Chapter 564: Heaven-Splitting Sword Appears

The Flame Demon was several tens of feet tall, with a body and limbs of fire, and even clearly visible facial features. It had materialized from the crimson-black demonic flame released by Prince Huoye, yet its aura was several times more intense and terrifying than the flame itself. When the Flame Demon lunged forward, Yun Che felt a momentary sense of suffocation.

Yun Che was well-traveled and knowledgeable, but he had never seen such a move before. It was as strange as the sword spirit clones from Heavenly Sword Villa!

The Flame Demon's arms slammed down from above, the rushing wind sounding like the wails of ghosts and demons.

"Falling Moon Sinking Star!!"

Yun Che had no time to think; his profound energy erupted as he punched the Flame Demon.

Amidst the roar, a massive vortex of profound energy swirled in the air. The Flame Demon was sent tumbling backward more than a dozen times, while Yun Che plummeted like a cannonball, crashing violently onto the ground. He then bounced several tens of feet away, and when he landed, a trace of bright red blood already stained the corner of his mouth.

The Flame Demon's might far exceeded Yun Che's expectations. He wiped his mouth and was about to stand when a ghostly wail suddenly echoed above him. The Flame Demon had reappeared overhead, its ghostly, fire-like eyes wide as it descended upon him.

"Stop!!"

From the Yun family's section, a thunderous roar erupted. Yun Qinghong flew out, reaching for Yun Che in the arena. However, before he could enter the combat zone, Prince Huai, who had clearly been prepared, instantly teleported to block Yun Qinghong. Their bodies collided, and they separated.

"Yun Qinghong, do you intend to break the rules of the match?!" Prince Huai's voice was sharp, a cold sneer hidden deep in his eyes.

If this were merely a competition, Yun Qinghong would never have acted so rashly. But Prince Huai and Huoye clearly harbored murderous intent towards Yun Che. Yun Che had been injured and knocked down by the Flame Demon's heavy blow, and now the demon was lunging with full force again, clearly intending to kill him! How could Yun Qinghong not intervene? He was well aware of the Flame Demon's terrifying power—it was supported by the strength of the Obsidian Demon Sword, a demonic profound art that far exceeded Huoye's own power. Although, strictly speaking, this was essentially cheating on Huoye's part, powerful weapons and armor were considered part of one's own strength, which was a recognized rule in the Profound Sky Continent.

"Get out of my way!" Yun Qinghong roared, lightning crackling around him. Yun Che's life was in peril; he no longer cared about competition rules. He had to protect Yun Che at all costs, and then surrender...

Just as Yun Qinghong was about to forcibly blast Prince Huai aside, an exceptionally clear phoenix cry suddenly echoed throughout the arena, and a crimson flame shot skyward.

"Phoenix Wing Heaven's Expanse!!"

Phoenix wings, faintly tinged with gold, unfurled. A substantive phoenix shadow appeared around Yun Che, carrying him skyward. In an instant, he traversed space and slammed violently into the Flame Demon.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!

The phoenix flames exploded ferociously, making the space above the great hall seem as if a celestial sun had suddenly appeared, bathing the entire hall in a fiery red glow. Within this seemingly heaven-borne sun, Yun Che and the Flame Demon were violently blasted apart by an incredibly turbulent profound energy storm.

The retreating Flame Demon tumbled rapidly like a ball, sparks of fire scattering from its body, but it was not completely dispersed. With a wave of Prince Huoye's Obsidian Demon Sword, the flying demon abruptly halted, then swiftly flew back, hovering above Prince Huoye.

Yun Che landed, sliding backward for a long distance before bracing himself with his hands on the ground. His clothes on his chest were completely shredded, and more than a dozen wounds of varying depths marred his torso.

Prince Huai frowned deeply, saying coldly, "Yun Qinghong, you've truly taken in quite a son!"

Time and again, he had underestimated Yun Che. Even after developing murderous intent, he found that he had still underestimated him. He knew better than anyone how terrifying the Flame Demon was, and he had never imagined that Yun Che could directly blast open a fully powered Flame Demon.

In his early twenties, with seemingly only a Sky Profound cultivation... his strength was terrifying to such an extent!

The future accomplishments of such a young man were simply unimaginable. If he were an enemy, he absolutely had to be thoroughly eliminated before he could fully mature!

Now that Yun Che had blasted the Flame Demon away, Yun Qinghong could make him surrender immediately... In that case, killing Yun Che today would be impossible!

Yun Qinghong's movements paused. Looking at the blasted-away Flame Demon, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Well done!"

"Che'er, surrender immediately! He can summon three such Flame Demons at once! He used the Obsidian Demon Sword, so it's not shameful at all to surrender... Otherwise, his next attack will surely be aimed at killing you with full force."

"..." Yun Qinghong's telepathic message reached his ears, but Yun Che did not respond. He merely stood up slowly, as if he hadn't heard anything at all.

"Hmph, well done. This king knew you must have some trump card left. I didn't expect you could even blast away my Flame Demon. You've truly surprised me once again."

Although Prince Huoye was astonished, he wasn't flustered. A faint, judgmental smile still graced his face. "Well then, how about this?"

Amidst Prince Huoye's low chuckle, the Obsidian Demon Sword gleamed with a bloody light. Flames surged before him, and to the sound of ghostly wails, two more Flame Demons slowly materialized—identical to the previous one!

Not only were their appearances identical, but their auras were equally intense and terrifying.

Including the one already in the air, there were now a total of three Flame Demons!!

"Th-three Flame Demons!" Exclamations erupted throughout the audience.

"If Yun Che is smart enough, he'll surrender immediately. At this point, he's already made a name for himself across the continent. If he still dares to stubbornly insist on 'fighting to the last moment' now... he's simply looking for death!"

Even the top experts in Demon Imperial City could sense Prince Huoye's murderous intent towards Yun Che. If Yun Che wanted to live, surrendering now was his only chance! Otherwise, once the three Flame Demons moved, Yun Che would surely die. From the stands, shouts for Yun Che to surrender immediately echoed continuously.

But Yun Che turned a deaf ear. Facing the three Flame Demons, he slowly extended his hand...

"Hong'er, come out!"

With a low murmur, a sword appeared out of thin air before Yun Che. Then, with a loud "BOOM," it plunged violently into the black profound jade floor beneath his feet. Instantly, a dense cracking sound erupted, and countless fissures spread wildly outwards from where Yun Che stood.

"Whoa, ahh..."

Deafening exclamations came from all directions. What shocked them was not just the sword's immense size, but the fact that it... had plummeted from the air and pierced into the black profound jade floor, which was hundreds, even thousands of times tougher than solid rock!

"Wh-what a massive sword!!"

"This sword... it actually cracked the floor! This is the Demon Imperial Hall! How heavy must that sword be?"

"This is my first time seeing such a huge sword. It directly cracked the floor of the Demon Imperial Hall... But there doesn't seem to be any aura of a high-grade profound artifact on the sword itself. Among all the famous profound artifacts, I don't recall seeing a greatsword like this."

"Is that Big Brother's weapon? It's too... too big," Xiao Yun exclaimed, his eyes wide as he stared at the sword tip plunged directly into the ground below.

"Tsk, so you're finally willing to reveal your weapon," Prince Huoye said with a smile. The cracks beneath the sword tip couldn't help but astonish him, yet the playful mockery on his face deepened. "Heh, no wonder you refused to use a weapon before. You can't possibly wield this sword completely, can you?"

Yun Che said nothing. His hands gripped the hilt of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, and with an incredibly grating sound, he slowly pulled it from the ground and held it horizontally before him. At that instant, the previously noisy hall fell silent. Everyone's gaze fixed on Yun Che, their expressions changing drastically. Even some of the strongest figures at the pinnacle of the Illusory Demon Realm were momentarily stunned.

Yun Che's aura remained unchanged, and the unusually large crimson greatsword emitted no aura whatsoever, like a dead blade. However, the moment Yun Che held the crimson greatsword, everyone clearly felt that Yun Che himself had transformed. His presence, his momentum, even his eyes... everything had completely changed.

The crimson greatsword was nine feet long, and its widest part measured two feet across. Such a massive sword was far larger than Yun Che's body; even a nine-foot giant holding it would feel a strong sense of disproportion. Yet, in Yun Che's hands, the overall impression was one of such perfect harmony that no one felt the slightest incongruity. Instead, it seemed as if the sword was precisely where it belonged. It was an indescribable sense of perfect fit, as if the sword was born for Yun Che, and Yun Che himself existed because of this sword.

His profound energy aura showed no change whatsoever, yet facing Yun Che, who now wielded the heavy sword, everyone felt a soul-piercing sense of oppression. Especially Prince Huoye, who Yun Che directly faced; the smile on his face had frozen, and his chest felt as if a ten-thousand-pound iron plate was pressing down, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Yun Qinghong and Prince Huai, standing at the edge of the arena, stared fixedly at Yun Che. One forgot to telepathically instruct Huoye to immediately unleash a killing blow on Yun Che, while the other forgot to scold Yun Che into surrendering at once. These two peerless figures, unrivaled in their generation, now had only shock in their eyes.

An inexplicable sense of oppression instilled a strong feeling of unease in Prince Huoye. However, upon seeing the three Flame Demons before him, his unease quickly dissipated. He let out a low roar: "Do you think pulling out some unknown weapon will turn the tide?! Go... and... DIE!!"

Prince Huoye abruptly thrust his sword forward. Vast sheets of flame, like rolling crimson-black smoke, rose skyward, sweeping towards Yun Che. The three Flame Demons also moved simultaneously, following the demonic flames, and lunged at Yun Che with a terrifying aura that made space itself tremble.

Facing the overwhelming demonic flames and the three terrifying Flame Demons attacking simultaneously, Yun Che did not retreat a single step. He unhurriedly grasped the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword with both hands.

He had not used the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword earlier, not because he was overconfident, but as Yun Qinghong had suspected, to avoid excessive energy consumption. When he first acquired the Heaven Punishing Sword, it weighed two hundred thousand catties. After it later devoured the Dragon Fault, its weight increased even further. Although he had managed to adapt to its weight over three months and could wield it with sufficient perfection, each swing came with a considerable amount of energy drain.

In this fierce battle, subsequent opponents would only grow stronger, so he had to avoid depletion as much as possible.

His current opponent was Huoye, and in terms of profound energy depth, without activating the "Purgatory" profound realm, he was completely suppressed by Huoye. Activating "Purgatory" would entail an even greater consumption. Therefore, it was time for the Heaven Punishing Sword to make its appearance.

Relax when you're nervous, comfort yourself when you're troubled, and don't forget to congratulate yourself when you're happy!