Chapter 313: 危局

This red-robed elder, however, clearly thought otherwise. He looked down from above, his gaze fixed on Yun Che, and with a furious roar, he swooped down like an eagle: "You little beast, let's see where you'll run this time!"

The red-robed elder was named Fen Moping, also an elder of the "Mo" generation in the Burning Heaven Clan. As a super-expert at the Sky Profound Realm, the arrogance and superiority that allowed him to look down on the Azure Cloud Continent had been with him for decades. How could he possibly take a mere nineteen-year-old youth seriously? Although Fen Duancang and Fen Moran had described Yun Che as incredibly powerful, Fen Moping was entirely dismissive. While reaching the sixth level of the Earth Profound Realm at nineteen was indeed astonishing, it was still only the Earth Profound Realm. How could he possibly be a match for a Sky Profound expert? He believed that Fen Duancang and Fen Moran's exaggerated claims about Yun Che were merely an attempt to cover up their own blunders.

"Die!" Fen Moping clearly had no intention of wasting words with Yun Che. With a push of his hands, a massive blue-purple flame python descended from the sky, accompanied by a heart-pounding roar, like a truly enraged serpent coiling to strike.

Yun Che looked up and reached for the flame python. One moment, he was calm and collected; the next, his profound energy erupted like a volcano, and he grasped the flame python...

*Rip!* To Fen Moping's horror, Yun Che's arm passed directly through the flame python. With a casual flick, he tore the colossal flame python in half. Another flick scattered the terrifying serpentine flames into countless tiny fragments, which rapidly vanished in mid-air.

"Wh-what?!" Fen Moping's face was filled with disbelief. Tearing his flames apart with a single hand—even within the Burning Heaven Clan, few could accomplish such a feat. Amidst his immense shock, a sense of unease finally began to creep into his heart. However, he had already swooped down to within three meters of Yun Che. His expression darkened, and he immediately brought out his Burning Heaven Blade, sending a dragon-like flame directly towards Yun Che.

Although the eight Sky Profound experts of the Burning Heaven Clan had spread out to search, they wouldn't be too far from each other. Moreover, Fen Moping must have alerted the others the moment he found Yun Che, and they were likely rushing towards this location. Therefore, he had to finish the fight quickly and leave immediately.

With the sword in hand, Yun Che activated Burning Heart. The immense power of the heavy sword erupted like a mountain flood and a tsunami. Instantly, more than half of the flames on Fen Moping's blade were suppressed and extinguished. Fen Moping felt his body tearing apart like a leaf in a storm, on the verge of shattering at any moment. The horror he had barely suppressed suddenly magnified tenfold. He couldn't believe that profound energy from the Earth Profound Realm could unleash such terrifying power.

This was simply incredible, completely defying common sense! Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it. Only now did he begin to believe Fen Duancang and Fen Moran's words… they seemed not to have been exaggerations after all.

In his shock, Fen Moping dared not hold back any longer. His profound energy surged throughout his body, and he let out a roar as the flames on his blade reignited fiercely, meeting Yun Che's heavy sword.

*Crack!* Fen Moping's blade shattered completely like fragile glass. The flames on it extinguished entirely before they could even erupt. Fen Moping grunted, his body tumbling through the air like a kite with a broken string. After landing, he stumbled back seven or eight steps before falling onto his back. He immediately propped himself up, struggling to suppress the tumultuous qi and blood within him, and looked up with a face full of terror and shock: "You..."

Just as he uttered "You," his pupils sharply constricted. Yun Che was rushing straight towards him, heavy sword in hand, now less than five paces away.

In that critical moment, Fen Moping frantically mobilized his scattered profound energy, which had been thrown into disarray by the previous impact, to erect a powerful flame barrier in front of himself. With a *bang*, as the barrier collided with the heavy sword, the flame barrier instantly shattered. Fen Moping was sent rolling away like a ball, tumbling along the ground for dozens of revolutions before finally coming to a halt.

Though disheveled, the profound energy barrier had prevented him from sustaining severe injuries. He struggled to his feet, pointed at Yun Che, and stammered, "You... who exactly are you?! Who is your master?!"

A nineteen-year-old at the sixth level of the Earth Profound Realm, yet capable of rendering him almost helpless. He simply couldn't imagine what kind of peerless master could cultivate such a young man! At the very least, none of the four major sects in the Azure Cloud Empire possessed such an ability.

Yun Che dragged his heavy sword closer, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Who am I? What? You came specifically to hunt me down, yet you've forgotten my name so quickly? Then let me remind you again. My name is Yun Che. When you report to the King of Hell, don't forget to mention my name! As for my master's name, you are not worthy to know it."

A chilling, sinister killing intent locked onto Fen Moping, making his entire body grow cold. Although not severely wounded, Yun Che's two strikes had thrown his qi and blood into complete disarray, leaving him with barely enough strength to flee. He instinctively took a step back, his voice trembling as he said, "You... if you dare to kill me, the Burning Heaven Clan will never let you go!"

"A joke!" Yun Che sneered. "Who won't let who go? That's not certain yet! You are the ones who have repeatedly provoked me. It seems your Burning Heaven Clan is accustomed to bullying others, killing whoever you please... Too bad you shouldn't have provoked me!"

As his voice fell, Yun Che brought his sword down on Fen Moping. The space around the heavy sword trembled faintly as it passed.

Fen Moping's eyes widened, and he roared hoarsely, "Youngster! Do you really think... you can kill me?!"

Fen Moping leaped into the air, instantly soaring ten meters high. Only at the Sky Profound Realm could one traverse the void with profound energy and fly through the air. As long as he reached a high altitude, Yun Che wouldn't be able to do anything to him. But just as he ascended and before he could even catch his breath, a figure suddenly flickered into existence directly in front of him, above—Yun Che's figure... a demonic, mocking sneer on his lips.

"You..." Fen Moping's pupils contracted to the size of needlepoints, and the nightmare-like heavy sword instantly magnified in his eyes... With a thunderous *bang*, it crashed down heavily onto the crown of his head.

*Boom...* Like a clap of thunder exploding inside his head, Fen Moping's mind went blank. All consciousness instantly dissipated, and he plummeted from mid-air like a log, landing with a *thud* and lying motionless.

Fen Moping, who had lived a life of arrogance, could never have imagined that he would ultimately die at the hands of a junior.

"One down, easily handled!" Yun Che walked over to Fen Moping's corpse and stripped off his spatial ring. As expected of a Burning Heaven Clan elder, the ring contained various rare medicinal pills and two jade slips detailing some of the clan's profound arts. While the Burning Heaven Clan's cultivation jade slips were treasures to others, they were utterly useless to Yun Che, who could effortlessly conjure Phoenix flames.

"Don't celebrate just yet," Jasmine said coldly. "You're about to be in big trouble."

At that moment, Yun Che swiftly turned around... In the southern sky, three black dots appeared distinctly. They approached at an extremely fast pace, and in the blink of an eye, three crimson figures became visible. The profound energy auras of all three were terrifying, especially the one in the middle, whose aura was far stronger than the combined auras of the other two!

Fen Moli! Yun Che's brows furrowed. Without a moment's hesitation, he swiftly fled north. Just as Yun Che spotted them, they likewise saw his figure. A furious roar echoed from the sky: "Yun Che! Let's see where you'll run now!"

Amidst the thunderous roar, a massive fire dragon, easily half a *zhang* thick, whistled down in front of Yun Che. In an instant, the surrounding tens of meters of land were blasted flat, and purple flames surged skyward. Yun Che wasn't afraid of the flames themselves, but the terrible force of the impact struck him like a heavy hammer to the chest, sending him reeling backward. By the time he regained his balance, the three figures from above had simultaneously descended, forming a triangular encirclement, trapping him in the center.

These three were Fen Duancang, Fen Moyu... and the Great Elder Fen Moli!

The three firmly surrounded Yun Che, blocking all possible escape routes. They instantly spotted Fen Moping's corpse nearby, and all were astonished, their faces clouding with rage. Seventeenth Elder Fen Moyu stated gravely, "You actually killed Moping! What impressive methods indeed! No wonder you could abduct the young sect master from Pavilion Master Duancang's hands, and even provoke the sect master into such a fury that he had the Great Elder personally intervene!"

"Don't be deceived by his profound energy aura; his true strength cannot be measured by his profound realm level! Even I wouldn't find it easy to defeat him. It's not surprising that Moping couldn't defeat him, but I didn't expect him to die so quickly at his hands!" Fen Duancang immediately drew his Burning Heaven Blade, pointing it at Yun Che, and declared furiously, "Yun Che, you killed our second young sect master and our disciples, abducted and severely wounded our young sect master, and now you've killed Elder Fen Yan Tang! Today, you will be torn to shreds!"

Fen Duancang was at the eighth level of the Sky Profound Realm, Fen Moyu at the fifth level of the Sky Profound Realm, and Fen Moli was a terrifying half-step Sovereign Profound. The powerful auras of the three experts firmly locked onto Yun Che, suffocating him and leaving his body stiff and immobile for a long moment.

"Why are we still wasting words with him?!" Fen Moli roared angrily. For eight super-experts within their sect to hunt down one person and even lose him once was an utter humiliation that made him lose face. Now that Yun Che's retreat was blocked, the rage he had suppressed for so long finally erupted: "This old man will personally send you on your way!"

Fen Moli soared into the air, pushing both hands towards Yun Che. Instantly, the space below them severely warped. The ground for dozens of meters around cracked and sank like tofu. Without any visible profound energy activation, a vast sea of purple flames appeared in mid-air, engulfing Yun Che with powerful waves of heat.

Yun Che's eyebrows shot up. Facing Fen Moli, he dared not hold back even slightly. His profound energy surged without reservation, and behind him, a massive azure wolf roared towards the sky.

Surging power erupted from the Dragon Fault, transforming into a colossal wolf phantom that charged towards the sea of flames descending from above...

*Rumble!* In mid-air, the purple sea of flames and the power of the Sky Wolf erupted simultaneously. In that instant, all sounds in the world seemed to vanish. The rampaging power mercilessly swept through the void. The mighty power of the Sky Wolf split the purple sea of flames in half, but in a flash, it was swallowed back by the purple flames.

*Thump!* Yun Che's chest tightened, and he was violently sent flying backward. A tremendous force surged into his body, wantonly destroying his meridians. A mouthful of blood rushed up his throat and spurted into the sky.

The heavy sword slammed into the ground, halting Yun Che's body. Blood streamed from the corner of Yun Che's mouth, his left arm was dislocated, and his qi and blood were boiling, almost threatening to explode. Yet, he let out a defiant laugh: "Hahahaha! So the Great Elder of the Burning Heaven Clan is nothing more than this! A full-powered strike delivered in rage, actually withstood head-on by a junior like me, merely at the Earth Profound Realm? What a colossal joke, hahahaha!"