Chapter 360: Phoenix Flame, Ice Yi (Part 2)

The Heaven Sword Domain is the supreme domain of the Heaven Sword Sovereign. It is a purely offensive domain, an advanced form of the Heaven Sword's basic "Myriad Sword Domain," and is widely recognized as the strongest domain in the Azure Wind Profound Realm, without equal. Once unleashed, no one within the Azure Wind Empire is said to be able to resist it.

Ling Tianni had just begun fighting Yun Che, yet he was already forced to unleash the Heaven Sword Domain. This was truly a first in his life. The sudden power unleashed by Yun Che was simply too terrifying; if Ling Tianni hadn't used his strongest domain technique, he might have been severely wounded on the spot by Yun Che's attack.

This was Yun Che's third time using "Annihilating Sky, Decimating Earth." The first time, it defeated Xia Qingyue, whose strength far surpassed his own. The second time, it left two Royal Profound practitioners with one dead and one injured. This time, it forced the unparalleled strongest man in Azure Wind to use his full power.

A series of thunderous explosions reverberated chaotically, shaking the very space until it almost collapsed. The power of the heavy sword was as wild as thunder, and thousands of sword glints tore through dimensions. The sword glints were shattered into pieces, and the raging power was weakened layer by layer. The Sword Saint remained motionless at the center of the storm, like an immovable ancient rock. At this moment, his eyes suddenly flared open. More than seventy percent of the sword glints suddenly exploded, transforming into thousands of sword intent vortexes, rapidly pushing aside and devouring all the surrounding chaotic profound energy.

With the final explosion, the power of "Annihilating Sky, Decimating Earth" completely dissipated. The Sword Saint remained in his original position, without the slightest change in his stance. There were no signs of injury on his body; even his hair and clothing were undamaged. However, this absolutely did not mean Ling Tianni was at ease. The milky white glow on his body's surface had completely vanished, and his power aura had significantly weakened. His Heaven Sword Domain, originally invincible in Azure Wind, was about ninety percent destroyed, with only a few hundred of its thousands of sword glints remaining.

Ling Jie, standing behind, was completely stunned. This was the first time he had seen Yun Che in action after more than a year of separation. He knew that Yun Che, capable of single-handedly destroying the Burning Heaven Clan, must have reached an extremely terrifying level of power. Yet, he never imagined it would be *this* terrifying – forcing his grandfather to unleash the Heaven Sword Domain and even destroying it to such an extent!

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it. No one in Heaven Sword Villa would ever believe it either.

Yun Che's gaze suddenly sank as he looked at the completely unharmed Ling Tianni.

Ling Tianni appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was turbulent, like raging waves. To block Yun Che's attack, his Heaven Sword Domain had almost completely collapsed, and his profound energy had been depleted by a full forty percent!

He had blocked one of the opponent's moves, but it had cost him a full forty percent of his power! For him, this was simply unimaginable. At the same time, his killing intent surged once more. With profound energy at the Earth Profound Realm, Yun Che could possess such terrifying combat power. Coupled with his growth rate, once he reached the Sky Profound Realm, even Ling Tianni himself would not be his match. In Azure Wind, there would be no one who could rein him in! No matter what, he had to be eliminated here today.

In contrast, Yun Che had forcefully activated 'Purgatory' and then unleashed "Annihilating Sky, Decimating Earth." His power consumption exceeded eighty percent. However, he was not entirely without reservations; he had saved some power for escape.

"You beast, die!!" Yun Che's power aura had significantly weakened. Ling Tianni knew that Yun Che's previous attack must have been an all-out gamble, and he was now exhausted, with hardly any power left. With a loud shout, the hundreds of sword glints behind him shot out. They then rapidly converged, forming a golden Heaven Sword, ten zhang long and one zhang wide. It flew towards Yun Che with an unparalleled sharp edge that seemed to look down on the world.

"Grandfather... stop!!" Ling Jie had not yet recovered from his shock when he suddenly saw the terrifying Heaven Sword coming from his grandfather. He immediately turned pale with fright and lunged forward. But how could his speed compare to that of the Heaven Sword? Ling Tianni completely ignored his shouts, and the Heaven Sword's speed suddenly accelerated, plummeting with a roar.

"Boss!!" Ling Jie's pupils contracted as he roared hoarsely. Anyone with even a little profound energy could clearly feel the drastic drop in Yun Che's power aura at this moment. In his current state, he might not even be able to withstand Ling Tianni's ordinary sword strike, let alone this terrifying Heaven Sword! This Heaven Sword was the true core of the "Heaven Sword Domain." After shattering all of the opponent's attacks and defenses, thousands of sword glints would eventually form a sky-covering sword, delivering a desperate blow. Although the damaged Heaven Sword Domain meant this Heaven Sword's power was only at ten percent, it was still entirely sufficient to completely crush Yun Che in his current state.

The light above suddenly changed. Yun Che looked up and saw a dazzling golden light that covered the sky. The unparalleled aura contained within the sword light was so powerful that it felt as if a colossal boulder was pressing down on his body, rendering him completely immobile.

"Cloud Sealing, Sun Locking!" As the Heaven Sword descended, Yun Che straightened his body and instantly activated the defensive barrier from the Evil God.

Boom!!! The Heaven Sword struck the Cloud Sealing, Sun Locking barrier. Endless sword intent, accompanied by countless sword glints, was furiously unleashed, exploding like a golden sun on the ground. The Heaven Sword pushed forward layer by layer, but it could not penetrate the Evil God barrier, only pushing Yun Che's body back step by step.

*Crack! Crack!* Simultaneously, cracks appeared on both the Heaven Sword and the Evil God barrier. The two cracks spread rapidly, one extending across the entire sword body, and the other across the entire barrier!

*Bang!!* Almost simultaneously, the Evil God barrier and the Heaven Sword completely burst, turning into power fragments scattering across the sky. Yun Che's body was pushed dozens of zhang away. As soon as he landed, he swiftly flashed, avoiding all the residual shockwaves from the Heaven Sword's explosion. Not a single hair on his body was harmed, but his power aura weakened again. When he stopped, he was panting heavily.

"!?" Under the Heaven Sword's direct impact, Yun Che was miraculously unharmed. A look of surprise reappeared on Ling Tianni's face, but his reaction was incredibly swift. With a wave of his arm, the power fragments from the exploded Heaven Sword instantly transformed into dozens of golden sword glints. They flew towards Yun Che, who had just landed, with a sharp whistling sound tearing through the air.

Yun Che had just withstood the Heaven Sword and then used 'Star God Shattered Shadow' to evade the residual waves. His power was depleted, and he had not yet recovered when the golden sword glints almost instantly arrived. As his toes touched the ground, the golden sword glints were already less than three feet from him, leaving him no possibility of evading.

However, with his Dragon God's body, the sword glints hastily condensed by the Sword Saint could not possibly pierce him; at most, they would leave him with dozens of minor injuries. Just as he gritted his teeth, preparing to endure the sword glints with his body, a cold blue light suddenly cascaded from the sky. The surrounding space instantly froze. The flying sword glints suddenly froze in place less than half a foot from Yun Che, then rapidly changed from golden to an increasingly deep blue.

Then, with a crisp "bang," they shattered, turning into tiny ice-blue fragments. These ice-blue fragments naturally fell, but they had already completely vanished in mid-air before touching the ground.

"This is..." Yun Che quickly looked up towards the sky.

Ling Tianni frowned deeply and murmured, "Ice Cloud Art? No... wait! Could it be..." The strange, icy blue color and the mysterious, powerful aura that did not belong to the Ice Cloud Art suddenly made Ling Tianni realize something. In that instant, his expression drastically changed, and he abruptly turned his head to look at the sky.

A hundred zhang high in the sky, a light blue figure appeared. Her appearance instantly overshadowed all the light between heaven and earth. People could not tear their gaze away from her the moment they saw her. She was like a goddess descended from a heavenly pavilion—hazy, mysterious, exquisitely beautiful, and dreamlike.

"Qingyue..." Yun Che murmured. He hadn't seen her when he went there previously. He never expected to reunite with her under such circumstances. After more than a year apart, Xia Qingyue gave him a greatly different feeling. She was still breathtakingly beautiful, unlike any mortal woman, but she now possessed an inexpressible sense of mystery and cold pride. Ice spirits still floated around her body, but they were completely different from before. The cold crystals formed by the natural release of cold energy from the former ice spirits were beautiful and ethereal, icy yet pleasing to the eye, but served no purpose beyond aesthetics. However, the ice spirits floating around Xia Qingyue now seemed to possess life, like individual, living, independent ice and snow sprites. These sprites danced freely, surrounding their mistress like stars around the moon.

"Ice Moon Fairy... Xia Qingyue! How could she... be here? And she actually... completely froze Grandfather's attack from so far away!" Ling Jie said blankly, looking up. Whispers of discussion arose around him. Everyone in Azure Wind now knew about the relationship between Xia Qingyue and Yun Che, and her sudden appearance caused a stir in everyone's hearts.

Yun Che was looking at Xia Qingyue, and Xia Qingyue was looking at him. The two met again after their "separation by realms," their gazes and emotions conveying an unspeakable complexity. This was their second meeting since their marriage three years ago. With each encounter, they felt both familiar and strange to each other. He was no longer the Yun Che from their last meeting, and she was no longer the Xia Qingyue of that time.

The increase in strength inevitably brings changes, and even sublimation, in one's state of mind. Neither of them could know if what the other valued and pursued at this moment was still the same as before. Nor did they know if the emotions that had quietly warmed between them in the Heaven Pool Secret Realm had cooled again due to this "separation by realms."

Perhaps, the answers in their own hearts were still blurred.

Ling Tianni did not continue his attack on Yun Che. He raised his head, looking at Xia Qingyue, who had appeared at some unknown time, and let out a long sigh. "Last year, I heard that Ice Cloud Asgard had produced an exceptionally talented and astonishing disciple. Not only was her talent astounding, but her luck had also deepened. At merely seventeen, she was already at the second level of the Royal Profound Realm... now, she's actually at the fourth level. Back then, it took me a full fifteen years to go from the second to the fourth level of the Royal Profound Realm. Yet you, have taken less than two years. It seems my era has completely passed. Your future achievements will be beyond my reach for my entire life."

Xia Qingyue spoke slowly: "Senior, you flatter me. I am unworthy of such praise. This junior's recent intervention was presumptuous; I hope senior will be magnanimous. I only hope senior will spare Yun Che. He is not a person of great evil."

Ling Tianni's expression was blank as he sighed: "You wish to protect Yun Che. Is this your personal desire, or the will of Ice Cloud Asgard?"