Chapter 746: Night Demon Buries the Sky

"Die!!"

Fen Juechen's eyes were completely devoid of white, now a pure, deep black. His black sword thrust out from the void, and with that single strike, dozens of pitch-black water pillars erupted from below. Behind him, the dark vortex let out a tearing shriek, lunging at Yun Che like a sky-devouring demon, seemingly intent on consuming him in endless darkness.

"Star God Shattered Shadow!" The pitch-black sword light, tearing through space, and the descending shroud of darkness all radiated an aura of extreme danger. Yun Che's figure flickered, shattering into five solid afterimages in five different directions, instantly evading Fen Juechen's dark sword light. Then, with phoenix flames engulfing his body, he unleashed a Phoenix Wing Heaven's Scythe, thrusting himself backward.

In the world shrouded in darkness, the burning phoenix flames glowed with extraordinary intensity and piercing brightness. Where the phoenix flame energy struck, it forcibly tore a fiery red chasm through the vast dark domain.

His momentum halted, Yun Che now stood three hundred zhang away. He extended his arm, aghast to see his clothes were already riddled with holes.

The darkness enveloping the entire space was far more than a simple consumption of light. Under its shroud, every breath gnawed at his body. Even more terrifying was the profound suppression it exerted on the soul. As Yun Che possessed a Dragon God Soul, this suppression had minimal effect on him. However, even someone with the same profound energy level as Fen Juechen would become agitated and feel their chest constricting under this dark veil. Over prolonged exposure, their very will might shatter.

Phoenix flames blazed across Yun Che's body; the boiling fire enveloped him completely, halting the dark profound energy's erosion. His arms leisurely crossed over his chest, he didn't even spare Fen Juechen a glance, slowly remarking, "Tsk tsk, such a grand spectacle, and I thought it would be some earth-shattering attack. You didn't even scratch a single hair on my head... Trash!"

"Ugh... Ahhhhhh!!" The pitch-black vortex behind Fen Juechen suddenly exploded. Dark profound energy surged forth like a rampaging tide, raising a colossal wave a thousand zhang high. A roar, seemingly from the depths of hell, erupted the very moment the wave surged skyward.

"Night Demon Buries Heaven!" Darkness ripped through the heavens. For a moment, Yun Che's vision was almost devoid of light... as if the entire sky had truly been utterly buried by darkness!

A true heaven-burying force! Yun Che's pupils contracted slightly. His expression remained unruffled, yet his mind dared not relax for a single instant. The darkness before him was as if the entire firmament was collapsing, and space violently warped under its corrosive influence. His eyes wide, he stared intently at the approaching darkness, retreating at maximum speed using the Illusionary God Thunder Arts. Still, he could not escape the dark world capable of burying the heavens. The moment the darkness enveloped him, his gaze flashed, and the Heretic God Barrier instantly activated.

"Cloud Sealing Sun Locking!" Space was torn to shreds like fragile paper. Over a dozen small islands were instantly annihilated into nothingness. The now pitch-black sea surface plummeted by nearly a thousand zhang, and countless sea creatures were completely obliterated the moment they sensed death.

Under the Cloud Sealing Sun Locking, even the heaven-burying darkness could not truly bury Yun Che. The Heretic God Barrier warped but remained unbroken. Yun Che fully sustained the Cloud Sealing Sun Locking, and the phoenix flames on his body burned to their utmost intensity. He was like a person trapped in a dark swamp, yet he continued to move at an incredibly fierce pace...

*Bang!* With a clear phoenix cry, the world of darkness was violently carved open by a flash of fire. The moment he broke free from the dark shroud, the Heretic God Barrier completely disintegrated, yet Yun Che was utterly unscathed. He retreated far away, letting out a burst of wild laughter: "Hahahahaha! Fen Juechen, this can't be your full power, can it? That's simply hilarious, hahahahaha!"

While Yun Che laughed wildly, a secret alarm rang in his heart. The profound art Fen Juechen employed was exceptionally unique; in his two lifetimes of experience, he had never encountered anything like it. He was certain that during the recent all-encompassing dark engulfment, had he not immediately activated Cloud Sealing Sun Locking, he would have sustained severe injuries across his entire body within mere breaths.

It was even possible his soul would have been wounded! Both were at Sovereign Profound Realm Level Six. Yun Che was confident that his current self could directly withstand Feng Tianwei's phoenix flames!

But Fen Juechen's dark profound energy... the Cloud Sealing Sun Locking barely managed to sustain itself. The consequences of being directly caught within it were unfathomable!

Yun Che's body blazed, gleaming brightly in the dim world where light had been consumed. Fen Juechen didn't even need his divine sense to instantly pinpoint his location. He watched Yun Che being swallowed by "Night Demon Buries Heaven," then watched him emerge from the darkness, yet there wasn't a single trace of dark injury on his entire body...

Yun Che's profound energy aura was merely at King Profound Realm Level Five! Meanwhile, Fen Juechen was now at Sovereign Profound Realm Level Six! He surpassed Yun Che by more than two full major realms! Destroying him should have been effortless!

Yet, what he found utterly unbelievable and unacceptable was that despite attacking with his full power, he couldn't even injure his opponent! All he received in return was piercing disdain and mockery.

Under intense shock, Fen Juechen's hatred and killing intent boiled furiously once more. His entire being transformed into a vengeful wolf, and the pitch-black sword in his hand lunged directly at Yun Che.

A pitch-black sword arc slashed past Yun Che. Space shattered like glass, and beyond the ear-splitting sound of tearing space, Yun Che faintly heard a sound akin to wailing ghouls.

The waves surged, and the pitch-black sword light, like the eerie glow of a nightmare, frantically swept towards Yun Che's body. Each strike left a long-lasting dark mark in the void.

Yun Che used a combination of Star God Shattered Shadow and Illusionary God Thunder Arts, transforming sometimes into an illusion, sometimes a storm, evading all of Fen Juechen's attacks. However, the residual power of the dark profound energy repeatedly swept over him, making both his body and mind incredibly uncomfortable... yet still within a tolerable range. After all, despite his lower profound energy level, he possessed the body and soul of a Dragon God!

Moreover, his phoenix flame energy and Golden Crow flame energy inherently possessed a certain degree of suppressive effect against this dark profound energy... though Yun Che himself was currently unaware of this.

"Die! Die! Die!! I'm going to tear you to pieces!!"

Dark profound energy coalesced into rolling black clouds overhead, unleashing an apocalyptic aura as they churned. Amidst Fen Juechen's hoarse roar, the dark energy of the entire dark domain was frantically drawn in, sweeping forth like a landslide and a tsunami, transforming into a terrifying dark storm...

In an instant, space was effortlessly pierced and shattered. Rampant spatial energy surged forth, merging with the dark storm to form an utterly terrifying dark cyclone that swept towards Yun Che.

Though the dark cyclone was still a hundred zhang away, Yun Che already detected a strong scent of hell. His gaze sharpened, and he swiftly activated the Illusionary God Thunder Arts to escape at full speed. However, the tearing force generated by the dark storm was utterly terrifying; not only was his body unable to escape, but it was forcibly pulled towards the vortex.

*Rip!* Yun Che's clothes were ripped into countless fine shreds. His pupils violently constricted, and without further hesitation, he instantly activated the "Purgatory" profound realm. At the very same moment, "Cloud Sealing Sun Locking" activated once more.

*Screech!* The dark storm slammed into the Heretic God Barrier, sweeping Yun Che along with it. In just an instant, he was carried several miles away... The shattering and warping of space persisted for miles, and a pitch-black trace stretched across the distorted space, slowly dissipating only after more than a dozen breaths.

The moment the dark storm ceased its rampage, the Cloud Sealing Sun Locking completely disintegrated. Yun Che's vital energy surged. He drew a sharp breath, forcibly suppressing the rising energy, then pointed a finger at the momentarily stunned Fen Juechen: "Keep going! Nearly a quarter of an hour has passed, and I've only defended without retaliating, yet you can't even leave a decent wound on me. You boasted so arrogantly earlier, but who would have thought... Tsk, tsk, tsk!"

"Agh... Ahhh!" Fen Juechen let out a hysterical roar, his body transforming into a black shadow as he charged directly at Yun Che. Before he even drew near, a colossal, pitch-black hand had already descended from the sky, clawing fiercely towards Yun Che's head...

If one were to gaze down from high above the East Sea of the Profound Sky Continent at this moment, they would observe a vast patch of pitch-black shadow emerge within its waters. Along the shadow's edges, towering waves churned without pause.

"So that's it..." By now, Jasmine had fully grasped Yun Che's strategy for dealing with Fen Juechen despite his disadvantage in strength.

His plan was to solely defend and refrain from attacking for an extended period, thereby depleting Fen Juechen's profound energy significantly. Once Fen Juechen was exhausted, he would then launch a full-force counterattack.

For anyone else, such a "tactic" would not even be considered a strategy, let alone against a stronger foe; it wouldn't even work against an opponent of equal or slightly lesser strength. Not only would it fail, but it would actively put oneself at a severe disadvantage, leading to immediate and complete suppression by the opponent, making any counterattack impossible later on.

Yet, it could be achieved only by Yun Che.

When facing Fen Juechen specifically, the success rate of this approach was significantly amplified.

Because Yun Che possessed Star God Shattered Shadow and Illusionary God Thunder Arts, while his profound energy was vastly inferior to Fen Juechen's, his ability to evade and escape was far superior. This allowed him to easily make Fen Juechen's attacks miss, wasting his opponent's effort. When evasion was impossible, he could also temporarily activate Cloud Sealing Sun Locking for forceful defense.

On the other hand, Fen Juechen possessed extremely strong self-esteem, which made him exceptionally arrogant and proud, and also highly susceptible to provocation! Under Yun Che's continuous verbal taunts, Fen Juechen would remain consumed by rage, his killing intent surging. Every attack would be unleashed with unreserved power, solely to defeat or even directly kill Yun Che in the shortest possible time. Furthermore, due to his young age, despite his surging profound energy, his combat experience, cunning, and mental state were vastly inferior to Yun Che's. The longer his attacks failed to land, the more frustrated he would become, and the more power he would pour into his every strike...

This was what Yun Che referred to as... Fen Juechen's "personality weakness."

Moreover, the activation of Star God Shattered Shadow and Illusionary God Thunder Arts consumed very little energy. While Cloud Sealing Sun Locking was resource-intensive, it was only activated when necessary. Therefore, Yun Che's overall energy consumption was naturally far less than Fen Juechen's, who was consistently attacking with full power.

Beyond these factors, there was one additional, supremely vital point:

Yun Che's ability to recover from injuries and regenerate profound energy... vastly surpassed Fen Juechen's!

Possessing the power of the Evil God and the body of a Dragon God, his recovery capabilities for both injuries and profound energy were at least five times greater than Fen Juechen's!

Therefore, as long as Yun Che avoided excessively severe injuries, ordinary wounds would barely affect him.

Furthermore, as Fen Juechen's profound energy consumption intensified, his offensive capabilities would steadily diminish. Consequently, Yun Che's pressure would progressively lessen over time... In the later stages, his recovery speed might even outpace his energy expenditure!

And that would be the moment for him to launch his counterattack against Fen Juechen.

This "strategy" was virtually impossible to decipher, as no one would ever conceive that an individual with weaker profound energy could possess such terrifying recovery capabilities. For an ordinary profound practitioner, attempting this would be tantamount to actively seeking death. Yet, it was also exceedingly difficult to truly execute... because it would fail instantly if the opponent ceased their assault. Moreover, few would be so persistent as to continue unceasing, full-power attacks after expending vast amounts of profound energy to no avail.

However, Fen Juechen, a person whose arrogance knew no bounds, was clearly an exception.

Just as Yun Che had predicted, Fen Juechen, thoroughly enraged, unleashed his full profound energy. Various dark profound arts were violently unleashed: Dark Hand, Black Sword, Eternal Night Without Light, Night Demon Buries Heaven... Almost every single move poured out his entire strength, hatred, and murderous intent, holding nothing back. The vast sea area not only turned pitch black but was also violently churned, yet Yun Che repeatedly evaded or blocked his attacks with uncanny movement techniques and incredibly potent defensive profound skills.

Under successive full-power attacks, Yun Che's black clothes were already tattered, and dozens of black-glowing wounds appeared on his body surface... yet none managed to inflict a severe injury capable of significantly hindering him.

What Fen Juechen received in return, however, was Yun Che's repeated contempt and booming laughter... mocking his inflated self-importance and implying he was "nothing special."

From the Spirit Profound Realm to the Sovereign Profound Realm, an unprecedented surge in profound energy naturally brought an equally unprecedented surge in confidence. Now, facing the one he was determined to kill, his confidence and arrogance, inflated a myriad of times, were rapidly being shredded. Given his intensely strong self-esteem, his current feelings were even more unbearable than when Yun Che had previously trampled him underfoot.

What distressed him even more was that Yun Che, from start to finish, just as he had boasted... had not retaliated even once!

It was clear Yun Che didn't consider him a threat at all!

"Die!!" Fen Juechen roared hoarsely. Dozens of miles of the sea were instantly churned up, engulfing the sky, and thunderous roars echoed hundreds of miles away, reaching Floating Cloud City...