Chapter 750: Eternal Night Dark, Netherworld Ashes

Under the vast sea, Yun Che felt Fen Juechen stop sinking. Though clearly severely injured, the aura emanating from his body was expanding at an astonishing speed. In a flash, it had already surpassed the profound energy strength of his previous peak state and was still rapidly increasing.

Simultaneously, an intensely gloomy and oppressive aura silently permeated the world, as if a terrifying, world-ending storm was quietly brewing.

Yun Che's brow furrowed tighter and tighter. The two sword strikes that had hit Fen Juechen earlier—the first had shattered his entire sternum, and the power of the second had ravaged his entire body. Had it been anyone else, they would have died instantly. Although Fen Juechen was not fatally wounded, his life and profound energy aura had become extremely weak when he was hurled into the sea. Yet, at this very moment, such an unusual surge occurred.

Could it be... that in his defiance, he had resorted to some forbidden power?

As Yun Che felt surprised and doubtful, the sea below suddenly turned pitch black. This drastic change was not gradual; it happened in an instant. The vast expanse of ocean, as far as the eye could see, transformed entirely from azure blue to an intense, inky black. Before Yun Che could even react, the world before his eyes also instantly became pitch black, with not a single ray of light visible.

Hundreds of miles away, Feng Xue'er, carrying Xiao Lingxi, flew to the edge of the sea. The moment they crossed the coastline, a vast, pitch-black world suddenly appeared before them.

"Ah!!" Feng Xue'er and Xiao Lingxi both exclaimed simultaneously.

This pitch-black world, though hundreds of miles away, felt as if it were right before their eyes. The area enveloped by darkness seemed like a black hole suddenly carved out of the world, where everything was completely swallowed, vanished, and turned into nothingness.

A gloomy, unsettling feeling clouded her mind. Feng Xue'er quickly became alert, immediately using her Phoenix profound energy to protect her heart, while simultaneously transferring a large portion of her power to shield Xiao Lingxi. Feng Xue'er had never seen such a pitch-black power, emanating such a terrifying aura. The unease in her heart expanded more than tenfold. Hugging Xiao Lingxi tightly, she urgently said, "Let's go faster."

Before her anxious words faded, Phoenix flames erupted all over Feng Xue'er's body. Her flying speed suddenly accelerated, and she charged towards the pitch-black area like a phoenix reborn from fire.

The surrounding world was completely dark, and this was not merely the absence of light. Yun Che felt as if he had fallen into a pitch-black swamp; the world had become incredibly viscous, and simply moving a finger required several times his usual strength. Countless icy, oppressive, and sinister auras assailed his spirit from all directions. This kind of soul erosion was extremely terrifying; had it been anyone else, strong negative emotions would have long arisen, even leading to loss of sanity. But Yun Che possessed the Soul of the Dragon God and was completely fearless—at least for a short time.

"This is a high-level domain from the 'Eternal Night Illusory Devil Manual', named 'Eternal Night Without Light'!" Jasmine said with a heavy voice. "With Fen Juechen's current ability, he can only barely activate it, and he might have to pay a huge price."

"Eternal Night Without Light?" Yun Che began to feel countless sinister, bone-chilling auras surge wildly towards him. Gradually, he started to feel as if he had been swallowed into the belly of a sky-devouring demon, ready to be digested into nothingness at any moment.

"Once covered by this domain, everything will be completely devoured, leaving no trace... including light!" Jasmine said in a deep voice. "This domain now covers a full one hundred and fifty miles. Even if you use all your strength, it's impossible to forcibly escape before it completely devours you. The only thing you can do now is to tear it apart with all your might!"

With his spiritual perception, Yun Che could not sense the edge of this dark world at all; it seemed boundless. As the surrounding world became more viscous and sinister, his spiritual perception range also significantly decreased. The aura of death multiplied with every passing moment. Eventually, Yun Che even began to feel a hint of despair, as if he was being sucked into an endless black hole.

"Yun... Che!!" From the depths of the dark world, a sound like a demon's wail echoed. It was Fen Juechen's voice, but completely distorted by extreme hatred: "Forever... disappear!!!"

Fen Juechen's voice could be heard, but his exact location was impossible to determine, as the voice emanated from every corner of the dark domain. At this point, Yun Che was completely suffocated, unable to even take a breath. The devouring power that enveloped his entire body, and even the whole world, became increasingly terrifying, gradually approaching the limit of what his protective profound energy could withstand.

The terrible crisis drew nearer and nearer. Yun Che's face was extremely stiff, but his gaze became increasingly cold, alert, and calm. Then, at the lower edge of his vision, he suddenly caught a glimpse of light.

It was light that should not have appeared in this dark domain.

Yun Che quickly looked down, concentrating his gaze. That faint light was not an illusion or a figment of imagination; though weak, it was truly there, emanating a distinctive vermillion hue!

This vermillion hue was incredibly familiar to Yun Che—it was the color of the Heaven Smiting Sword!

Yun Che's heart stirred. In an instant, he unhesitatingly concentrated all his profound energy into the Heaven Smiting Sword. Instantly, the Heaven Smiting Sword's flames ignited, and the Golden Crow Flame, using the sword as its conduit, burst forth with roaring intensity, releasing an exceptionally scorching blaze within this dark domain that devoured all light.

The Golden Crow Flame illuminated the entire body of the Heaven Smiting Sword, as well as Yun Che's face and entire body. It completely dispersed the darkness in the entire ten-foot radius around him, effortlessly igniting an area of light within this seemingly endless dark domain.

Having instantly burned a hole in the domain, a strange light flashed in Yun Che's eyes. His gaze hardened, and he swung his sword forward.

Boom!!

A dull roar accompanied the trajectory of the Heaven Smiting Sword as it violently tore apart the dark space ahead. A searing, several-zhang-long fiery gash was visibly etched into the darkness, lingering for a long time.

"Its aura is extremely strong, and its momentum is quite terrifying, but it seems... that's all there is to it."

The heavy pressure on his mind lightened severalfold at once. The dark world Yun Che had previously experienced with his body and spiritual perception was terrifying. He couldn't escape, had no confidence in tearing it apart, and could even clearly smell the aura of death. Unexpectedly, this formidable dark domain was so vulnerable to the Golden Crow Flame, completely a paper tiger—frightening to look at, but easily broken with a single poke!

Jasmine: "..."

Since that was the case...

Yun Che held the Heaven Smiting Sword, and scorching fire light burned fiercely on his body and the sword. Even in his pupils, two points of crimson flames, tinged with gold, appeared. Behind him, a massive phantom of the Golden Crow slowly emerged, rapidly solidifying from illusion, and a scorching heatwave spread wildly outwards.

"Golden Crow Burning World Domain—Yellow Springs Ashes!!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Golden Crow phantom cried out to the sky, shaking space and making the heavens and earth resound. The flames, from an ancient True God, carried unparalleled high temperature and power of immolation. They domineeringly pierced through layers of the dark domain, even using the dark profound energy as a medium to burn the darkness—which was meant to devour light—into blinding fiery light.

Within the dark domain, wails like ghostly cries reverberated everywhere. The sky-obscuring darkness madly rushed towards the Golden Crow Flame, attempting to engulf and devour it. Their struggles could barely contend with the Golden Crow Flame at first, but as the domain expanded, the erupting Golden Crow Flame quickly formed a sky-burning momentum, scorching the originally complete dark world into a thousand holes.

The oncoming heatwave made Feng Xue'er stop in her tracks with a gasp. The normally cool sea breeze became as scorching as flames. Below, hundreds-of-zhang-high waves surged madly, forcing Feng Xue'er to fly to nearly a thousand zhang in altitude. Within her sight, the massive black area underwent a drastic change. Streaks of flame pierced out from the edges of the dark region, growing more numerous. In a flash, the black world was fragmented and scattered.

Darkness struggled, and flames devoured. Above the tumultuous sea, it was as if two giant beasts—one red, one black—were savagely tearing at each other.

But the darkness was clearly no match for the crimson flames that had appeared later. Before long, under the incineration of the crimson flames, the dark region had disintegrated into countless scattered fragments, which quickly dissipated on their own without needing further burning. Meanwhile, the flames became increasingly intense, having long since turned the originally dim sky a fiery red, and a thick layer of steam billowed over hundreds of miles of the sea, lingering for a long time.

The blowing wind was no longer oppressive, but increasingly violent and scorching. Feng Xue'er erected a massive crimson barrier in front of her to protect Xiao Lingxi, then, facing the scorching storm, she flew faster towards the east.

Brother Yun... please be safe...

In the hundred-mile space, only the Golden Crow Flame still burned unrestrainedly, until the last trace of darkness was completely incinerated.

Under Yun Che's "Yellow Springs Ashes," Fen Juechen's "Eternal Night Without Light" was utterly defeated!

It offered almost no power to resist or struggle.

Yun Che's raised arm slowly lowered, and he retracted the Heaven Smiting Sword into the Sky Poison Pearl. As the Heaven Smiting Sword left his hand, a heavy sense of exhaustion spread from every part of his body. Although the process of incinerating Fen Juechen's dark domain was incredibly smooth, it did not mean it was effortless for him. The consequence of fully unleashing Yellow Springs Ashes was that his profound energy was almost completely depleted. The reason he put away the Heaven Smiting Sword was that in his current state, he probably couldn't even lift it for ten breaths.

But at least he was hundreds of times better off than Fen Juechen.

The sky-filling flames began to fall. Every wisp of flame that touched the sea created a rising cloud of steam. If the Golden Crow Flame released by Yun Che had been even slightly more powerful, no steam would have appeared; instead, the seawater would have been instantly incinerated into nothingness.

He let out a long breath. Yun Che then stretched out his palm, facing it towards the boiling sea surface below, and rapidly released a stream of profound energy.

Bang!!!

The sea surface burst open, and a black figure flew out from it. It flew straight towards Yun Che, who firmly drew it into his palm.

Long immersion in the seawater had not washed away the bloodstains on Fen Juechen's body. He had at least dozens of wounds, still slowly seeping blood, which was an abnormal reddish-black color, adhering firmly to his wounds and body.

Fen Juechen's life and profound energy aura were incredibly weak, basically only describable as "faint as a gossamer thread." Held by Yun Che by the back, his limbs hung vertically, unable to exert any strength. Yet, his consciousness had not dispersed, and he let out weak, hoarse groans of pain...

"Why... did... this happen..."

"How... could... I... lose..."

"How... did I lose..."

Yun Che said nothing. He raised his left arm, bringing it close to Fen Juechen's head. With a flash of light, profound energy shot out from his arm, instantly entering the top of Fen Juechen's head and assaulting his spirit.

He wanted to know where the strange power on Fen Juechen's body came from, and what the "Eternal Night Illusory Devil Manual" Jasmine had mentioned was.

In just one breath, Yun Che's expression changed slightly. After a brief stalemate, the profound energy flew off Fen Juechen's body and returned to Yun Che's arm.

"Such tenacious spirit and willpower," Yun Che muttered in surprise. "In this state, he can still resist soul-absorbing profound energy."

"Not only has his profound energy surged, but his soul has also undergone a qualitative change, coupled with his already extremely strong willpower," Jasmine said indifferently, completely unsurprised by the result. "Even in this half-dead state, it's virtually impossible for you to absorb his soul with profound energy."

Yun Che glanced at the sea surface, then swooped down and threw Fen Juechen, who was almost dead, onto a broken reef.

"You're not going to kill him?" Jasmine said coldly. She didn't sense any murderous intent from Yun Che, and his current actions clearly indicated he was letting Fen Juechen go. "The consequences of not cutting the grass at its roots are right before your eyes. Do you want to make the same mistake twice with the same person?"

"I really want to kill him," Yun Che said with a light breath, his face full of helplessness. It was precisely because he had let Fen Juechen go back then that it created such a terrifying problem. Given Fen Juechen's heaven-defying growth rate, if he were allowed to leave alive today, it would sow a disaster many times greater than the current one.

But...