Chapter 749: Complete Victory?

The sky was clear for thousands of miles, without a single cloud, yet from Flowing Cloud City, the eastern sky was cloaked in a thick, dark pallor. It was so gloomy it seemed about to collapse, filling anyone who merely glanced at it with a long-lasting sense of oppression.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The incessant booming sound came again from the east, heavier than before. One could even sense an incredibly violent aura emanating from that direction.

"It's starting again," Under Heaven's First muttered, a look of shock reappearing on his face.

"Xue'er!" Xiao Lingxi's heart remained restless. The renewed booming made her unable to bear it any longer. She tightly clutched Feng Xue'er's snowy clothes. "Quick, take me there! They really can't fight anymore. The root of their grievances is me. One is Little Che, and the other is someone who saved me twice. If anything happens to either of them, I'll never have peace in this life! Xue'er... please take me there, I beg you!"

"But... but..." Feng Xue'er's heart was also filled with anxiety. She had already felt the urge to rush over dozens of times.

"Xue'er, Little Che doesn't want me to get close because he's afraid of accidentally hurting me. But if Xue'er protects me, nothing will happen even if I get closer. And... Xue'er, you're also worried about Little Che, aren't you? They've been fighting for so long; it's really enough. If they keep fighting, what if... what if..."

Feng Xue'er's wavering resolve immediately crumbled. With her current strength, she could protect Xiao Lingxi not only from stray attacks but even from the combined assault of Yun Che and Fen Juechen. "I... I understand," she said. "Little Aunt, you must hold on to me tightly."

Feng Xue'er gently waved her snowy hand, lifting Xiao Lingxi's body. In a gust of fragrant wind, they flew at an extremely high speed towards the dark eastern sky.

"His aura suddenly became so chaotic, and it seems somewhat out of control. It appears the side effects of forcibly merging with excessively powerful demonic profound energy in such a short time are far more severe than I anticipated... Or, perhaps I overestimated him earlier?"

Dragging the Heaven Smiting Sword, Yun Che rapidly closed in on Fen Juechen, who had been sent flying. He had expected a tough battle when he first engaged him head-on, but unexpectedly, he gained the upper hand from the very beginning. In subsequent exchanges, Fen Juechen was not only completely suppressed, but his profound energy aura also became increasingly chaotic and weaker. After dozens of continuous strikes from Yun Che, Fen Juechen was injured both internally and externally... and his injuries were certainly not light.

He had never anticipated such a process or outcome, and he even began to feel that his previous caution and planning might have been somewhat unnecessary.

"Don't be careless; his power is definitely not limited to this. Cripple him with all your might!" Jasmine whispered.

By this point, Yun Che had closed in within twenty *zhang* of Fen Juechen. The Heaven Smiting Sword, carrying the momentum to cover the sky, smashed down towards him.

Fen Juechen's gaze was as fierce as before. The scarlet-black blood scattered across his face and body added several frightening degrees of brutality to his appearance. Faced with Yun Che's terrifying heavy sword attack, this time Fen Juechen did not forcefully resist head-on. A black light flashed on his body, and he suddenly darted diagonally backward.

Fen Juechen's speed was already inferior to Yun Che's. Coupled with his current chaotic profound energy and severe injuries, his speed was greatly reduced, making it even harder to evade Yun Che's attacks. He had just barely dodged Yun Che's first sword when the second one already slammed into his chest, forcing him to circulate all his profound energy and raise his black sword to block.

Boom!!

Fen Juechen's body violently shook as space trembled. As with every time before, the profound energy he poured into his black sword, after colliding with the Heaven Smiting Sword, rapidly dissipated like a greatly startled soul, allowing the power of the heavy sword, which he could have resisted, to crash down. Amidst a thunderous roar, his body shot out like a cannonball, slamming violently into the sea.

"Arghhhhhhhhhh!!"

In the next instant, Fen Juechen shot up, creating a thick pillar of water. His gaze became even more brutal. Most of the blood vessels in both his arms had been ruptured, and his hands trembled so violently he could barely hold his black sword. His blood-stained face was twisted, and the black profound light he emitted was also distorted. His aura at that moment was like a thoroughly enraged demon, completely devoid of reason, with only bone-deep hatred remaining.

"I... I'm actually... in such a sorry state..."

"How could I... possibly... lose to... you!!"

Fen Juechen murmured, his voice hoarse and gloomy like a demon from hell.

"Ahhhhhhh... Night Fiend Buries Heaven!!"

Fen Juechen roared shrilly, and the black profound light on his body suddenly exploded. A series of towering dark waves surged skyward, carrying a heaven-and-earth-pervading darkness that rushed towards Yun Che.

This move, Night Fiend Buries Heaven, was a special dark devouring domain. When Fen Juechen first unleashed it, Yun Che had forcefully broken free. Now, with Fen Juechen's profound energy greatly depleted and chaotic, the power of this same Night Fiend Buries Heaven had decreased by more than several times.

The world around Yun Che instantly turned pitch black, but he showed no panic. The Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand blazed with dazzling Golden Crow flames, and he swung it fiercely. As the Heaven Smiting Sword swung freely, the newly formed dark domain was easily carved with one crimson gash after another, and in an instant, it was riddled with holes.

Although the scorching Golden Crow flames tore the domain apart layer by layer, they did not suppress the sky-obscuring darkness. At this moment, an icy aura, as if from the Nine Netherworlds, suddenly shot from behind Yun Che...

The cover of the dark domain, coupled with the aura being perfectly integrated with it, still did not escape Yun Che's spiritual perception. However, he did not choose to evade far away; he merely shifted his vital points slightly, letting the cold light approach...

Bang!!

A black sword shrouded in black light cut into Yun Che's right shoulder. The blade easily passed through his flesh, but when it touched his bone, it made an extremely dull thud. The sensation returned to Fen Juechen was like striking a bedrock tens of thousands of times tougher than fine steel. A sword strike that he thought would directly sever Yun Che's arm could not advance another inch.

Yun Che's bones, infused with the Dragon God's Marrow and tempered by eighteen months of spatial refinement, could be said to be the most formidable existence on the entire Profound Sky Continent.

At this moment, the Heaven Smiting Sword also tore through the darkness and solidly struck Fen Juechen's body. A strange red light, unnoticed by Yun Che, on the vermilion blade, also surged into Fen Juechen's body along with the violent profound energy.

Boom!!!!

Even Fen Juechen at his peak would be severely injured by a direct blow from Yun Che's full-power Heaven Smiting Sword. Amidst a thunderous roar that agitated the sea, over a dozen of Fen Juechen's ribs simultaneously shattered, his chest caved in directly, and he flew out like a kite with a broken string, letting out a painful shriek.

"Arghhh!"

Blood spurted from Fen Juechen's chest. As his consciousness briefly returned, an agonizing sensation overwhelmed his nerves and soul, making him almost wish for death.

Why... why does his sword... have such terrifying power...?

I only took one hit... why is it so painful...? It's like my very soul is being torn apart...

Extreme pain tore at Fen Juechen's soul and fiercely provoked his beastly nature. He forcibly halted his almost shattered body, completely disregarding the severe injuries to his chest. Black light surged all over his body, and all the surrounding dark energy immediately surged madly towards him. In front of him, a dark, profound vortex, like a black hole, condensed.

"Yun... Che!" Fen Juechen's voice was agonizingly hoarse, no longer sounding human. "I will... tear you... to pieces!!"

Carrying the dark vortex, Fen Juechen roared and lunged at Yun Che, determined to pour out everything and bury him forever in this merciless darkness.

Yun Che did not retreat. He slowly raised his arms, and the flames on the Heaven Smiting Sword instantly became blazing, transforming from crimson to a dazzling, unadulterated gold that was impossible to gaze upon!

"Golden Annihilation!"

Under the shroud of darkness, the golden flames were still dazzlingly bright, without being suppressed in the slightest.

The moment the golden sword light touched the black vortex, it produced only a very faint roar. In an instant, the monstrous, black-hole-like dark vortex was sliced open by the golden flames with almost no resistance. It split cleanly into two, forming two dark torrents that dissipated past Yun Che's sides, while the golden sword light continued forward, striking Fen Juechen's black sword.

This time, the black sword was not bent by the impact. Instead, after a very brief pause, it continued forward, passing through the blade and violently striking Fen Juechen's chest. Instantly, golden light burst forth wildly, and the power of the heavy sword and the Golden Crow flames ruthlessly blasted into Fen Juechen's body.

"Wooooahhhhhh!!"

An extremely shrill scream almost tore through the sky. Fen Juechen became a man on fire, engulfed in golden flames. He flew far away, large swathes of blood splattering wildly in the air, a shocking sight.

*Sizzle...*

Fen Juechen's body plummeted into the sea. Large clouds of steam rose into the air, and a hundred *zhang* of the sea almost instantly boiled. Yet the flames on Fen Juechen's body did not extinguish; how could the Golden Crow's flames be extinguished by mere seawater?

The two broken pieces of the sword also fell into the sea at almost the same time, disappearing in an instant.

Pain... an indescribable agony corroded Fen Juechen's entire body. Almost every cell felt like it was being sliced into a thousand pieces. This pain was even comparable to the process of him forcibly absorbing the Devil Source back then...

Even so, his will did not break. He desperately released power, extinguishing the Golden Crow flames on his body. It wasn't until he sank hundreds of *zhang* that the Golden Crow flames finally completely extinguished, but his entire body was burned beyond recognition.

But how could physical pain compare to even a fraction of the soul's agony?

His body continued to sink in the sea, completely motionless, as if paralyzed. And his eyes were filled with pain, resentment, unwillingness, and humiliation...

I clearly gained such immense power...

Why... can I still not kill him...?

Why am I still defeated so humiliatingly and miserably...?

Why is it like this...?

Revenge... the only meaning of my life... For revenge, I went through hell... and paid the most terrible price...

Could it be that I can't even achieve this sole purpose...?

No...

How can I... lose to him... How can I lose!

Fen Juechen's body continued to sink, but he finally moved. His right arm slowly rose, and from his fingertip, a nearly pitch-black drop of blood slowly oozed out. He gazed at the blood bead and murmured dreamily, "Devour the heavens, eclipse the sun... eternal night, no light..."

Above the sea, Yun Che did not blast Fen Juechen out of the water. Instead, he silently watched the sea surface, his expression solemn, because he had begun to feel that something was amiss.

He had actually severely wounded Fen Juechen to such an extent so easily.

Even the injury to his right arm was intentionally sustained to deliver a heavy blow to Fen Juechen.

It was unusually easy.

Thinking calmly, when he was only dodging and defending, Fen Juechen's aura of power and dark attacks were terrifying every single moment. But after he formally engaged him... his profound energy continuously weakened and became chaotic, and the power of his dark attacks also steadily declined.

Even if his profound energy was unstable, it shouldn't have gone so out of control in such a short time.

What exactly is going on?

"Be careful!!" Jasmine suddenly said coldly. "He won't be defeated so easily. Although his injuries are quite severe, he still has a lot of leftover power, and it seems he wants to release it all at once."

"Yes, I've already sensed it." Yun Che's gaze towards the depths grew increasingly resolute, and the Heaven Smiting Sword in his hand had reignited with flames.