Chapter 346: Poisonous Hand

"You are indeed stronger than I expected, but even with your immense strength as a mere Earth Profound practitioner, you can never resist the domain of a Sovereign... Heaven Burning Domain!!"

After exchanging a few blows with Yun Che, Fen Yijue's feeling was far beyond just "a bit stronger than I expected." His inner shock was like a tumultuous wave. Despite having only Earth Profound profound energy, Yun Che wasn't at a disadvantage against his Heaven Burning Flame and Heaven Burning Blade—something Fen Yijue could never have imagined.

As the Supreme Elder of the Burning Heaven Clan, a pinnacle figure of his generation, a true Sovereign, Fen Yijue had attacked multiple times yet couldn't subdue a young man with only Earth Profound strength. With so many eyes watching, his patience and pride could no longer hold. He directly unleashed his powerful domain skill.

Around Yun Che, waves of fire surged, and purple flames shot skyward. As Fen Yijue roared, the world in Yun Che's sight suddenly turned a pure purple. Purple flames, hot enough to quickly melt steel, filled every inch of space around him. He felt as if he was instantly imprisoned within a world of raging fire, where purple flames and destruction were the sole rules!

The temperature of the entire Blazing Fire City instantly soared. From a distance, it looked as if a purple sun had appeared in mid-air. The purple fiery glow obscured the sky and sun, and the surrounding space was distorted by the heat.

"A... Domain!"

"That's a domain only a Sovereign Profound practitioner can cast!"

"I've actually witnessed the legendary domain with my own eyes... Yun Che has been completely engulfed by the domain. No matter how strong he is, there's no way he could survive entering a domain like this, right?"

Unlike the Frozen Cloud Asgard's control domain or Yun Che's soul domain, the Heaven Burning Domain is a purely offensive domain. It is not cast upon oneself, but rather formed around the enemy, imprisoning them within a domain of endless, inescapable flames.

Trapped within the domain, Yun Che's body swayed as he rapidly charged forward. But the world of flames seemed to have no end; he sped through the sea of fire for a long time yet couldn't break free. With the power of the Evil God protecting him, these flames, even if ten times stronger, couldn't harm him. However, for anyone else, even a late-stage Sky Profound practitioner, they would have been severely burned by now.

Yun Che stopped, then burst into laughter. "Fen Yijue, do you really think a mere domain can trap me? Your domain is utterly worthless in my eyes!"

With a shout, Yun Che unleashed his full power, striking forward with his sword. An incredibly violent force converged into a powerful sword aura, a full zhang wide, ripping through the flames and directly smashing into the churning inferno ahead.

Boom!!

With a thunderous crash, a full zhang-wide vacuum of fire immediately appeared where the Dragon Fault struck. The residual power of the heavy sword maintained this vacuum, preventing the surrounding flames from spreading. Yun Che spun back to action, his steps tracing the Star God Broken Shadow as he darted left and right within the Heaven Burning Domain. With every shift of his body, his heavy sword unleashed a mighty roar... In the blink of an eye, Yun Che swung his sword over a hundred times, blasting the entire world of flames into a sieve-like mess. From the outside, the blazing "sun" suspended in mid-air suddenly looked like a gigantic colander.

A series of shattering sounds, like breaking crystal, echoed as the pockmarked Heaven Burning Domain finally completely shattered under Yun Che's last sword strike. Large quantities of purple flames rapidly dispersed in different directions, causing the surrounding space to twist and ripple.

"You... you actually broke my domain!!"

After activating the Heaven Burning Domain, Fen Yijue didn't immediately go to rescue Fen Juecheng, because he wanted to personally hear Yun Che's desperate screams. But after more than ten breaths of time passed, he heard no such sound. Instead, he watched as his Heaven Burning Domain was blasted with hole after hole, then directly collapsed. He was so shocked he nearly lost his soul. When he saw Yun Che emerge from the shattered domain, his pupils widened abruptly; he simply couldn't believe his eyes.

Because Yun Che, who had been trapped within the domain for over ten breaths, was completely unharmed from head to toe!

"Impossible... This is impossible!!"

Fen Yijue's body swayed, and he gasped. He couldn't accept the scene before him, no matter what. A domain is an ability that only Sovereign Profound practitioners can unleash. In the Azure Cloud Empire, a domain is undoubtedly the pinnacle ability; fewer than ten people in the entire empire are capable of casting one. Once a domain is unleashed, no one, apart from other pinnacle Sovereign Profound experts like himself, can possibly resist it... because the power of a domain isn't just about suppressing strength, it's also about suppressing on a fundamental level, and in terms of natural laws!

The two complete cultivation realms separating a Sovereign Profound practitioner from an Earth Profound practitioner should have meant absolute suppression that was utterly impossible to resist or reverse.

Yet, the result was that his domain was broken by this Earth Profound practitioner! And it only took a mere ten-plus breaths of time.

He had unleashed his domain so quickly precisely to incinerate Yun Che as fast as possible; he never imagined this would be the outcome.

At this moment, a trace of fear suddenly arose in Fen Yijue's heart... a fear that he might genuinely be defeated by Yun Che. And for an expert of his caliber, once this trace of fear emerged, it instantly transformed into boundless killing intent and ferocity.

"I told you, your domain is utterly worthless in my eyes!" Yun Che said with a cold smile.

Fen Yijue raised his Peerless Flame Blade, his voice imbued with incredibly cold and dense killing intent. "Your strength has indeed exceeded my expectations... and you are indeed worthy of me using my full power!"

"Oh, really?" Yun Che curled his lip in disdain. "You say that as if you haven't been using your full strength already."

"You..." Fen Yijue's face twitched violently. He clutched his Peerless Flame Blade and said coldly, "It seems I made a mistake from the very beginning. Perhaps it's because you possess the Phoenix bloodline that your mastery over fire laws far exceeds my expectations. Ordinary profound flames can't harm you, so I should never have used profound flames against you... Otherwise, how could a mere Earth Profound practitioner like you possibly withstand the power of a Sovereign Profound realm!"

Fen Yijue roared, and his Peerless Flame Blade slashed down through the air... This time, no flames ignited on the blade; only a blade aura over three feet long manifested. Though it was a simple, unadorned strike, everyone several miles away felt an imposing force capable of cleaving mountains and rivers.

Because this was a strike from a Sovereign.

The biggest reason Yun Che could easily handle Fen Yijue earlier was his complete lack of fear towards profound flames. However, this absolutely didn't mean he could underestimate a Sovereign's immense profound energy. Watching the trajectory of the Peerless Flame Blade's descent, he frowned slightly and met it with his sword.

Sword and blade collided, and a dazzling light burst forth into the air. The two clashing forces twisted into a vortex that shot skyward, completely tearing apart the surrounding ground. Shards of rock and dust flew wildly. Spectators several miles away felt their qi and blood churn from a sudden, surging storm and had to circulate their profound energy for protection, while some with weaker profound energy were directly sent tumbling away by the impact.

And the closest spectators were still two miles away from Yun Che and Fen Yijue... The terrifying collision of their powers left everyone utterly horrified.

This was the power of a Sovereign!!

Yun Che retreated seven or eight steps, a surge of qi and blood within him. Dragon Fault plowed a long trench in the ground, and the gravel beneath his feet was all crushed into fine sand. Fen Yijue tumbled backward through the air, then suddenly paused. He abruptly cut a grey shadow through the sky, instantly closing within ten zhang of Yun Che, and his Peerless Flame Blade unleashed countless blade shadows that enveloped Yun Che.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish...

Space and earth were frantically cut by the blade aura, and the ground was instantly covered with countless crisscrossing slashes.

Yun Che retreated step by step. Every one of Fen Yijue's blade auras contained the true power of a Sovereign Profound practitioner. Although Yun Che's physique was extremely strong, being hit by any of these slashes would certainly not feel good.

Yun Che employed the Star God Broken Shadow, moving like a ghost through the blade auras, yet he temporarily had no power to retaliate... In the blink of an eye, Fen Yijue had unleashed over a thousand slashes, completely devastating dozens of zhang of the surrounding earth into a honeycomb.

"Indeed, without the Heaven Burning Flame, you don't even have a chance to fight back! No wonder you could act so arrogantly within my Burning Heaven Clan... Although the Heaven Burning Blade's power is greatly diminished without flames, it's still enough to chop you into mincemeat!"

Fen Yijue growled, his body suspended in the air as his blade aura cut downwards, thoroughly suppressing Yun Che, who couldn't cross the void using profound energy. Just then, Fen Duanhun and the elders of the Burning Heaven Clan finally arrived. Their first sight was Fen Yijue's engagement with Yun Che, and seeing Yun Che completely suppressed by Fen Yijue, they all secretly let out a sigh of relief... In their eyes, this was the most expected outcome. No matter how strong Yun Che was, how could he possibly be stronger than their Burning Heaven Clan's Supreme Elder?

However, upon seeing Fen Juecheng, completely naked and suspended above the city gates, Fen Duanhun's blood nearly rushed backward through his veins... Although Fen Juecheng had committed a grave error and was the primary cause of the sect's disaster, he was still Fen Duanhun's own son! And the Young Master of the Burning Heaven Clan! To have suffered such barbaric humiliation!

How could he ever stand in the Azure Cloud Empire after today! And to what extent would the Burning Heaven Clan be mocked?

Fen Duanhun roared, leaped into the air, and charged towards Fen Juecheng. At that moment, Yun Che, who had been retreating step by step under Fen Yijue's suppression, suddenly had his eyes flash, and a cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth. His backward steps abruptly halted, and an incredibly powerful storm of energy erupted from the Dragon Fault.

"Falling Moon, Sinking Star!!"

A dragon's roar echoed through the sky as Dragon Fault violently slammed into all the blade auras ahead. With a resounding crash, like two mountains colliding, all the blade auras were instantly pulverized. The shattered blade fragments scattered like razors, sending Fen Yijue flying backward dozens of zhang through the air. The web of skin between his thumb and forefinger on his knife-holding hand split open, a blood vessel in his right arm burst, and a spray of blood shot forth.

After blasting Fen Yijue back with a single sword strike, Yun Che leaped into the air, reaching Fen Juecheng before Fen Duanhun could. With a flick of the Dragon Fault, a streak of Phoenix flame shot out, slamming into Fen Juecheng's body.

The Phoenix flame instantly ignited upon contact with Fen Juecheng's body, spreading across his entire form. Fen Juecheng, who had previously appeared dead, suddenly let out a ghastly shriek like a malevolent spirit as the Phoenix flames consumed him, his entire body writhing in agony like a violently squirming earthworm.