Chapter 354: Extinction of the Clan

Even though Yun Che spoke casually, he had broken out in a cold sweat moments ago. If not for the powerful protection of the Vanishing Cloud Asgard Seal, the astonishing power of the Heaven Punishing Pearl would have been enough to severely injure him on the spot.

Yun Che was not unfamiliar with the Xiao Sect's firearms. Back in the New Moon City branch of the Xiao Sect, he had found Poison Fire Cannons and Heaven-Shaking Thunders in the sect's treasure vault. However, their power was incomparable to that of the Heaven Punishing Pearl he had just witnessed.

As the mist dispersed, Yun Che stood more than ten zhang from his original position, completely unharmed, without even a trace of blood.

"You... you..." Xiao Wuyi, who had always been calm, arrogant, and confident that everything was under his control, stared with wide eyes, his pupils violently contracting as if he had just seen the most terrifying ghost. Three words wildly echoed in his mind: Impossible... Impossible... Impossible!

What had just struck Yun Che was not a low-grade Thunderclap Bomb or Heaven-Shaking Thunder, but their Xiao Sect's most treasured item, the Heaven Punishing Pearl. Even a King Profound expert could not withstand it, and the entire Xiao Sect only possessed about twenty of them!

The Heaven Punishing Pearl not only possessed immense power, but after exploding, it also released poisonous smoke. If it touched blood, the poison would quickly invade the body, causing death within a few breaths. Inhaling it would also lead to rapid poisoning... Yet, Yun Che stood in the poisonous mist, sneering, showing no signs of distress!

"To be honest, this 'Heaven Punishing Pearl' thing has decent power, and this poison is quite potent," Yun Che said slowly, his eyes fixed on the shocked Xiao Wuyi. "This poison is refined from Burning Pulse Grass, Thousand Insect Flower, Midnight Skeleton Vine, Ghost Weeping Blood-Pattern Flower, highly toxic snake venom, and the poison of the Thunderflame Poison Toad. It is incredibly virulent and acts extremely fast. Once it enters the body, even a Throne Realm expert would find it hard to suppress. If one first takes a direct hit from a Heaven Punishing Pearl and then inhales such poisonous mist, even a Throne would likely face certain death..."

Yun Che began to walk forward, his voice growing colder. "At least until now, I have done nothing to offend your Xiao Sect, nor have I had any conflicts or dealings with you. Yet, your Xiao Sect has gone to such lengths, using every unscrupulous method, to put me to death. This is truly... admirable!"

Yun Che's words made Xiao Wuyi's heart convulse. Yun Che had described the components of the Heaven Punishing Pearl's potent poison with perfect accuracy! His unharmed state after the Heaven Punishing Pearl's attack, combined with the impact of these few words, severely shook Xiao Wuyi's mental defenses. Thinking of the tragic state of Burning Heaven Clan and the consequences of failing to kill Yun Che, cold sweat immediately trickled down his back.

"Yun... Che..." Yun Che's name barely escaped Xiao Wuyi's clenched teeth. Yun Che drew closer, gradually approaching within ten zhang. As he neared, an uncontrollable sense of fear rapidly grew in Xiao Wuyi's heart. He widened his eyes, grit his teeth, and suddenly moved his tightly clenched right hand, grabbing two Heaven Punishing Pearls, preparing to throw them.

Knowing that Xiao Wuyi carried such terrifying items as the Heaven Punishing Pearls, Yun Che's entire being was tense, with most of his attention focused on Xiao Wuyi's hand. The moment Xiao Wuyi's palm stirred, Yun Che's eyes flashed, and phoenix flames instantly flared around him.

"Phoenix Wing God Skybreak!!"

Yun Che had been gradually approaching Xiao Wuyi precisely for this moment. Just as Xiao Wuyi pulled out two more Heaven Punishing Pearls and prepared to throw them, a fiery shadow flickered in front of him, and an incredibly violent force surged forth. Its speed was so great that even a Throne Realm expert like him could not react in time. He only managed to clearly see Yun Che's suddenly close pupils, and as his wrist had just begun to flick, an overwhelmingly powerful impact violently struck his chest.

Boom!!

The Phoenix Wing God Skybreak, amplified by the Dragon Fault, was no less powerful than a Heaven Punishing Pearl. Xiao Wuyi's sternum instantly fractured, and he flew sideways with a scream. The two Heaven Punishing Pearls he was about to throw flew out of his grasp. Yun Che spun around and swiftly caught the two purple glowing points in mid-air. As soon as he held the Heaven Punishing Pearls, he briefly sensed the profound formation on them and understood how to use them.

Xiao Wuyi landed dozens of zhang away. After tumbling over a dozen times on the ground, he frantically got up, one hand clutching his bloody chest, the other desperately trying to extinguish the phoenix flames on his body. He flew up and fled for his life.

"Hmph, trying to run?"

Yun Che's gaze darkened. He put away the Dragon Fault and instantly reached maximum speed, giving chase. However, Xiao Wuyi flew higher and higher. Although Yun Che's speed was not slow, he couldn't truly catch up. Yun Che looked up, locked onto Xiao Wuyi's position, grabbed a Heaven Punishing Pearl in his right hand, and violently flicked his wrist.

The prerequisite for Yun Che to wield the 20,000-jin Dragon Fault with such ease was his terrifying arm strength. With such arm strength, the Heaven Punishing Pearl he threw was immeasurably faster than the one Xiao Wuyi had thrown earlier. Xiao Wuyi, focused entirely on escaping, suddenly heard an extremely sharp whistling sound behind him. He instinctively looked back and was horrified to see a purple glowing point less than a foot away from him.

"Aah..." Xiao Wuyi's eyes bulged, and he let out a hoarse, desperate roar.

Boom!!!!

The Heaven Punishing Pearl exploded like a world-shattering divine thunder in mid-air, causing the entire Burning Heaven Clan to tremble. Flames shot skyward, lightning wildly raged, and poisonous mist slowly spread. A dark figure was blasted high into the sky within it, then quickly plummeted, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Xiao Wuyi's cloak was blasted to shreds, his entire body a bloody mess. The poisonous mist mixed with his bloodstream, relentlessly acting upon him, causing him to incessantly writhe on the ground, letting out screams of extreme pain.

Yun Che walked over unhurriedly, stopped beside him, then picked up the Dragon Fault and, with an expressionless face, thrust the sword down.

Pfft...

The Dragon Fault's thick, blunt tip effortlessly pierced into Xiao Wuyi's body, directly impaling his heart. Xiao Wuyi's body stiffened, his bulging eyes staring directly at Yun Che for a moment before his body completely sagged, motionless.

Within three days, two Throne Realm experts had consecutively perished beneath the Dragon Fault.

Yun Che stripped Xiao Wuyi of his spatial ring, scanned it casually, and a satisfied smile immediately appeared on his face. As a Supreme Elder of the Xiao Sect, Xiao Wuyi's possessions were naturally extraordinary; almost any item retrieved from the ring would be a treasure beyond ordinary people's wildest dreams. Among them was another Heaven Punishing Pearl, and several special keys... likely used to open certain important locations within the Xiao Sect.

Kicking Xiao Wuyi's corpse aside, Yun Che turned to face Fen Duanhun and the other elders, whose faces had long since turned ashen. The failure of the Heaven Punishing Pearl to harm Yun Che had already plunged their hearts into despair, and now, Xiao Wuyi's horrific death extinguished their last glimmer of hope.

"Do you choose to end yourselves, or shall I do it personally?" Yun Che's eyes narrowed as he spoke coldly.

The thirty-three renowned Pavilion Masters and twenty-seven Elders, whose numbers had dwindled to just over a dozen, were no match for Yun Che combined. Fen Yijue, the only Supreme Clan Master who could possibly fight Yun Che, was also severely wounded. Grief and despair filled everyone's hearts, leaving them utterly incapable of even a thought of resistance or struggle.

"Yun Che, do you truly intend to... wipe us out completely?!" Fen Yijue gnashed his teeth.

Yun Che's expression was grim, his words icy. "I gave you chances, left you room to maneuver multiple times... but it was you who, again and again, forced me to eradicate your clan! Today, all of you will die. From tomorrow onwards, the Burning Heaven Clan will cease to exist in this world!"

Yun Che raised his arm, the heavy Dragon Fault pointing at the despairing Fen Yijue, delivering his final judgment.

Fen Yijue picked up his Absolute Flame Sabre, looked up, and sighed deeply. "My Burning Heaven Clan's thousand-year foundation has been destroyed in my generation. How can I face my ancestors...? Yun Che, my Burning Heaven Clan has indeed brought this upon ourselves; we cannot wholly blame you! However, my disciples are all innocent. I trust you won't harm them. Once we dismiss them, we will end our own lives!"

"Heh..." Yun Che sneered, his laughter as chilling as if it came from the devil's throat. "Are you deaf?! I just said, today, all of you will die... every single one! The day you vilely abducted my family, I swore to make your Burning Heaven Clan... bleed rivers and leave no blade of grass standing!!"

Fen Yijue snapped his head up. Fen Duanhun and the other grand elders' faces were filled with extreme shock and terror. All the fearful Burning Heaven disciples nearby began to tremble... Yun Che's words implied that he wouldn't just kill the Clan Master, Elders, and Pavilion Masters of Burning Heaven Clan... but everyone in the entire clan!!

He intended to truly and completely annihilate the Burning Heaven Clan!!

A chilling cold spread through the bodies of all Burning Heaven Clan members. They had never imagined that Yun Che's retribution would be so cruel and absolute. Fen Yijue's voice trembled. "You... you... Even if my Burning Heaven Clan wronged you first, we have already suffered such retribution... My disciples have no grudge or enmity with you at all. You have no reason to kill them... You... aren't you afraid of divine retribution?!"

Yun Che smiled, a smile that Fen Yijue and the others could never comprehend. He said softly, "In my two lives, I have killed more people than all of you have ever seen in your entire lives combined. The karma of slaughter I bear is far too immense for even ten thousand divine retributions to suffice! What difference would a few tens of thousands more make?"

"You tried to kill me repeatedly; I could overlook that. But abducting my family and nearly causing their deaths... for this alone, you must pay with the annihilation of your clan! For every person who survives in your Burning Heaven Clan, another seed of hatred will be planted. Should that hatred ever sprout, it could potentially endanger my grandfather and aunt. Even if that possibility is infinitesimally small, I will absolutely not allow it to exist! Because of this, every single one of you... must die!!"

Yun Che's words carried no emotion, no room for negotiation, chilling the soul like a devil's whisper. As his voice faded, he ascended into the air, swung his longsword, and over a dozen phoenix flames whistled towards the surrounding Burning Heaven disciples.

Boom, boom, boom, boom...

Soaring flames erupted in different locations, then rapidly spread, incinerating one group of Burning Heaven disciples after another, submerging the entire Burning Heaven Clan in agonizing screams within moments.

Watching their disciples fall in swathes in mere moments, Fen Duanhun and the others trembled all over, almost wanting to cry out in anguish. They had thought they had mistakenly provoked a fierce wolf or a mighty tiger, but only at this moment did they truly realize that what they had provoked was, in fact, a madman, a devil!

"You... you devil! Even if we are crushed to dust today, we will drag you to hell with us!!"

The Burning Heaven Elders, who had originally intended to end their own lives, now, riddled with injuries, picked up their weapons, their eyes bloodshot, and charged at Yun Che with endless grief and despair.