Chapter 701: Angrily Scolding the Divine Phoenix

As Yun Che scoffed and taunted him, Feng Hengkong felt a great sense of relief, yet his boiling rage was impossible to suppress. His killing intent had intensified dozens of times over compared to before. The destruction of the Phoenix God statue was now an undeniable fact, and this humiliation would forever stain the face of his generation's Phoenix Emperor, etched into the annals of the Divine Phoenix Empire, never to be erased.

"Yun Che… Good… This is truly excellent!" Feng Hengkong couldn't spare a thought for why Yun Che had arrived from Floating Cloud City in Divine Phoenix City in a single day. His voice was low and heavy with each word: "Three years ago, you barely managed to save your life… and now you're impatient to seek death again!"

All the Phoenix elders and princes had arrived, along with Phoenix disciples who had rushed there at full speed, forming a massive encirclement and trapping Yun Che securely within it.

The entire Divine Phoenix Sect had been thoroughly alerted. To be surrounded by such a grand formation of the Divine Phoenix Sect was an unprecedented event in the history of the Divine Phoenix Sect.

"It's you!" Divine Phoenix Crown Prince Feng Ximing gazed at Yun Che standing atop the ruins. His fiery eyes were filled with an intense hatred that seemed about to explode. He was one of the first in the sect to know Yun Che was still alive. Due to the matter with Feng Xue'er, his hatred for Yun Che surpassed even Feng Hengkong's. The largest part of this hatred had nothing to do with the Divine Phoenix Sect; it was pure jealousy, completely transformed into boundless killing intent!

"You audacious beast! Three years ago, our sect showed you mercy, and today you dare… you dare to destroy our sect's main gate and the Phoenix God statue!" The newly appointed Grand Elder Feng Feilie pointed at Yun Che, trembling with extreme rage. "Even dying ten million times would not atone for your crime!"

"Hahahahaha!" Yun Che laughed loudly, head tilted back, then his face and voice abruptly turned grim. "Do you old dogs of the Divine Phoenix Sect even have the gall to accuse me? My Azure Cloud Nation has always held no grudge or animosity towards your Divine Phoenix Nation. For a thousand years, we have continuously paid tribute to your Divine Phoenix Nation, never ceasing, never giving offense! Yet over these past three years, you have wantonly trampled our Azure Cloud lands, destroyed our Azure Cloud cities, and slaughtered our Azure Cloud citizens, turning Azure Cloud into a land of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, with countless innocent lives lost and countless women, children, and elderly disabled displaced, transforming a perfectly peaceful and harmonious nation into a hell of terror!"

"Your actions are infuriating to both gods and men, too numerous to list!"

"I merely destroyed your broken city gate and your broken statue, and I must die ten million times to atone. Then for your crimes, which enrage both gods and men, shouldn't your entire sect, from top to bottom, and your nine generations of relatives be ground to dust and scattered ten million times over?!"

"Impudent!" Feng Feiran roared. "The law of survival in this world is simply the strong preying on the weak! It is perfectly natural for our Divine Phoenix Empire to annex weaker territories and expand our land! Our Divine Phoenix Empire, for five millennia, has been protected by the Ancestral Phoenix God; it is a nation blessed by a deity! How can your petty little Azure Cloud Nation even compare?! This Phoenix God statue symbolizes the dignity and divine might of our Ancestral Phoenix God. You dare to destroy the Phoenix God statue, blaspheming and trampling upon divine authority. This is an unforgivable sin, so great that even if everyone in your tiny Azure Cloud Nation were buried with you, it still wouldn't atone!"

"Deities? Ha!" Yun Che sneered with a low, chilling laugh. "Do you still have the audacity to mention the Phoenix God? History is indeed paved by the strong preying on the weak. But the most fundamental premise of human warfare is not to harm innocent civilians. Yet you burned cities in Azure Cloud, wantonly slaughtering the innocent, and you used the Phoenix Flame, bestowed upon you by the Phoenix God! The Phoenix is a sacred beast of ancient times, and the Phoenix Flame is a profound flame recorded as a 'Sacred Flame'! Yet you, inheriting the Phoenix God's bloodline and power, used the Phoenix Flame to commit inhumane, bestial atrocities! You allowed a divine flame, originally pure and sacred, to be stained with countless innocent blood and filthy sins… Who exactly is blaspheming and defiling the dignity of the divine?!"

Feng Feilie: "You!"

"The Phoenix bloodline within me is inherited from another Phoenix God!" Yun Che stared coldly at every face in his line of sight, with anger, contempt, and hatred. "Its existence is certainly no shorter than that of your Divine Phoenix Sect's Ancestral Phoenix God, but do you know why no other Phoenix sect has risen? That's because… many years ago, when a Phoenix successor was battling someone with Phoenix Flame, the flames accidentally went out of control, incinerating a town and burying a large number of innocent people in Phoenix Flame. The Phoenix God, in great wrath, carved a cruel curse into the Phoenix bloodline of their clan, preventing their profound energy from ever breaking through the True Profound Realm. And this curse has been passed down through their bloodline for generations, never to perish!"

Yun Che's words made the faces of all the Phoenix disciples present change drastically; some even showed fear.

"They merely accidentally destroyed a town with out-of-control Phoenix Flame, and their entire clan was cursed for a thousand years, forced to huddle in a desolate corner, repenting for generations, never daring to see the light of day again! And you! Your crimes are tens of millions of times worse! Yet you still have the audacity to claim protection from the Phoenix God! Bah!"

"I destroyed this Phoenix God statue because you are simply no longer worthy to be called the Phoenix Clan! Allowing the sacred image of the Phoenix to stand in your sinful and filthy place would only defile the Phoenix's dignity and holiness!"

Yun Che pointed a finger directly at the Phoenix Sect Master: "Feng Hengkong! If the Phoenix God were truly still alive, if it saw your utterly heinous, brutal, and filthy crimes, it would surely destroy your entire clan with its own hands… Otherwise, it would not deserve to be the Phoenix Spirit!"

"Silence!" Feng Hengkong was enraged with shame. Three years ago, he had already experienced the sharpness of Yun Che's tongue. Today, his Divine Phoenix Sect had mobilized almost its entire force to surround Yun Che, yet he was being furiously berated by Yun Che, subtly losing the momentum! Yun Che's voice was like thunder, powerful enough to be heard throughout Divine Phoenix City, and every word fiercely demolished the Divine Phoenix Sect's majesty and prestige. He roared angrily, "Yun Che, you wantonly destroyed my Phoenix God statue, offending the Ancestral Phoenix God first. Yet you dare to accuse us of unrighteousness! Everything our Divine Phoenix Sect does is according to the will of the Ancestral Phoenix God! Do not speak nonsense here and mislead the people…"

"Hahahahahahaha!!" Feng Hengkong hadn't finished his roar before he was interrupted by Yun Che's wild laughter. Yun Che's gaze at him became one of extreme disdain and contempt: "Feng Hengkong, although I've always detested you, I always thought that since you could become the Phoenix Sect Master, you would be upright and impartial, at least someone who wouldn't disgrace the Phoenix name. I truly never imagined that you, possessing the bloodline, power, and status granted by the Phoenix God, and enjoying five millennia of glory for the Divine Phoenix Sect, would not only show no remorse for your monstrous crimes, but also pour this filthy sewage, stained with the blood of countless innocents, onto the head of the Phoenix God!"

"You…" Feng Hengkong's body swayed.

"Are you worthy of the bloodline within you! Are you worthy of the Phoenix God! Do you still possess even a shred of humanity or conscience! After you die… will you have any face left to meet your ancestors?!"

"Xue'er's heart is like ice and snow, with an angelic spirit! Yet she has a father as cruel, wicked, ungrateful, and worse than a beast as you! You are not only unworthy of possessing the Phoenix bloodline, unworthy of becoming this Divine Phoenix Emperor, but also unworthy of being Xue'er's father!"

Feng Hengkong's words completely enraged Yun Che, leaving no room for luck or mercy in his heart. Every word was extremely sharp and malicious, stabbing directly at Feng Hengkong's vulnerabilities. Every muscle on Feng Hengkong's face trembled. His profound energy surged backward throughout his body due to extreme fury; he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"On the verge of death, you still dare to speak such arrogant, nonsensical words!" Feng Ximing stood beside Feng Hengkong and roared furiously. He knew very well whether the Phoenix God was alive or dead, and he was even clearer about the orders Feng Hengkong had issued over the past three years: "Father Emperor, this little beast destroyed the Phoenix God statue first, and then insulted our Divine Phoenix Sect. Even if he saved Xue'er's life, there is absolutely no reason to forgive him! Seize him immediately and execute him on the spot!"

"That's right! Why should Father and the elders waste time and words on him? Just kill him… tear him into ten thousand pieces!"

The speaker was the Fourteenth Prince, Feng Xiluo, standing behind the elders! Upon seeing Yun Che, his eyes widened, his teeth clenched, and his gaze was filled with hatred! Three years ago, during the Seven Nations Ranking Tournament, he fought Yun Che. Unwilling to accept the humiliation of defeat, he forcibly burned his essence blood. In the end, not only did he still suffer a crushing defeat, but his profound energy also regressed from the eighth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm to the seventh level due to severe loss of essence blood. What was even more cruel was that his talent also suffered irreversible damage.

Now, three years later, he had consumed countless spirit medicines and spent vast amounts of purple crystals, only barely recovering to the early eighth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm, still not as good as three years ago. His natural talent was no longer that of the number one prodigy of the younger generation, and his transcendent status among the princes had plummeted.

Yet, he did not attribute any of this to his own impulsiveness or foolishness. Instead, he blamed Yun Che for everything, hating him to the bone. Now, seeing Yun Che appear alive and well, he was so furious he almost ground his teeth to dust. If he hadn't known he was even less a match for Yun Che now, he would have surely rushed forward like a mad dog and torn him to shreds.

Feng Hengkong's breathing became hot, and his chest rose and fell rapidly; it was clear what an impact Yun Che's furious berating had just had on him. He stretched out his hand, his voice trembling as he said, "Kill him at once! Annihilate him directly… leave no intact corpse!"

This was a direct kill order issued by Feng Hengkong himself in front of Phoenix City! The four words "leave no intact corpse" revealed the extreme rage and killing intent that had swelled in his heart.

With the kill order given, one person each shot out from Yun Che's front, back, left, and right, aiming straight for him. And all four of these individuals were Phoenix elders! During the recent assembly, Feng Hengkong had already stated that Feng Huwei died by Yun Che's hand, indicating that Yun Che's strength might have reached the mid-stage of the Tyrant Emperor Realm… or even late-stage! Therefore, the four grand elders did not underestimate him; they attacked together, determined to instantly blast Yun Che to death!

Behind them, there were still dozens of Phoenix elders and swarming Phoenix disciples. No matter what, even if Yun Che had ten thousand lives today, he wouldn't leave alive.