically emphasized that she was not to bring Yun Che alone, but must bring Yun Wuxin with him.

However, it had not anticipated Yun Che being brought here so soon, nor was this the "moment" it had been waiting for.

Yet, at present, it was indeed an insoluble crisis—not only had Yun Che sustained a fatal injury, but also, someone from the God Realm had actually arrived on this small planet!