Against the Gods

Chapter 655 – Yellow Springs Ashes

Qi Zhencang and Duan Qinghai had never before witnessed the strength of a Monarch before today, but they were very clear on just what kind of existence an Overlord was. Even in the strongest nation amongst the Seven Nations, the Divine Phoenix Empire, an Overlord was a mighty existence that was akin to a god… But after Feng Feiying, they personally witnessed the late-stage Overlord Feng Feiheng get slaughtered by Yun Che within two passes.

The horror and the alarm in the hearts of these two people could not rise any further. They turned their heads, and to their astonishment, the Divine Phoenix Army that had been boundless as an ocean had already been reduced to nearly nothing. But the fires of catastrophe were still ceaselessly falling from the sky, consigning segments of the Divine Phoenix Army to a fiery hell.

Qi Zhencang used a trembling finger to press on the Sound Transmission Jade and yelled, “Everyone disperse… The vanguard, move towards the east! The rearguard scatter to the south! And the rest of you, flee to the west!!”

Under the orders of Qi Zhencang, the fleeing Divine Phoenix Army began to disperse in three different directions. Fleeing in one direction would only make it easier for the enemy to slaughter them, but fleeing in three directions would force Yun Che to choose between the three.

Facing the scattering Divine Phoenix Army, Yun Che stopped in midair and halted his pursuit, as if he was considering which direction he was going to take. Qi Zhencang, who was fleeing towards the east, observed the Yun Che who had stopped in one spot and fiercely breathed a sigh of relief. After that, he used all of his profound strength to flee away… this was the first time in his life he had ever fled in such a pathetic manner. Even during his worst defeats, he was never forced to flee in this manner… but right now, they were not fleeing from battle; instead, they were escaping a demon’s massacre.

Yun Che still had not given chase despite the fact that a long period of time had passed by. He just stood there, watching the three groups of the Divine Phoenix soldiers run away at the greatest speed that they could muster. But the blazing fires of resentment which crazily burned in his eyes and the killing intent that was boiling all over his body had not lessened in the slightest… At this time, he finally made his move, but instead of giving chase, he flew higher into the sky until he was thousands of meters above the ground.

As he floated high in the air above, he could see all of the the Divine Phoenix Army’s soldiers fleeing.

“You evil dogs of Divine Phoenix… all of you… must die!!”

Yun Che’s soft litany of hatred… even though it was soft, it was like a devil’s curse which pierced one’s heart, and it clearly resounded in everyone’s ears and soul.

His arm slowly rose in the air, and a column of crimson flames began to burn in front of him. This column of flames was not intense; instead, it shone with a strange light as it began to glow a burning red in the air… Facing these Divine Phoenix soldiers, all the flames he had used from the beginning were Golden Crow flames instead of the phoenix flames which were easier to control. Because only the Golden Crow flames’ ruthlessness and violence could vent the rage and resentment that was burning in his heart.

That terrifying “demon” halted at one spot and did not pursue them for a good long while, so the Divine Phoenix Army’s full-fledged flight gradually became more relaxed. This was because they thought they had escaped from that devil’s cruel reaping scythe. But at this time, they suddenly felt the temperature in the air rise sharply. It went from warm to hot to a scorching heat that caused them discomfort… and after the span of just a few short breaths, it seemed as if scorching bands of red-hot iron was being placed on their skin.

It was to the point where even the air that they breathed had become scalding hot, to the point which it scorched their internal organs and caused them to fiercely twist. Furthermore, this dreadful heat kept rising with every breath they took. They turned their heads back in shock and looked towards the figure in the sky above that was burning with scarlet flames… The air seemed to have morphed into shapeless flames which scorched them till their skin turned red. In addition, the crimson red armor which was tightly fitted to their bodies were like red-hot iron, and it caused more and more Divine Phoenix soldiers to wail in agonizing pain.

“What… what is going on?!” Qi Zhencang had the protection afforded by having the profound strength of a Throne, but he still felt as if he had been placed into a huge furnace, and his entire body burned with pain. His eyes widened and he rigidly held his breath because the air that flowed into his lungs were hotter than flames. Not only that, but below him, many of the Divine Phoenix Army’s soldiers had halted their retreat and were rolling on the floor in unspeakable agony instead as they frantically sought to strip their armor off their bodies. The armor had long ago become as hot as molten lava, and it tenaciously stuck onto skin, to the point where forcibly removing it would also rip away a good portion of scorched flesh and blood.

The plaintive and mournful wails which filled the air sounded like they were being given off by evil spirits receiving hellish punishment.

This purgatory of flames which slowly descended from above engulfed the area in a thirty-five kilometer radius around Yun Che. Without exception, the entire Divine Phoenix Army was encompassed in that area as well. Naturally, the northern part of Blue Wind Imperial City and the Blue Wind Army were unaffected by it. The only thing they noticed was that the air around them had turned rather hot. But they all witnessed the current state of the Divine Phoenix Army, and the innumerable screams of misery that rent the air only made it clearer for them.

“What’s happening?” Number Seven Under Heaven said in astonishment. All of a sudden, her mouth opened wide and she pointed in Yun Che’s direction, “That… that’s…”

A huge golden figure had appeared, superimposed over Yun Che. It was the figure of an extremely gorgeous and noble bird that had manifested with its wings spread wide as it circled in the air. The bird’s head was raised haughtily, and it looked like a head of a phoenix. Its feathers were the purest of gold, and it seemed as if each feather glowed with a golden colored flame. It had three feet, and its tail feathers were long and shared the same eye-catching golden color as the rest of its body.

But what accompanied this gorgeous and splendorous golden figure was an aura of destruction and an oppressive might which caused the earth and the sky to tremble.

“It’s the image of the Golden Crow!” Number One Under Heaven exclaimed in astonishment. It was not the first time he had seen the silhouette of the Golden Crow. Each time a Demon Emperor used the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World, the image of the Golden Crow would appear, whether it was for only an instant or a long period of time. But all of the images he had seen up till now were only faintly discernible and semi-transparent, and the golden color of those images was also much duller. But the burning image of the Burning Crow seemed almost tangible… as if the true Divine Spirit of the Golden Crow had descended on the material plane. That eye-catching golden glow was so brilliant that he nearly could not open his eyes, and the extremely tyrannical might and aura of destruction caused his soul to deeply tremble uncontrollably. Not to mention, that was despite the fact that he was far away from the image and wasn’t the target of the attack.

When all of the previous Demon Emperors had their bloodline awoken in the Golden Crow’s Ancestral Lands, they were only bestowed three drops of blood, and in terms of comprehending the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World, they were only given three months as well. The most powerful Demon Emperor in the history of the Illusory Demon Realm had only managed to reach the fourth level of the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World.

However, in Yun Che’s case, he had been bestowed with nine drops of blood. Because of his special Evil God fire body and his extremely high aptitude in learning, within the span of three months, he had comprehended all seven levels of the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World.

That was to say that Yun Che, this person who had been inducted into the clan of the Demon Emperor, had Golden Crow flames that exceeded every single Demon Emperor in the history of the Illusory Demon Realm… and even the first Demon Emperor would not be able to compare to him! At this time, even if all the previous Demon Emperors were to be present at this scene, they would be completely astounded by the Golden Crow aura being released by Yun Che, much less Number One Under Heaven.

Because what Yun Che was showing was something that the seventh level of the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World that they had never come into contact with before and did not even dare dream about…

“All of you… can go to hell… now…” Yun Che chanted in a low voice, and when he heard the wails of pain that surrounded him, his eyes flashed with the ecstasy of catharsis. The seventh level of the Golden Crow’s Record of the Burning World… Even given his current strength, he could still barely handle it, and even so, it would still require an extremely huge consumption of energy. But for these invaders who had committed unspeakable crimes against the Blue Wind Nation and for whom even ten thousand deaths would be insufficient to cleanse them of their sins… they had to die… All of them had to die!!

“Golden Crow’s Domain of Fiery Destruction… Yellow Springs Ashes!!”

The flames on Yun Che’s body and the Golden Crow’s image behind him ruptured with a low howl….

A roaring sound that seemed to signal the end of the world swallowed all the other sounds in the area. All of the people within Blue Wind Imperial City and on its walls witnessed their surroundings become instantly engulfed in crimson flames as their world turned into pure flames… the Divine Phoenix Army, the earth, the horizon and even the sky above became completely covered with flames. They could not see anything else besides fire, and it seemed as if the entire world had morphed into a hellish purgatory of flames.

All eyes had widened, and all mouths had gaped open to the greatest extent, but not a single person uttered a sound. Their ears had gone deaf, and their eyes were completely dazzled by the crimson flames.

Within the seemingly boundless and limitless flames, everything was mercilessly burned away. Every single person there witnessed the most shocking and terrifying scene of their lives. They were firmly convinced that even the eruption of the most fearsome volcano in the entire Profound Sky Continent would pale in comparison to this boundless flame which shook the heaven and the earth and seemed like it had the power to end the world. Number One Under Heaven, Number Seven Under Heaven, and Xiao Yun had grown up in the Guardian Families which were in the highest echelons of power within the Illusory Demon Realm, so their experiences were far richer than that of the common man, but facing this all-encompassing conflagration, they were also shocked to the point that their souls nearly left their bodies… so if it was like this for them, then one can imagine what it was like for everyone else.

The boundless sky had been completely colored crimson. This fire which obscured the heavens did not last for long, but for the weak and fragile soldiers of the Divine Phoenix Army, this dreadful Golden Crow domain only needed an instant to do its work. After ten breaths, the air which had swelled up howled as the flames which filled the sky fell screaming to the earth…. But not a single dazed face turned away from this scene; instead, an expression of shock and horror appeared on their faces and in their eyes.

“Ah… ah… ah… ah….” As his hearing began to recover, Xiao Yun heard trembling sounds ceaselessly spill from his own throat.

The huge expanse of land in front of Blue Wind Imperial City had become terrifyingly empty. The entire thirty-five kilometer radius around Yun Che, everything within it had disappeared… the withered trees, the ruins of buildings, the rolling sand dunes, the fallen and broken stones, and the mountain of corpses and rivers of blood… All of it had disappeared!

The huge and majestic Divine Phoenix Army that had hundreds of thousands of troops and that seemed to swell up into a raging tsunami when it moved had completely and utterly vanished… They had not been swept away, they had vanished! Because within that empty space, there were no corpses, no broken armor, not even a trace of blood… all of it had completely vanished, and there was not a single trace of their existence left.

The surface of that entire area had been flattened as smooth and even as a mirror, and the surface was so white that it caused everyone’s heart to palpitate… Besides this white color, there was not any other color that the naked eye could discern. In the sky above, the crimson color had begun to retreat, but the clouds which had been floating in the sky had completely disappeared. Not even a small fragment of it remained.

This was not a massacre… it was not even destruction. Instead, it simply turned the earth in a thirty-five kilometer radius into a blank slate!

Yun Che had become the sole existence within this space.

In the middle of this silent world, Yun Che slowly lowered his hand. Following the extinguishing of those flames which covered the sky, the violence and ruthlessness in his eyes had gradually died down as well. Looking at the empty earth below him, his expression had become completely calm. Slowly, he turned his head towards the north-west… that was the direction in which the Divine Phoenix Empire lay in.

Destroying this Divine Phoenix Army… was only the beginning!

He was someone who definitely had to repay blood for blood… so if it came to the vengeance of an entire nation, his hatred would fill the heavens!!