Against the Gods

Chapter 746 – Unexpected Battle

“You want to engage him head on?” Jasmine asked softly. “Even though he has already exhausted more than half of his profound energy, it probably hasn’t dropped to the level of your expectations. If the present you wants to forcibly engage him in direct combat, it is still too much to ask.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yun Che said in an assured manner. “Even though his profound strength is absurdly powerful, he still hasn’t been able to gain full mastery over this new power. Furthermore, the rate that he is exhausting his profound energy is clearly far higher than normal. Before this, I only defended without attacking, yet he practically hurt himself from the backlash of his attacks a few times… it appears his hatred has drowned out his rationality. He was too anxious for success and he focused only on getting stronger, neglecting to take time to stabilize himself.”

Fen Juechen’s explosive increase in profound energy was due to him absorbing and fusing with what Jasmine called the “devil origin” and was not something that he had gained through his own cultivation. Moreover, he had only had a short period of time to increase his power, so it was clear that his body had not completely merged with the Devil Origin yet. As a result, he had yet to obtain complete mastery over his new power.

“Oh, so you’ve already noticed this…” Jasmine said blandly.

“Coupled with my weapon’s superiority and the weakness in his personality… even if he still has nearly forty percent of his power left, there is still a possibility that I can defeat him in direct combat!!”

Holding the Heaven Smiting Sword in a two handed grip, Yun Che made a normal arc through the air with the sword. In a split second, the ocean beneath Yun Che’s feet churned as waves exploded out and an extremely heavy and overwhelmingly tyrannical aura shot out over an area that was hundreds of kilometers wide. All of the ocean life in the area curled up in terror. I was as though they had been fixed in place, for they didn’t dare move an inch.

In that instant, it seemed as if an ancient demon god had suddenly descended from above, enshrouding the earth in its terrible majesty.

Feng Juechen’s pupils suddenly contracted, his cold gaze forcibly drawn then locked onto the vermilion greatsword in Yun Che’s hands. Yun Che’s aura did not create the least bit of pressure for him at all, but the moment that vermilion greatsword appeared in Yun Che’s hands, he could clearly feel an oppressive and stifling sensation.

Furthermore, as he focused his gaze on that sword, his energy was suddenly thrown into turmoil as an horribly unpleasant sensation filled his entire body. This sensation did not fade as he circulated his profound energy, instead seeming to intensify for some reason. It reached the point where it was so unbearable that it as if something was viciously ripping his organs and soul apart.

Fen Juechen’s face twisted violently and he abruptly turned his gaze aside. Immediately, the unbearable feeling began to lessen; however, his discomfort still remained.

The difference between the time when he had first met her on the Primordial Profound Ark and the current Hong’er who had pigged out recently was simply incomparable. The power of the Heaven Smiting Sword was completely different as well. It had even begun to radiate a faint aura of majesty and power capable of “shaking the heavens and the earth.”

However, this change was not entirely a good thing for Yun Che as the Heaven Smiting Sword’s rate of growth had already far outstripped his own growth rate. Furthermore, he had recently been pouring all of his time and effort into raising the profound strength of the Frozen Asgard ladies and had not touched the Heaven Smiting Sword in nearly three months. So now that he held the Heaven Smiting Sword in his hands, he instead felt an extremely large strain… it even felt as though he might lose his grip on it.

Just how many things had Hong’er stolen to eat during these three months?!

Could it be that… she had actually snacked on one of the Overlord swords?!

And even if one did not take into account the peerless sword power of the Heaven Smiting Sword, the sword imparted the feeling that it was as heavy as a mountain. Yun Che’s conservative estimate was that the Heaven Smiting Sword was at least five hundred thousand kilograms!

Yun Che’s expression remained completely calm, and his posture was that of someone confident in their victory. He had taken notice of Fen Juechen’s bizarre reaction when the Heaven Smiting Sword had made its appearance. He had some suspicions regarding that reaction, however he did not take them to heart. “This sword’s full name is the ‘Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword’, so let me bear witness to how long you can endure its presence!!”

And immediately after Yun Che spoke, he let out a low roar. He opened the “Purgatory” gate and all of the profound energy in his body violently surged. Flames burned high in the sky as the Heaven Smiting Sword struck downwards… Given his profound energy being far from the depth and thickness of Fen Juechen’s and the huge amount of energy exhausted holding the current Heaven Smiting Sword, he could not afford to tarry any longer.

It was a straightforward attack without any flourish or profound skill yet it held all of the power in Yun Che’s body. The oppressive power of the attack was so large that it seemed like there was a mountain crashing down from the sky.

Fen Juechen’s gaze grew cold and focused as he released a black light that was even darker than the darkest of nights from every orifice of his body. The sword in his hand was also fully wrapped in black light. An alarmingly wild and violent dark profound energy crazily surged from the sword, releasing an awful screech as it tore through space to meet the oncoming Heaven Smiting Sword.

Clashing directly with a heavy sword was definitely not a smart move… In fact, it could even be called an extremely stupid move.

But, even if Fen Juechen had been aware of this, he still would have made the same decision anyway.

All because of his strong pride and ego!

And this was exactly the “weakness in his personality” that Yun Che had spoken of.

Clang!!!!

Both swords smashed together and the sound of metal on metal ripped through the clouds as it shook the skies and ocean. The waters below instantly morphed into a hellish disaster zone that made ordinary hurricanes seem tame. Hundreds of gigantic waves screamed to life as they surged towards the heavens.

Amidst the gargantuan churning waves, the clash between the scarlet red and the pitch-black light was still extremely glaring and obvious. At the point where the lights intersected, the two swords were still locked in a deadly struggle. The flaming Heaven Smiting Sword still radiated its divine might while the black sword in Fen Juechen’s hand, despite being already bent like a crescent moon, refused to break as it endured the attack of the Heaven Smiting Sword.

The gazes of both parties swept past their blades as they glared at each other, their faces not more than a meter away from each other. One’s face was calm while the other’s was ice-cold… However,in their hearts, they were filled with shock and alarm.

Yun Che was astonished that Fen Juechen, who had already exhausted most of his profound energy and only had the Emperor Profound black sword, had able to actually block an attack that he had delivered at full force with the Heaven Smiting Sword. Furthermore, with the support of his incomparably powerful profound strength, the sword had not even snapped.

Meanwhile, Fen Juechen was even more shocked that Yun Che, who only had the aura of Emperor Profound Realm practitioner, could actually take a strike from his sword at full strength as well!!

The black sword in Fen Juechen’s hand was originally an Earth Profound sword. However, in the years where Fen Juechen’s strength had grown by leaps and pounds, this Earth Profound sword had undergone a fundamental change under the influence of the dark profound energy that he had been releasing. And in the short span of a few years, it had absorbed a large amount of dark profound energy, resulting in it growing into a low-grade Emperor Profound Sword.

While an Emperor Profound Sword could be considered a monarch of swords within the Blue Wind Nation and it would even still be considered an exquisite treasure among the swords of the Profound Sky Continent, if it were to go up against Yun Che’s Heaven Smiting Sword… Without a shadow of doubt, Yun Che had the absolute advantage when it came to weapons!

And despite this fact, Fen Juechen was still able to fully block Yun Che’s attack. So it was clear that even though his profound energy had been largely exhausted, he definitely still surpassed Yun Che in terms of strength.

Fen Juechen’s eyes grew so sinister that they looked like the eyes of a feral, bloodthirsty wolf. The black light surrounding his body fiercely swelled up once more… It was at this moment, however, that he suddenly felt the dark profound energy in his body riot, as if it had received some kind of trauma. Not only did the black light surrounding his sword fail to flare up, it even began to abruptly twist and warp in the air. As it was twisting and warping, bits of the black light began to disappear as though being silently swallowed an invisible black hole.

The pressure coming off Fen Juechen suddenly weakened. Yun Che’s eyes grew focused as the Golden Crow flames in his body explosively surged forth while he swept the Heaven Smiting Sword forward once again. Fen Juechen let out a dull moan as a huge force rammed into his chest, ruthlessly flinging aside his sword arm. His body shook in the wind like a leaf as he was blasted far away.

“Oh?”

Yun Che had been concentrating his heart and mind, so he had not noticed the changes in Fen Juechen’s dark profound energy. But Jasmine had witnessed the whole event and a strange light immediately flashed in the depths of her eyes.

The deadlock between the two evenly-matched opponents had lasted for only a short period of time and was broken when Fen Juechen could no longer maintain the pressure. This was the first instance where both parties had officially clashed, but Fen Juechen, who had the absolute advantage in profound strength, was sent flying by Yun Che, who now had the absolute advantage in weaponry.

Yun Che also felt greatly shocked that he had been able to gain the upper hand so easily. He gave a cold laugh and lifted up the Heaven Smiting Sword as he rushed forward like a maelstrom. “Fen Juechen, it looks like you’re really not much after all… let’s see how many blows you can take!!”

Fen Juechen somersaulted backwards in the air many times before he finally managed to stabilize himself in the air. The heavy sword storm that Yun Che had smashed out was no small thing. Even though Fen Juechen had only been smashed aside by the sword wind, it had caused all the blood and energy in his body to churn, practically causing his internal organs to flip over… Normally this would only have been a trivial injury to him. Even if he received an injury that was ten times worse, he would not even raise an eyebrow. But this time, for some unfathomable reason, that weird, unpleasant sensation surfaced again, causing him to feel dizzy and nauseous.

Yun Che roared as he drew close and smashed down the Heaven Smiting Sword, carrying with it the aura of a mountain, once again. Fen Juechen’s pupils released a blood red light as all of the dark profound energy in his body exploded forth crazily…

Clang!!!!

The immense energy storm swept out in all directions and a spatial ripple that was a full thirty meters wide spread out from the epicenter of the clash. The Heaven Smiting Sword once again clashed with the black sword. This time the black sword was nearly bent into a black-colored full moon. The sword blade quivered as it let out a shrill that was reminiscent of wailing ghosts.

The clash between both swords, once again, did not persist. After a fraction of a second, the power of the black sword swiftly receded once more.

Boom!!

The flames and the black light simultaneously exploded, both people being shot out in opposite directions. Yun Che simply flipped in the air before regaining control over his balance, yet Fen Juechen still flew far into the distance. The black sword in his hand had already been bent to an alarming angle and it had been nearly snapped altogether.

Yun Che, who had already regained his balance, did not give the disadvantaged Fen Juechen a chance to even catch his breath. He activated Extreme Mirage Lightning and his body morphed into a black-colored streak of lightning as the Heaven Smiting Sword fiercely smashed down once again, carrying with it the howl of thunder.

Clank!!

Boom!!

Boom!!

It was as if the hammer of the heavens had come fiercely crashing down as horrifying ripples of sound rebounded along the ocean waves, shaking the sky.

Yun Che’s every sword stroke caused Fen Juechen to retreat rapidly. The black sword in his hand was bent more and more out of shape with every blow, yet it never snapped. As it nearly bent in a circle from every stroke, Fen Juechen’s face ran through a gamut of expressions as it twisted up, warped in pain, showing extreme discontent, malevolence…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amidst the huge noises that continued to shake the sky, Fen Juechen had been smashed five kilometers back. All of the blood and energy in his body were churning and crimson-black blood continued to spew from his mouth. From the moment Yun Che had unveiled the Heaven Smiting Sword, Fen Juechen had been at a complete disadvantage since the very first stroke. And he basically only had the power to fend off Yun Che’s blows… and right now even fending off those blows were a bigger and bigger ask.

“Phoenix Sky Wolf Slash!!”

Boom!!!

The howl of the Sky Wolf intertwined together with the cry of the Phoenix as the attack ripped through the sky. Fen Juechen shot out like a falling star as he fiercely smashed into a small reef that was several kilometers away, causing the reef to be completely obliterated. Behind him, an extremely deep trench had been dug across the surface of the ocean, and it did not disappear for a long time… it was as if this large patch of ocean had been directly cut in half.

“Cough… Cough, cough…”

Fen Juechen stood on the surface of the sea as he staggered to his feet and continued to cough out blood that was clearly darker than a normal person’s….

What is going on…? What is wrong with my power…? Why would it suddenly go out of control…? Why would it suddenly disappear…?

Just what was going on…?

Behind him, a wild gale swiftly drew close. Fen Juechen stubbornly forced down a mouthful of stale blood. As he turned around, he exuded a baleful aura which rushed out to the heavens. The first thing he looked at was not Yun Che, but the gigantic vermilion greatsword that was almost as big as Yun Che’s body. Immediately, all the blood and energy in his body began to frantically churn once again, and the unbearable sensation of his soul getting stabbed once again assaulted him.

In that instant, he finally noticed something…

It was Yun Che’s sword!!

That bizarre unpleasant sensation he had felt always occurred when his gaze or power had come into contact with that sword!!

It was precisely when his own sword had come into contact with Yun Che’s sword that his profound energy suddenly spiralled out of control and disappeared as if it had been devoured!!

That sword… is actually able to restrain my power!?