Chapter 415: Xuangang Exposure

The Seven Nations Ranking Tournament was just over ten days away, and the flow of people into Divine Phoenix City was growing exponentially. At such a crucial time, why would the city gates suddenly be sealed off?

Yun Che took two steps back. After several thoughts flashed through his mind, his speed suddenly increased. He forcefully pushed aside two city guards and charged straight ahead.

"Stop him!!"

Yun Che's actions were akin to poking a hornet's nest. Dozens of nearby city guards immediately swarmed him. Yun Che grabbed Dragon Fault without even glancing around. With a horizontal sweep, the furious power of his heavy sword, like a doomsday storm, violently swept away the attacking city guards. None of them could stand up for a long time, and even their weapons were instantly destroyed.

The sky was only faintly lit, and given that no one had ever dared to cause trouble in Divine Phoenix City, the city gate's defenses were relatively weak to begin with. Although the order to seal the city had been received, the gates were still wide open. After Yun Che cleared the obstacles, without waiting for their further reaction, he swiftly rushed out of the city gates, stepped onto the ground outside the city, then summoned his Snow Phoenix beast and galloped away.

"Quick... quickly inform Lord Chihuo," a fallen city guard roared with all his might.

A quarter of an hour later, a wave of fire, clearly Feng Chihuo, whistled over the city gates, heading directly in the direction Yun Che had fled. Feng Xichen's order had been to assassinate Yun Che discreetly, leaving no trace. But clearly, Feng Chihuo had lost his head in anger. To thoroughly kill Yun Che, he even caused a huge commotion. After all, being made a fool of so miserably by a junior who was only at the Earth Profound Realm was an unprecedented humiliation. Unless he killed Yun Che, his hatred would not subside!

The Snow Phoenix beast's speed was naturally much faster than Yun Che's. Even if Feng Chihuo found the right direction, it would be impossible for him to catch up in a short while. However, Yun Che was completely unfamiliar with the terrain outside Divine Phoenix City. The map Cang Yue had prepared for him only showed the route from Cangfeng Imperial City to Divine Phoenix City and the basic layout of Divine Phoenix City; there were no topographical markings for the area outside. Whether he could find terrain suitable for completely shaking off Feng Chihuo depended entirely on fate and luck.

As a member of the Divine Phoenix Sect, Feng Chihuo was bound to be extremely familiar with this area. Furthermore, although the Snow Phoenix beast was incredibly fast, it left trails of cold qi wherever it went, which could easily be used for tracking.

Under Yun Che's control, the Snow Phoenix beast's speed reached its peak. It streaked across the sky like a flash of lightning, and in the blink of an eye, it was dozens of miles away from Divine Phoenix City.

Along the way, Yun Che's expression was calm yet gloomy. The areas near Divine Phoenix City were mostly open, making it difficult to conceal oneself. More than half an hour passed, and he still didn't feel like he was being pursued. Yet, Yun Che didn't relax. He was absolutely certain that Feng Chihuo would never give up the chase. The main reason he hadn't been caught yet was that the Snow Phoenix beast's speed was not much slower than Feng Chihuo's.

Yun Che couldn't help but think of Hua Minghai. In terms of profound strength, Hua Minghai was less than a tenth of Feng Chihuo's, but his speed was something Feng Chihuo couldn't hope to match. If Yun Che could also cultivate the "Illusory Light Thunder Extreme" that Hua Minghai spoke of, he could easily shake off Feng Chihuo.

His current movement profound art was only Star God Broken Shadow. While incredibly profound, it was limited to combat. Its existence perfectly compensated for the heavy sword's greatest flaw, allowing Yun Che to wield an immensely heavy sword weighing tens of thousands of jin yet move like a phantom. However, each activation of Star God Broken Shadow was a short-distance instant displacement, never meant for regular high-speed movement.

To Yun Che's southwest, a vast, endless mountain range appeared in his sight. Within it were countless peaks, the tallest of which soared a thousand zhang high. His heart stirred, and he changed direction, galloping towards the mountain range. Soon, he shot into the mountains like a meteor.

Upon entering the mountain range, an unusual sensation of heat assailed him. Several birds were startled and scattered in all directions; they all had red feathers and exuded an aura of flame.

A mountain range should typically be covered in green grass with a slightly chilly mountain breeze. But the deeper Yun Che went, the distinctly hotter the air felt. The area was also filled with various trees and vegetation, but most of the vegetation was reddish in color and primarily exuded a fiery aura. Ninety percent of the profound beasts he encountered along the way were also fire-element profound beasts.

Could it be related to its proximity to Divine Phoenix City and the city's overly strong fire element?

After flying in the mountain range for nearly an hour, Feng Chihuo's trace still hadn't appeared behind him. It seemed Yun Che had completely shaken him off. Yun Che slowed down, and the Snow Phoenix beast descended from the air until it was less than a hundred zhang high, allowing the layered mountains to conceal their figures. At this moment, Jasmine's somewhat low voice suddenly echoed in Yun Che's mind: "This place seems a bit unusual."

"Unusual? What do you mean?" Yun Che immediately asked.

"I originally thought the heat here was due to it being near a volcano or a region with a high concentration of fire elements. But I just casually probed and found that the unusually active fire elements here are actually coming from a huge profound formation hidden very deep below. The entire mountain range is enveloped within this profound formation. If I'm not mistaken, this massive profound formation was set up by the Divine Phoenix Sect, and it's at least eight thousand years old. This also indicates that this mountain range should belong to the Divine Phoenix Sect..."

"You seem to have... entered the absolute worst place you could have!"

"Boy, let's see where you'll run now!"

No sooner had Jasmine's voice fallen than an angry roar echoed in Yun Che's ears. The source of the sound... was directly in front of him.

Yun Che looked up. On the summit of a small mountain directly in front of him, Feng Chihuo stood with his hands behind his back, clad in a red robe. Though far away, Yun Che could still feel the raging anger emanating from him. Originally, when Feng Ximing ordered him, an eighth-level King, to personally assassinate someone at the Earth Profound Realm, he felt it was like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken, an insult to his status and ability. Had it not been for Feng Ximing's personal command, he would never have agreed to act. Yet, for such a humiliatingly simple task, he had been unable to succeed even after half a night of trying since finding his target. Instead, he had been left disheveled by the opponent's Heaven Extinguishing Thunderclap. For the past several hours, Feng Chihuo's rage had not subsided; if his body hadn't been strong enough, his chest would probably have exploded dozens of times from sheer anger.

Yun Che was secretly astonished. If Feng Chihuo had caught up from behind, he wouldn't have been too surprised, as Feng Chihuo's speed was not only faster than the Snow Phoenix beast's, but his familiarity with the Divine Phoenix land far surpassed Yun Che's. What genuinely surprised him, however, was that Feng Chihuo had not only appeared in front of him but was also so close, and Yun Che hadn't noticed him at all.

Jasmine, knowing what Yun Che was thinking, whispered, "It looks like you're about to be in big trouble. This profound formation, which is at least eight thousand years old, is definitely not simple."

Yun Che's brow furrowed. He then grabbed the snow feathers on the Snow Phoenix beast's back and roared, "Xiao Chan... go!!"

The Snow Phoenix beast's flying direction rapidly shifted, transforming into an extremely fast white shadow and surging backward. Behind them, Feng Chihuo's loud roar followed: "Still trying to run?! In this place, even if you had a hundred lives, you wouldn't escape!"

The Snow Phoenix beast's speed increased to its maximum, while its flight altitude rapidly decreased. Mountains quickly receded past them, and in front, two adjacent, narrow canyons appeared.

Yun Che glanced back, then pressed his hands down, forcefully suppressing the Snow Phoenix beast's flight altitude to less than ten zhang. As they approached the canyons, he activated his Ice Phoenix Divine Skill, instantly unfurling the "Ice Phoenix Illusory Mirror" to envelop both himself and the Snow Phoenix beast, significantly isolating their aura. He then extended his arm, sending a profound energy (Xuan Gang) projectile flying into one of the canyons, while he himself flew into the other.

This was his method of confusing his pursuers' direction during a chase — it had proven effective every time and had never failed.

Behind him, Feng Chihuo pursued at a not-too-fast pace. In front of him, a strange fiery-red profound formation was slowly rotating. Within the formation, a white dot was slowly moving. Staring at this white dot, Feng Chihuo's face revealed a playful sneer. At this moment, his brow suddenly twitched, because he suddenly felt that the direction of the white dot's movement within the profound formation and the direction Yun Che's aura was heading showed a significant deviation.

"What's going on? How could the Phoenix Great Formation be inaccurate?"

Feng Chihuo stopped and raised both arms. Instantly, the red profound formation floating before him slowly enlarged. As Feng Chihuo poured a stream of Phoenix profound energy into it, the profound formation rapidly spun, then slowly revealed two clear images...

One image showed Yun Che swiftly flying on the Snow Phoenix beast...

The other image was strikingly... an extremely fast-flying orange-yellow light phantom.

The aura of Yun Che that Feng Chihuo had sensed was surprisingly coming from this light phantom. Its aura was completely identical to Yun Che's.

Staring at this orange light phantom, Feng Chihuo was initially stunned. Then his pupils slowly contracted, and his face revealed deep shock and disbelief. After a long while, two words, filled with profound shock, escaped his lips...

"Xuan... Gang!!"

The Snow Phoenix beast swiftly flew out of the canyon. At a glance, the highest peak of this mountain range was already nearby, estimated to be approximately fifteen hundred zhang high. Feng Chihuo hadn't pursued from behind, but Yun Che didn't feel relieved; instead, he started feeling that something was off.

What was this feeling of constantly being stared at?

Was it just a misconception?

"Run, go on and run. Let's see how far you can get."

Feng Chihuo's voice suddenly came from ahead. Yun Che's expression slightly changed, and he looked up. Less than thirty zhang above him, Feng Chihuo floated leisurely, his eyes full of playful mockery. But Yun Che was surprised to feel no killing intent from him; even his anger had dissipated considerably.

This time, Yun Che didn't immediately flee. He coldly looked at Feng Chihuo and asked, "Are you tracking me using this profound formation here?"

"Oh? You can actually sense the Phoenix Great Formation here? Oh... I forgot, you also possess Phoenix bloodline; otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to enter this place." Feng Chihuo slowly approached, sneering, "Your ability to conceal your tracks truly surprised me. I didn't even catch a glimpse of you until dawn. If you had fled in another direction, you might have actually escaped. But you just had to stumble into this place... I've lived for a century, and I've never seen such a perfect self-entrapment."

"Phoenix Great Formation? What exactly is this place?"

"This is the Phoenix Mountain Range, a place my Divine Phoenix Sect uses to train and assess its younger generation of disciples." At this moment, Feng Chihuo was completely unconcerned about Yun Che escaping his grasp. He said leisurely, "Only those with the Phoenix bloodline can enter here; any other humans who approach will be repelled by the Phoenix Great Formation. Since it's a place for training and assessment, it naturally monitors the every move of all disciples undergoing trials and evaluations. And I happen to be one of the assessment supervisors for this Phoenix Mountain Range. By utilizing the Phoenix Great Formation here, I can keep track of everything at all times, and even traverse space within this place using its power."

Yun Che was stunned.

"The moment you entered the Phoenix Mountain Range, I already knew. However, you are much more cunning than I imagined, so I didn't immediately act, lest you escape the Phoenix Mountain Range. Instead, I allowed you to go deeper... all the way to this spot." Feng Chihuo looked directly at Yun Che, extending his palm. "You are now a turtle in a jar; don't even dream of escaping. But you don't need to worry, I suddenly don't want to kill you, because something has appeared on you that is enough to interest the Sect Master, and even the Four Sacred Grounds... Hehe, I didn't expect that not only are you a hybrid who stole my Phoenix bloodline, but you're also a demon from the Illusory Demon Realm! I saw the Xuan Gang you used perfectly clear!"

"!!!" Yun Che's expression instantly turned grim, and an extremely intense killing intent flashed through his eyes.

After awakening Xuan Gang, Yun Che's combat power undoubtedly surged. However, in subsequent battles, he had never used Xuan Gang. Even when he was nearly pushed to despair by Ling Tianni, he never once thought of using it. This was because ordinary people might not recognize Xuan Gang, but Heaven's Sword Villa, which had intricate ties with Heaven's Might Sword Domain, had a high chance of recognizing it.

Furthermore, Xuan Gang was a unique divine skill of the Yun family in the Illusory Demon Realm. As the head of the Illusory Demon Royal Family's twelve guardian families, the Yun family was undoubtedly one of the Four Sacred Grounds' greatest enemies. The Illusory Demon Realm had also long been demonized by the Four Sacred Grounds. Once Xuan Gang was exposed, not only would the Four Sacred Grounds target him, but people from all seven nations would also regard him as a "demon."

At that time, there would be no place for him to hide in the entire Profound Sky Continent.

This consequence was tens of thousands of times more severe than exposing his Phoenix Flame.

Yun Che clenched his hands, and his gaze became icy cold. Before, all his efforts were focused on escaping. But now, he absolutely, unequivocally could not flee! This person who recognized his Xuan Gang... he had to die!

No matter what, no matter how great the cost, he had to kill him!