Chapter 680 – Arranging the Duel
“Devil origin? What’s that?”
“You had better focus on how to deal with the situation at hand first! This person has an exceedingly heavy desire to kill you! Hmph, when you don’t cut the grass and remove the roots, you leave behind a calamity for yourself! But I never thought that the misfortune that you would find would be so huge!” Jasmine criticized in a cold voice.
“Big Brother, this person is…”
“Do not follow me!” Yun Che fiercely thrust a hand out behind him, and a wave of energy rushed out and forcefully pushed the onrushing Xiao Yun and Number Seven Under Heaven back. At the same time, he used his other arm to grab Xiao Lingxi and thrust his body in front of hers.
“Do you think… that I am still that useless piece of crap that you left alive all those years ago?!” Fen Juechen’s eyes and tone were incomparably dark and sinister. He raised both his hands which were covered in swirling black energy and a cold, mournful aura. This shook the air, causing everyone’s hearts to race. Even the light began to dim gradually as he continued to speak, “Do not worry, I will not take your life straight away… I will first let you experience all of the pain and suffering that I have endured over the last few years!!”
Fen Juechen’s eyes suddenly flashed with a black light, one that was even deeper than the blackest of nights. His arm thrust forward, and a wave of black energy rushed towards Yun Che’s throat.
The light around Yun Che rapidly dimmed, and before the cold and sinister energy had even drawn near, it had already seeped into his bones. Yun Che had never seen this kind of profound energy or aura before in either of his two lives. When he had exchanged blows with Hui Ye in the Illusory Demon Realm, his Fallen Devil Flames also radiated a sinister aura, but in terms of purity and density, it could not even be compared to the aura being radiated by the attack which sped towards him!
This Fen Juechen… what exactly happened to him in the past few years?!!
Yun Che’s arm swept up, and phoenix flames instantly ignited and rushed out to meet that sinister and black energy… But at this time, Xiao Lingxi suddenly rushed in front of him with an anxious cry and spread her arms wide open as she attempted to block the attack.
“!!” Xiao Lingxi’s sudden action had shocked Yun Che greatly, but he responded by extinguishing his phoenix flames and grabbing Xiao Lingxi. After that, his gathered profound energy changed to become completely focused on defense.
“Sealing Cloud Locking Sun!!”
But Yun Che was not the only one whose expression changed, Fen Juechen’s expression also suddenly changed and he hurriedly retracted his outstretched arm. A majority of the black profound energy that was rushing towards Yun Che was immediately and forcefully taken back by Fen Juechen while the remaining energy exploded on the Evil God Barrier that was in front of Yun Che.
Ssss!!
The colorless Evil God Barrier had become stained black, and after a second, the black energy had completely dissipated while multiple fist-sized holes had astonishingly appeared on the surface of the Evil God Barrier.
The scene caused alarm to flare in Yun Che’s heart. It was clear that the dark energy was
something that Fen Juechen had casually created, yet it had easily broken through his Sealing Cloud Locking Sun! Sealing Cloud Locking Sun was a defensive barrier that was formed using the Evil God’s power, and when it was not able to endure an attack, it would directly collapse. But this time, not only did Sealing Cloud Locking Sun not collapse, it had also been eroded away, and many holes were created in it.
That dark profound energy… contained such a terrifying corrosive power! Could this be one of the dreadful properties of devil profound energy that Jasmine was talking about!?
But the shock in Fen Juechen’s heart was definitely no less than Yun Che’s. He was the most clear on the kind of terrifying power that he wielded right now. The aura of the Emperor Profound Realm emanated from Yun Che, and even though his rapid increase in strength in these few short years was nothing short of shocking, a mere Throne was only a pitiful ant in Fen Juechen’s eyes right now. If he wanted to destroy one, it would be as easy as waving his hand!
But even an Overlord would have an extremely hard time blocking the power that he had released just now due to his loss of control. Yet this attack had been completely blocked by Yun Che… and it was clear that Yun Che had forcibly converted his attack into a defense.
But this shock only lasted for a mere moment, and his gaze was not locked on Yun Che but Xiao Lingxi. After making sure that she had suffered no wounds, his aura stabilized, but after that, it immediately became even colder and more severe.
“Little Aunt, are you alright?” Yun Che hurriedly pushed Xiao Lingxi behind him. Xiao Lingxi shook her head and grabbed him instead while saying in an extremely anxious tone, “I am alright… Little Che, hurry up and leave! Hurry! He isn’t the Fen Juechen of all those years ago. Right now he is really powerful, there is no way you can beat him… hurry up and leave! If not, he will… he will kill you. Leave! Quickly!!”
“Yun Che! You have finally fallen into my hands… so I will definitely ensure you die a dog’s death!!” After seeing how Xiao Lingxi had disregarded her own life to protect Yun Che, Fen Juechen’s eyes shone with the fires of hate, and the black energy surrounding his body abruptly erupted around him. In the blink of an eye, the sky and the earth grew dark. The air completely stopped flowing as the surroundings grew so dark and sinister that it was as if everyone had been plunged into a hellish purgatory.
“What… what is this?” Xiao Yun said in alarm as he tightly shielded Number Seven Under Heaven. The world in front of him had swiftly become dark and gray, it was as if all the light in the area had been swiftly devoured by something. This kind of bizarre scene was something that he had never seen before even though he had grown up in the Demon Imperial City which was the location of the highest echelons of power within the Illusory Demon Realm.
“Don’t!!” Xiao Lingxi swiftly cried out as she turned around and spread her arms once more, using her body to shield Yun Che. She looked at Fen Juechen whose entire body was covered in swirling black energy, and her trembling eyes contained an urgent plea, “Big Brother Fen, I’m begging you… I’m begging you, please don’t kill him!”
“I need to kill him!” Fen Juechen exclaimed with a low shout, “He had repeatedly stepped on my head and has ground my dignity into dust… He killed my father, killed my grandfather, and killed my master… He killed all of the people in my clan… All of them! My hate towards him soars to the heaven. and my grudge against him is great enough to fill the ocean, so how can I not take my revenge… I do not engage in wanton slaughter, but he… must die by my hand!”
“Big Brother Fen…” Xiao Lingxi gently shook her head while she continued pleading with him, “Even though everyone is afraid of you, I have always known that you are not a villain who revels in the slaughter of the innocents. You actually have an extremely kind heart… and you are an extremely good person. You not only saved me, but you also saved all of the people within Floating Cloud City. But why can’t you put down all of your hatred and spare yourself as well! You are always burdened by vengeance and hate, don’t you feel tired?! Doesn’t it hurt?!”
“Tiredness? Pain? What do… these things amount to…” Fen Juechen’s voice became cold and rough, “I am only the way I am today because of him! In order to obtain the power to kill him and take my revenge, I have endured pain that is beyond all of your imaginations!! Even now, I am still plagued by this enormous, unending pain! And with every breath, this pain reminds me to never ever forget this grudge!”
Yun Che, “…”
Fen Juechen slowly extended a hand, and within his palm lay a pitch-black vortex that was as dark as a black hole. “As I have said before, I will not reject any other requests that you make of me! As long as you desire it, I will not hesitate in the slightest, even if it costs me my life! But only my vengeance… cannot be stopped!”
The pitch-black vortex seemed to suck in the souls of everyone present, and if a strong profound practitioner were to just take a look at it, that person would feel a quaking that emanated from his very soul. Xiao Lingxi still remained rooted to the spot, shielding Yun Che with her body. The plea in her eyes slowly died, but it was replaced with a heavy determination instead. “Little Che killed your entire clan, but when it comes down to it, the reason he did it was me! So if you want to kill Little Che… kill me first instead.”
“…” Fen Juechen’s chest fiercely swelled, and the hand which he extended began to faintly tremble, “No… this has nothing to do with you, I won’t kill you… even if I kill myself, I still will definitely not harm you. I only beg that… you do not obstruct me from killing Yun Che! You should know that… with your power, you won’t be able to stop me.”
“I am indeed unable to stop you.” Xiao Lingxi’s gaze remained firm and decisive. “But if you really kill Little Che… I will hate you for all eternity! And I will never, ever forgive you!”
Fen Juechen froze over, and the dark and gloomy energy suddenly stagnated. Following that, his eyes, arms, and his entire body began to be wracked by faint quivering. That dark and gloomy energy began to resume its movement, but it began swirling around chaotically… and the hate in his eyes was replaced by a deep and profound pain.
No one could understand the fierce impact that Xiao Lingxi’s words had on his soul.
No one knew why Fen Juechen, who had come to Floating Cloud City for the sake of vengeance, would choose to remain at this place and not depart.
Nor did anyone know why Fen Juechen, who originally for the sake of vengeance was willing to endure endless agony to swiftly absorb the devil origin at all costs, began to continuously slow down the rate of his absorption of the devil origin after he arrived at Floating Cloud City.
Because in his world that was filled with darkness and gloom… she was his only source of warmth, his only source of light. And unconsciously… she perhaps became even more important than his bone-chilling vengeance… or at the very least, she was far more important than his own life.
“…Hm?” Yun Che had originally looked at Fen Juechen with a cold gaze, but now his gaze had wavered and his expression betrayed his astonishment. Because Fen Juechen’s originally extremely cold and sinister aura began to become chaotic, and his gaze and expression began to distort with exceptional pain. Even that ice-cold killing intent that originally locked onto him quickly dissipated amidst the chaos.
“Arghhh…” Fen Juechen’s face suddenly turned pale. Dark red blood spewed from his mouth, and a large cloud of dark-colored blood sprayed down on the floor.
“Ah!” Xiao Lingxi gave a cry of alarm as she was left at a complete loss.
“What is happening?” Yun Che’s brows furrowed as he asked Jasmine, “You just said that his devil profound energy was not something that could be derived from his own will… so is he suddenly losing control of that power?”
“No!” Jasmine said in a low voice, “His profound energy attacked his own heart. Hmph, it looks like his mind and soul was agitated by what just happened… and in his case, they were agitated to an extremely large extent.”
“Yun… Che!!” Fen Juechen fiercely raised his head and glared doggedly at Yun Che. His blood-smeared face was both pale white and malevolent. The two words that he yelled out contained a surging hate and killing intent that far exceeded what it was previously.
“…” Yun Che gently pushed Xiao Lingxi behind him and began to slowly walk towards Fen Juechen.
“Little Che!!” Xiao Lingxi anxiously pulled on Yun Che’s shoulder. “Do not go over! He…”
“Don’t worry.” Yun Che said as he held the hand that was tightly clasped around his shoulder and looked deeply in her eyes, “The grudge between him and I is not something that can be wiped away or something that he can be dissuaded from. As long as I am alive, it is not something that can be avoided. The only option left for me is to face it head on.”
“Little Aunt, do not worry. He is indeed not the Fen Juechen of all those years ago, but I am also not the same Yun Che either. If he wants to kill me, it will not be easy as he thinks.”
Yun Che’s voice fell, but he did not continue to advance towards Fen Juechen. He only looked up at Fen Juechen and said in a calm and tepid voice, “Fen Juechen, your desire to kill me is so fervent that you dream about it. I also wish to resolve the sudden nuisance that you have become as quickly as possible, so I do not need to waste long and sleepless nights worrying about you. However, today is not the time for such an encounter. Because there are far too many things for me to deal with at the moment, so I do not have any time to waste on you right now. And as for you…” Yun Che gave a long and calm laugh, “As long as my Little Aunt is here to protect me, it would be hard to kill me even if you wanted to.”
Fen Juechen’s eyes widened into saucers, and the black energy surrounding his body fiercely swelled up. But before he could open his mouth, Yun Che’s expression and voice instantly grew deeper as Yun Che extended his right hand and pointed to the east, “But the grievances between you and I are something that we have to settle, no matter what! And it can only be settled between the both of us! So three months from now, on the Eastern Sea that is one hundred and fifty kilometers from here, let us have a duel to death!!”
“At that time, I will come alone and will bring along no one else! And as for you…” Yun Che’s eyes faintly narrowed. “If you are scared that you will be buried forever in the Eastern Sea, then bring as much help as you want!”
Both their gazes collided in the cold air; one was filled with hatred, and the other was as still as stagnant water… Suddenly, Fen Juechen’s body erupted with an incomparably deep black light, and an absolute darkness appeared for a moment in front of everyone’s eyes. After the darkness had been dispelled, Fen Juechen’s body had disappeared from sight and even his aura had completely vanished from the place.
Yun Che’s arm slowly fell and he silently breathed a sigh of relief, but his brows were still knitted tight.
In the two days since he had returned from the Illusory Demon Realm, he had run into one problem after the other… and each problem was greater than the last. He had truly never thought that the Fen Juechen that he had spared that day and never spared a second thought to would actually appear before him again in such shocking fashion.
“Ah, it is indeed true that calamity ensues if you do not pull up the roots as well!” Yun Che scratched his forehead as those words resounded in his heart.