Against the Gods - Volume 02 - Blue Wind Conspiracy Page 7
Riiip~~~
In the split second the Tiger Soul Sword slashed onto the body of the Purgatory Flame Demon, Yun Che heard a tiger’s vague growl. A vast area of flames where the Purgatory Flame Demon had been struck were instantaneously extinguished for a moment to reveal its pitch black body. A large chunk of flesh had also been directly chopped by the Tiger Soul Sword; mixed with the flames, it flew far into the distance.
“ROAARRRRR!!!”
The pain that the Purgatory Flame Demon had eaten violently enraged its temper and it took a step towards Yun Che. Meanwhile, a sky full of flames rained densely with a wave of its claws, blanketing the area within a hundred-foot radius. Originally, a True Profound Beast shouldn’t have the capability of such a large area-of-effect fire attack, but the Purgatory Flame Demon’s firepower had been multiplied many times due to the fiery environment.
To Yun Che, this rain of fire was of no consequence. But the heavy step that the Purgatory Flame Demon took was something Yun Che could not easily endure. As a result, he was sent flying and landed a hundred feet away. However, the Purgatory Flame Demon’s lack of agility was fully displayed to Yun Che. Without waiting for his body to stabilize, he rushed back towards the rain of fire and meteorites. He increased his speed to the maximum, continually left afterimages with Star God’s Broken Shadow. Real and false shadows interlaced, causing confusion at the Purgatory Flame Demon’s feet as Yun Che landed hit after hit on its calf.
The Purgatory Flame Demon became increasingly violent after being injured again and again. It released its flames in a frenzy and the persistent force of the flames turned the surrounding area into an ocean of fire. Every step Yun Che took into a meter tall blaze was as if he was treading on level ground without the slightest trace of injury. The Purgatory Flame Demon had a large bulky frame so it moved slowly and every time it attacked with its limbs, Yun Che dodged with ease. Every time he turned illusory, he would slash at the Purgatory Flame Demon’s calf to carve off a large chunk of flesh.
RIIIIIIP!!
With another ruthless blow, the sword pierced deep into the sole of the Purgatory Flame Demon’s foot. The Purgatory Flame Demon let out an enraged, ear-splitting roar as the flames above its right fist suddenly surged before smashing at the ground.
A dangerous atmosphere came from above and Yun Che looked upwards. Immediately after, he backed away ten places with Star God’s Broken Shadow without any further thought.
BOOM!!
The Purgatory Flame Demon’s blazing descended and triggered a series of gigantic explosions. The noise was not inferior to the explosion of the Sky Tremor Bombs. Although Yun Che evaded it, he was still hit by the impact of the aftermath. The suffocating pressure made him take several steps backwards, and he stepped into the pool of lava behind him.
The edge of the pool of lava was very shallow and barely reached Yun Che’s calves. He did not rush up again, but held the Tiger Soul Sword and stood in the lava as he knitted his brow; he suddenly realized that despite slashing more than thirty wounds on the Purgatory Flame Demon’s body with his sword, they had completely vanished.
“This princess had already told you that it possessed extremely powerful recuperative abilities in this blazing environment. Not only are its flames unquenchable, even its normal injuries will heal within a short period of time. At most, it needs five to six breaths’ time to recover from the injuries you’ve caused. Even if you continue to proceed in this way for a hundred years, it is still fundamentally impossible to cause it any substantial harm.”
Jasmine spoke coldly, but after she finished speaking, she paused for quite a while and then suddenly shouted: “I’ve got it! Attack the gold mark on its head. That’s the location of its weak point.”
“Gold mark?” Yun Che lifted his head and saw the blinding golden dot between the middle of its horns.
“Its profound aura is the weakest at that area so that should be its weak point. Try attacking it there.”
Yun Che tilted his head, but still stood in place for a long time without doing anything. It was because this Purgatory Flame Demon was thirty-three meters tall. With his current profound strength, even under the effect of Evil Soul, the highest he could leap was only twenty to twenty five meters; he was definitely unable to touch its forehead.
“It seems that I have no other choice but to take a chance and give it a try!”
Yun Che clenched his teeth, and walked to the Purgatory Flame Demon’s front with slow steps. After contending with it for a long time, another sense of danger came from above his head. The Purgatory Flame Demon had already raised its right fist, and fiercely smashed toward Yun Che’s position.
This was the moment that Yun Che had been waiting for. With one Star God’s Broken Shadow, he moved to a distance of approximately ten paces back in an instant, and dodged the center of the Purgatory Flame Demon’s blazing fist assault. Immediately after, he took a deep breath just a moment before the fist landed and jumped with all his might, directly reaching a height of more than twenty meters.
BOOM!!
There was a loud crash below. Even in midair, he could still feel the shocking wave of energy from beneath his feet. As the Purgatory Flame Demon smashed its fist onto the ground, its body bent down and its forehead dropped to a height of around eighteen meters high… Which was diagonally beneath Yun Che.
While in mid-air, unless one had reached the Sky Profound Realm and could use their profound energy to become airborne, it was impossible to find leverage for one’s self in mid-air.. Let alone move in mid-air, even the direction one would fall was difficult to control. However, this was not the case for Yun Che. His body swayed, and activated the Star God’s Broken Shadow to suddenly shift around seven meters sideways in midair; precisely moving directly above the Purgatory Flame Demon’s head. His body fell straight down as he also tightly clutched the Tiger Soul Sword in his hands……
“Falling… Moon…. Sinking…. Star… HAAH!!”
The Tiger Soul Sword suddenly released an intense light as an incomparably loud and clear tiger’s growl resounded throughout this purgatory. Amidst the tiger’s roar and Yun Che’s battle cry, the Tiger Soul Sword pointed precisely at the spot of light on the Purgatory Flame Demon’s forehead while carrying the power of Falling Moon Sinking Star and pierced in as if slicing tofu…. The meter long sword’s body completely plunged in and even the hilt followed in right after under the extremely berserking power of the strike.
Yun Che fell onto the ground and quickly shut his Evil Soul Profound Gate as he gasped for breath. Yet the Purgatory Flame Demon’s body was already frozen in place. A moment later, it suddenly let out an incomparably anguished roar of despair. Its gigantic frame slowly fell forward and crashed onto the floor with an explosively loud sound.
The flames on its body extinguished quickly, until all that was left were a few small embers that revealed its large black body. Soon after, even its body began to disintegrate and everything dissipated as if made of vapor. On the red floor, only the Tiger Soul Sword that had killed it in one strike was left.
“Suc…. Success!” Yun Che picked up the Tiger Soul Sword and heaved a long sigh.
And at this time, the scenery before him suddenly distorted. In the midst of the distortion, it spun in a blur, and when everything had finally stabilized, the red land, volcanoes and pools of lava…. All of it disappeared. What replaced it was an expanse of nothingness, a wilderness so flat that there wasn’t any uneven land to be seen.
“Second stage of the trial: Arrows of the Phoenix.”
Chapter 110: 《World Ode of the Phoenix - Fragments》 (5)
The trials of the phoenix were indeed frightful. This first trial, had Yun Che not been invulnerable to fire, would have caused him to die to the Purgatory Flame Demon’s flames who knows how many times. For this second trial, one could tell without thinking that it would undoubtedly be much more terrifying than the first.
The boundless, barren plain without a single blade
of grass, along with the scorching wind, brought with them a desolation and loneliness that made people sullen. At this time, a sudden extremely loud and clear cry of a phoenix came from the sky. Following this, the originally dark sky abruptly became a blazing red, as if it was burned red from heavenly fire.
Yun Che looked up, and was surprised to see the scarlet-colored sky covered with innumerable amounts of red dots. Following this, the phoenix cry resounded again and the smear of red dots aimed at his location and suddenly started to swiftly fall like meteors. In front of his eyes, these dots drew increasingly closer and became increasingly larger. Finally, the silhouette of a phoenix clearly appeared within Yun Che’s line of sight.
It was a body covered in scarlet fire, a small-sized phoenix about six-foot long. The speed of its descent was extremely fast, as if it was a swift and sharp arrow in flight.
Poof!!
The blazing phoenix violently crashed into Yun Che’s body. It instantly exploded, creating a huge fireball and covered the sky with a rain of fire. If it had been someone else, they would have already failed the second trial, because these terrifying phoenix flames would have been enough to immediately scorch a person of the Spirit Profound Realm to a gravely injured state. These flames didn’t hold any destructive force against Yun Che; however, that powerful impact force and explosive force directly smashed Yun Che onto the ground causing the blood in his entire body to churn.
Screee~~~
The phoenix cry resounded again and another phoenix silhouette bolted down like a flaming arrow. This time, Yun Che did not dare to forcefully receive it and quickly dodged. The phoenix shadow pounded into the earth and the flames exploded, causing the ground to crack into a long rift. Yun Che had not yet regained his balance when a phoenix cry yet again, resounded from above. But this time there were consecutive phoenix cries. Three consecutive phoenix silhouettes swiftly plunged from three different directions, aiming straight for Yun Che.
Yun Che’s body flipped, dodging the first phoenix shadow, then used all his power to jump back and dodged the second.
“Star God’s Broken Shadow!”
Suspended in midair, Yun Che tilted his body in a flash and also narrowly avoided the third phoenix shadow.
Boom, boom, boom!!
Three phoenix silhouettes exploded in succession, whirling up flames that were ten meters high. However, even clearer phoenix cries followed. Yun Che lifted his head and saw that this time, there were actually seven phoenix silhouettes falling towards him at the same time.
Dammit! This is not how it’s supposed to be played! Yun Che’s brow twisted as he secretly cursed in his heart.
…………………………
After Yun Che entered the entrance of the trials, the originally seal formation reappeared once more but Lan Xueruo had not left yet and instead stood in place. She had heard from Feng Baichuan about the frightful trials. According to Feng Baichuan, with Yun Che’s power, even with a fire attribute profound art it would still be impossible to stay inside for more than ten breaths of time.
But ten breaths passed, twenty breaths passed, thirty breaths passed… half an hour passed… Yun Che still had not come out.
It was impossible for Lan Xueruo stay calm. The expression on her face became more and more anxious. After waiting for a quarter of an hour, she could no longer remain calm. Towards Feng Baichuan, she pressingly asked: “Feng clan leader, why has he not come out yet? Didn’t you say it would be at most ten breaths before he came out?”
Feng Baichuan’s heart had long since become uneasy. Listening to Lan Xueruo, he could only comfort her: “Perhaps the trials are varied for each person, so its difficult to say the exact amount of time it will take….. Rest assured, little brother Yun Che is not the kind of person who does not know his limits. If it reaches the point where he cannot endure any longer, he will immediately come out.”
Lan Xueruo did not reply. She suppressed the anxious feelings within her heart and continued to wait.
……………………
Scree~~
Scree~~
Scree~~
Scree~~~~~
Numerous phoenix cries chaotically overlapped; the sharp cries seemed almost like they would tear the sky open. From the initial cry, to a group of three, to a group of seven, to a group of fifteen….. At the moment, the entire sky was filled with phoenix cries and phoenix silhouettes, just like a meteor shower that was horrifying beyond compare.
Yun Che used the Star God’s Broken Shadow to swiftly move through the meteor shower, and maneuvered about. His Star God’s Broken Shadow was currently only at the first stage but even though the Profound Movement Skill that came from Jasmine was at the lowest level, it still contained an extremely shocking power and allowed him move around like an illusion among the phoenix arrow formation while leaving behind countless afterimages that didn’t even have enough time to dissipate.
However, these phoenix silhouettes eventually became far too concentrated; it was impossible for him to avoid every single one of them. After a dozen or so waves, he had already been hit seven or eight times. The power of the phoenix silhouette impact was simply incomparable to the flames it carried. However, to Yun Che, who was only at the Nascent Profound Realm, it was a major threat. Every time he was hit by a phoenix silhouette, his protective profound aura would weaken slightly. Coupled with the frequent usage of Star God’s Broken Shadow, the consumption of his energy was immense.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…..
Wave after wave of phoenix shadows exploded next to him. The originally flat ground had become riddled with holes and pits. It was impossible to find a single area still intact within sight.
Once again, if he was not invulnerable to fire, he would have long ago, died several hundreds of times already.
The Fire Seed of the Evil God was undoubtedly a huge cheat for him within this phoenix trial.
Boom!!!
In the last wave, several hundreds of phoenix silhouettes descended from the sky. Their bodies emitted the radiance of blazing fire, illuminating the sky in red. The instant they fell, the vast earth erupted with fire, and the churning ground was burned into pitch-black charred earth. At the same moment, Yun Che was struck with seven phoenix silhouettes. His entire body’s protective profound aura completely shattered in an instant. Fortunately, the impact ended there. Besides a wave of pain in his chest, he did not receive many injuries.
“Phew…… Did it finally end?” Standing amongst the flames that still burned, Yun Che raised his head and looked towards the sky as he let out a long sigh of relief. The phoenix cries had completely stopped, and there were finally no signs of the phoenix silhouettes in the sky above. At this moment, he started to admire the ancestor Feng Baichuan had mentioned. With the body of a common human and the cultivation of the Spirit Profound Realm, he was actually able to pass that incomparably terrifying phoenix formation he had just experienced earlier; he was definitely a shockingly talented super-genius.
The flames nearby gradually burned out and the second trial had also finally ended. Rather than say that Yun Che passed, it would be better to say that he used his special physique to forcefully endure through it. At this moment, the scene in front of his eyes started to distort to become more and more obscure. Yun Che was just about to start observing the scenery of the third trial when he realized that everything in front of his eyes had already become pitch-black.
Following this, a pair of golden eyes opened within the pitch-black world. The phoenix spirit’s voice resounded within his mind.
“That surprised me; you actually possess a special physique that is unafraid of flames. If I am not mistaken, the primordial Evil God’s aura resides inside your body.”
“That is correct.” Yun Che nodded. In regards to the phoenix spirit being able to discern the Evil God’s aura, within the depths of his heart, he was not surprised. After all, the phoenix and the Evil God were both part of the primordial god race.
�
�The Evil God does not align with any of the elements, for he is actually the nemesis of all the elements. But no one can compare to the Evil God in terms of familiarity and capability in wielding the elements. If you somehow manage to completely inherit the Evil God’s powers, then not only fire, even water, wind, thunder, earth, domain, dimension, spirit… would all be subdued by you, and would never be able to bring you harm.”
Yun Che: “……”
“You passed the previous two stages not because you had sufficient strength, but because of your special physique. Although this is cheating, passing is passing; I have no right to deny that. However, this third trial: Corruption of the Heart’s Flame, is a trial of the heart that’s unrelated to flames. The advantages of your body are thus nullified, and this third trial is also the hardest trial to pass. In these countless years, the amount of challengers who have passed the first two trials amount to three hundred twenty-nine. But the ones who passed the third trial.. only amount to seven people.”
“Seven?” Yun Che was immediately stunned.
Although he passed the first two trials quite easily with his cheating condition, he had clearly witnessed the frightfulness of the two trials at the same time. Those who were able to pass the two trials while being in the Spirit Profound Realm were undoubtedly all unmatched geniuses. As for those in the True Profound Realm, there wasn’t even the possibility of passing.
And it was precisely within these extraordinary geniuses, that only two out of a hundred of them were capable of passing the third trial!?
This third trial, how frightful could it be?
“However, you don’t need to be too nervous. The third trial is a trial of the heart. It does not involve fighting, but instead involves the choices within your heart. If you are firm enough towards the pursuit for power, then even if you possess weak profound power, there is a chance you can easily pass. On the other hand, if you do not possess enough determination, then passing your life in the mundane world can also be an option. After all, power is not everything in life.”