Chapter 308: I Came to Steal the Marriage

Yun Che narrowed his eyes, nodded with a smile, and said with satisfaction, "Excellent, excellent. This is the attitude you should display. Oh, your name is Fen Duancang? Yes, truly impressive. Far superior to certain fools who only wish for their Young Sect Master's demise."

The "fool" Yun Che spoke of was, of course, Fen Moran. At that moment, Fen Moran nearly coughed up blood. His entire body trembled, his head spun, and he felt excruciating pain everywhere—lungs, liver, gallbladder, intestines, bladder. Rage and humiliation permeated every cell of his being, and his face turned blood-red. Yet, he dared not utter another word, knowing that any verbal retaliation would harshly impact Fen Juecheng. In his decades of life, he had never felt such stifling humiliation.

He dared not strike Yun Che, nor even curse him. All he could do was glare at Yun Che with eyes full of extreme venom, wishing he could flay him alive.

Fen Duancang was no better off. An esteemed Heavenly Profound Realm expert, renowned for decades, was actually being praised by a mere nineteen-year-old junior...

Praised by a junior, no less!

Rather than endure such humiliating "praise," he would have preferred to be slapped half to death by an unparalleled expert.

After speaking, Yun Che "mercifully" lifted his foot slightly, allowing Fen Juecheng to breathe somewhat more easily. However, under Yun Che's brutal torment, Fen Juecheng's consciousness was already fading, and his screams had devolved into pained groans, a truly miserable sight.

"However, you were mistaken about one thing," Yun Che declared arrogantly. "I don't need any so-called guarantee from you to let me go. If I wish to depart, none of you are qualified to stop me!"

These words sent a chill down Fen Duancang's spine. He dared not say anything superfluous, quickly nodding, "Yes, yes, you were able to abduct our Young Sect Master amidst such heavy encirclement, so naturally you possess the ability to leave safely..." He gritted his teeth and added, "As long as you release our Young Sect Master today, all past grievances between you and our Burning Heaven Sect will be completely settled, and the Burning Heaven Sect will never pursue them again!"

Fen Duancang spoke easily, but no fool would believe the Burning Heaven Sect could truly uphold such a promise. Even disregarding previous grudges, the sheer brutality inflicted upon Fen Juecheng today guaranteed that the Burning Heaven Sect would pursue Yun Che relentlessly, to the death.

"Is that so?" Yun Che scoffed. "It seems I overestimated your intelligence. Do I, Yun Che, need your Burning Heaven Sect to clear up grievances with me? What do you think I'm here for today? Are you blind? Can't you see?"

Yun Che lifted his gaze and said coldly, "Today, I am here to seize the bride, of course! Princess Cang Yue is *my* woman, Yun Che's woman. What is Fen Juecheng? A piece of trash, not even worthy of being called a toad, yet he dares to covet my woman... I can choose not to kill him today, and I'm too lazy to kill him. You want me to release him? It's very simple: take this waste, immediately get out of Cangfeng Imperial City, and return to your Burning Heaven Sect. As for Princess Cang Yue, whom you came to marry, hand her over to me without resistance."

Although Yun Che had brutalized Fen Juecheng to the brink of death, he truly would not kill him. It wasn't a matter of willingness, but of feasibility.

In this struggle, he was alone; he had not involved the Cangfeng Profound Palace or the imperial family. Therefore, even severely injuring Fen Juecheng, killing two hundred Burning Heaven Sect disciples, and making them lose all face, would not implicate the imperial family or the Cangfeng Profound Palace. However, killing Fen Juecheng would change everything. The murder of their Young Sect Master would undoubtedly drive the Burning Heaven Sect into a furious frenzy, causing them to lose all reason and direct their wrath toward the Cangfeng Profound Palace and the imperial family, which would be an entirely predictable outcome.

Furthermore, even if he were alone, escaping after killing Fen Juecheng amidst such heavy encirclement would certainly not be as simple or easy as he claimed.

Fen Duancang was so enraged he repeatedly felt like spitting blood. The other party had abducted their Young Sect Master and trampled the Burning Heaven Sect's dignity, yet he still had to plead nicely. He felt that nothing in the world could be more humiliating than this...

Yet, only a few breaths later, he discovered... there truly was something worse!

Because this Yun Che also wanted to snatch his Young Sect Master's bride!

They had arrived for the wedding with immense fanfare, a fact known across the land for a week. Invitations had already been sent to all major sects and dignitaries of the Cangfeng Empire. If Princess Cang Yue were simply taken away like this, the dignity and reputation of their Burning Heaven Sect would be utterly trampled, dragged through the mud! They would be mocked by the world for decades!

However, if they did not comply with his demands, the Burning Heaven Sect would lose not just face, but also the Young Sect Master's life!

Fen Duancang's limbs trembled, and his vision blurred. The surge of blood he had only just managed to suppress now rushed to his throat again under the sudden emotional shock. He desperately took a deep breath, swallowed the blood with all his might, and said in an incredibly trembling voice, "Fine... fine! Release our Young Sect Master, and we will leave Princess Cang Yue and immediately depart Cangfeng Imperial City!"

Yun Che's past ruthlessness was vividly clear. Even though Fen Duancang was furious, he absolutely dared not act rashly. Not only did he not dare to refuse or curse, he didn't even dare to argue or bargain.

Fen Moran abruptly stepped forward, intending to say something to Fen Duancang, but he merely opened his mouth, unable to utter a single word.

At this point, even if Yun Che had held an elder-level figure, they would not have capitulated; they would have chosen to forcefully attack and eliminate him. But Yun Che held their Young Sect Master... What choice did they have but to comply?

In the past, let alone elders or pavilion masters, even a common Burning Heaven Sect disciple could make an opponent tremble simply by invoking the sect's name. But this Yun Che showed not the slightest fear towards their Burning Heaven Sect. Instead, he used incredibly ruthless tactics to pressure them, making them too afraid to utter a single word that might displease him. If lungs could truly explode from anger, he would have exploded a hundred times over.

"Hahahahaha, excellent!" Yun Che laughed. "I can tell you hold the most sway among this group. Since you're so straightforward, I naturally don't need to say anything further. I shall return your Young Sect Master to you. I'm sure his injuries are nothing to your Burning Heaven Sect."

As his voice trailed off, Yun Che delivered a flying kick, sending Fen Juecheng toward Fen Duancang. The latter was momentarily stunned, then hastily caught him. From across, Yun Che's voice came coldly, "I hope you don't forget what you just said. Take your Young Sect Master and leave Cangfeng Imperial City immediately!"

Yun Che simply returned Fen Juecheng to them, a gesture that left Fen Duancang somewhat disbelieving. Just as he was about to speak, a surge of killing intent suddenly erupted behind him. Fen Moran's profound energy surged wildly, and he lunged at Yun Che like a fierce eagle.

"Stop!!"

Fen Duancang's heart lurched. He quickly intervened, forcibly pulling Fen Moran back from mid-air. "Thirteenth Elder, what are you doing!"

"To kill him, of course! Are we truly going to comply with his demands and let him leave? Will our Burning Heaven Sect have any dignity left then?" Fen Moran retorted, seething with fury. Yun Che had finally committed what, in his eyes, was an idiotic act—simply returning Fen Juecheng to them. With Fen Juecheng no longer a constraint, Fen Moran felt no further qualms.

"Calm down!" Fen Duancang gripped him tightly, gritting his teeth, and said in a very low voice, "I want to kill him more than you do; I wish I could tear him to shreds! But you just witnessed how cunning, sly, and ruthless this boy is. Do you think he'd be foolish enough to generously return the Young Sect Master to us without any certainty or backup plan? Judging by his relaxed demeanor, he surely has many trump cards yet to play. If he could snatch the Young Sect Master from us once, he can do it again! If you attack him now, it might provoke even more brutal retaliation from him... The Young Sect Master might just die at his hands, and on top of the face our Burning Heaven Sect has already lost, we'd add the disgrace of going back on our word!"

Fen Duancang quickly assessed Fen Juecheng's injuries and continued in a voice only Fen Moran could hear, "With the Young Sect Master as our current vulnerability, we simply cannot kill him. However, no one who provokes our Burning Heaven Sect has ever come to a good end, especially not after inflicting such monstrous humiliation! We will first send the Young Sect Master back to the Burning Heaven Sect, and then it won't be too late to kill him. By then, even if he flees to the ends of the earth, he will not escape the Burning Heaven Sect's grasp!"

"Clap, clap, clap, clap!"

A loud round of applause erupted, and Yun Che said with a beaming smile, "That's truly an excellent plan. I wish you early success. But don't worry, you won't need to chase me to the ends of the earth then. Perhaps I'll even deliver myself to your doorstep."

Fen Duancang and Fen Moran looked up, astonishment written on both their faces. They had lowered their voices to a whisper, requiring at least late-stage Sky Profound hearing to discern. Yet, Yun Che, ten zhang away... had heard them clearly?

How could he possibly possess such keen hearing!

Fen Duancang immediately felt a surge of heightened unease. A fervent desire to leave that place at once, to get as far away from this terrifying young man as possible, welled up within him. He clenched his fists, said nothing more to Yun Che, and fiercely declared, "We... leave!!"

After uttering the last word, Fen Duancang surprisingly felt a sense of profound relief. He picked up Fen Juecheng, ascended into the air first, and fled into the distance. Fen Moran followed suit, without exchanging a single word or glance with anyone. On this day, his lifelong glory and dignity were utterly stripped away.

With their two leaders gone, the others naturally did not linger either. They all departed dejectedly, not even sparing a glance for the corpses of their fellow sect members on the ground. Most of these bodies were incomplete, making them incredibly difficult to carry away even if they had wished to.

"No need to see me off," Yun Che said with a beaming smile, his eyes half-closed. As Fen Duancang and Fen Moran vanished from sight, Yun Che's tightly strung nerves finally relaxed, and his entire back was already drenched in cold sweat. He looked up at the sky and said in a low, cold voice, "Fen Juecheng, this is what you owe me! I had no prior enmity with you, yet you tried to ambush me in the Heavenly Pond Secret Realm! Since this feud is already irresolvable, let's make it even more thorough! The Burning Heaven Sect... you shall be the touchstone and stepping stone for my growth!"