Chapter 233: Defeat and Death!
"Naturally, it was bestowed upon me by the Saint Demon Emperor!"
Hearing the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's hoarse, desperate questioning, a light smile appeared on Yun Yi's face as he slowly spoke.
Hearing this, the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's heart jolted. He fell into confusion and bewilderment once more. The Saint Demon Emperor—he was the supreme figure of the Extraterritorial Evil Clan, second only to the Heavenly Evil God. Within the clan, he possessed unparalleled authority and prestige.
Since this flame was bestowed by the Saint Demon Emperor, then Yun Yi couldn't possibly escape the other's control. That meant... he was indeed a member of the Extraterritorial Evil Clan's side.
Then why would he attack him?!
Endless questions filled his heart, leaving the Fire Evil Demon Emperor utterly baffled and unable to fathom the reason no matter how hard he thought.
"Black Hole Strangulation!"
No one could answer the questions in the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's heart. Yun Yi's expression was cold and indifferent as he looked down at the Fire Evil Clan's great army below. He raised his five fingers and clenched them remotely towards them.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The sudden tremor drew the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's attention. Around the Fire Evil Clan's great army, four enormous black whirlpools had abruptly materialized, firmly trapping them within.
Accompanied by the icy, cold smile that appeared on Yun Yi's face, in the next instant, four berserk, violent devouring and pulling forces suddenly erupted.
"Not good!"
The Fire Evil Demon Emperor's heart immediately sensed grave danger. Yet, Yun Yi's attack had been launched with such ferocious speed. Before he could even react, blood-curdling screams resounded.
"Ptooey!"
At the same moment, across the entire Fire Evil Clan, countless people simultaneously vomited a mouthful of fresh blood. In the next instant, the Fire Evil Clan's grand, mighty, and imposing aura was abruptly severed at the waist. It withered and sank at a rate visible to the naked eye.
As for the Fire Evil Demon Emperor, who had been summoned by them, his aura withered to the extreme. His body began to turn illusory and ethereal, on the verge of collapse.
"Truly, you are a heaven-sent, unparalleled genius. You are already not far from the Demon Emperor realm. How about this: I will lead my forces and withdraw from this realm. Sacrificing this entire continent should be enough for you to break through to the Demon Emperor realm."
The Fire Evil Demon Emperor looked at his illusory body, felt the feeble, weak power within him. A shadow of gloom swept through his eyes. He drew a deep breath, suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, and spoke expressionlessly.
It wasn't that he cared about the safety of the Fire Evil Clan members below him. It was simply that this illusory shadow of his had been summoned through the bloodline power of his clansmen. If this body of his were destroyed, then his true body, far away within the Fire Evil Clan, would naturally also be affected.
He was currently at a critical juncture in breaking through to the Profound Demon Emperor level. He didn't want a minor matter in this place to affect the major affair of his breakthrough.
If he failed to break through this time, who knew how many years—how many months—he would have to wait for another such opportunity?
"Heh heh, do you think that's possible?" Yun Yi, hearing this, smiled coldly and said.
A flash of cold light flickered in the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's eyes. He raised his head and stared at Yun Yi with a fierce, murderous gaze. "This Emperor merely didn't wish to fight you to a mutually destructive end, and thus took a step back! Do you truly think this Emperor fears you?!"
"Moreover, if this body of this Emperor perishes here, my true body far within the clan will naturally sense it. At that time, the matter of you possessing the Saint Demon Flame will spread. You will face pursuit and assassination from the entire Saint Heaven Clan, from the entire Demon Realm! Even if you hide in the Great Thousand World, you will find it impossible to move a single step!"
"You had best think clearly!"
Hearing the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's words, which concealed a hidden threat, Yun Yi merely smiled faintly. He formed a one-handed seal. Ripples spread out in rings from the space around him. As the ripples spread, it seemed as if the entire world was trembling at this moment.
Watching the fluctuations transmitting from the sky, a trace of terror involuntarily surged in the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's eyes. The power within him at this moment had already been greatly diminished because Yun Yi had just devoured a portion of it.
Meanwhile, Yun Yi's strength had made substantial progress. Under these shifting circumstances of one waning and the other waxing, he was already no match for Yun Yi. And now, the heavenly phenomenon brought about by the divine ability the other was executing—that sense of threat—made the Fire Evil Demon Emperor restless and uneasy.
That was absolutely a Great Divine Ability! A Great Divine Ability sufficient to completely and utterly obliterate him!
He didn't even need to think to know that this battle was a guaranteed loss.
Swoosh!
Therefore, the Fire Evil Demon Emperor waved his sleeve. Surging, torrential seas of fire instantly materialized out of thin air, raging across heaven and earth, sweeping towards Yun Yi. His own body, however, directly abandoned the surviving Fire Evil Clan members and transformed into a ray of blood light, retreating explosively.
From the looks of it, he actually intended to flee without fighting.
"Can you even escape?"
Watching the Fire Evil Demon Emperor, who without the slightest hesitation abandoned his clansmen and fled, Yun Yi smiled mockingly. He extended his palm and clenched it towards the surging, torrential seas of fire sweeping towards him.
Radiance burst forth brilliantly between heaven and earth. The space ahead was torn apart. Within it, a giant maw formed from black flames appeared. In a single gulp, it devoured those surging, torrential seas of fire, transforming them into the purest, most refined energy, which dispersed into his body.
Simultaneously, his other palm made a grasping motion through the air towards the distant Fire Evil Demon Emperor.
Bang!
That stretch of heaven and earth directly shattered and burst apart, transforming into an enormous spatial black hole tens of thousands of li wide. The countless spatial fragments were molded by an intangible force into a transparent, giant spatial hand. With a single grab, it seized the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's body within its grasp.
Boom!
Endless blood light shot into the sky. In the next instant, an enormous blood-red demonic shadow, tens of thousands of zhang in size, materialized. It shattered and exploded the giant spatial hand, then fled by treading through the void.
Swish!
However, just at that moment, a figure whose body was covered in a layer of black flames appeared above him. The face of this figure... was exactly the same as Yun Yi's.
It was unmistakably Yun Yi's soul clone!
"Emperor Realm soul—"
Seeing Yun Yi's soul clone and feeling that peculiar, unique oppressive sensation, Zhu Kun, Gu Yuan, and the others were all greatly shocked. This kind of feeling—they had only sensed it from a mere handful of people: Gu Yuan, Zhu Kun, Xiao Yan, and Hun Tiandi. Now, Yun Yi had to be added to that list.
The black-clad Yun Yi said nothing, his expression blank and emotionless as he watched the Fire Evil Demon Emperor sweep past at high speed. His finger pressed down through the void.
Rip!
Between heaven and earth, endless fiery, fierce gale winds seemed to converge from all directions, actually transforming into a ten-thousand-zhang enormous pillar of fire. The pillar of fire was as if solid. It descended with a thunderous crash, viciously pressing down with crushing force upon that demonic shadow of the Fire Evil Demon Emperor.
The Fire Evil Demon Emperor roared towards the heavens. A demonic fist blasted out, meeting that suppressing, descending wind pillar head-on in a forceful clash.
Bang!
Yet, at the instant of contact, the fire pillar suddenly dispersed into nothingness, transforming into billions upon billions of tiny sparks of flame. The flames borrowed the force of the wind. Every single spark of flame that swept past tore open 'wound' after 'wound' across the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's body, causing the other's aura to grow even fainter and weaker.
The sense of life-threatening crisis was not the most agonizing thing for the Fire Evil Demon Emperor. The most agonizing thing was instead that... on the path of flame, he had actually been defeated by a junior who wasn't even a Heavenly Sovereign yet!
The wounds on his body were the best proof—they were also proof of his disgrace.
Even if he could console himself that this was caused by the might of the Saint Demon Flame, the indisputable fact remained that he was about to be defeated by an ant below the Heavenly Sovereign level. This filled his heart with blazing fury.
Yet, before he could even mount a counterattack, the black-robed Yun Yi strode through the void and arrived. His gaze was cold and indifferent. Without a single word of nonsense, he struck out with a palm. It seemed light and effortless, as if carrying no force or momentum whatsoever. But the moment it was unleashed, the space before him seemed to be utterly ignored. When the palm landed, it struck directly upon the Fire Evil Demon Emperor's chest.
Boom!
The palm landed. Heaven and earth seemed to tremble violently. Then, the Fire Evil Demon Emperor was seen reeling as if struck by a heavy blow, sent flying backwards. Amidst those miserable, agonized howls, the Fire Evil Demon Emperor instantly collapsed and crumbled, transforming into surging, torrential evil qi that dispersed across heaven and earth.
"Lord Demon Emperor—"
Watching the Fire Evil Demon Emperor be beaten into collapse, then swept cleanly away by Yun Yi's Saint Demon Flame, the remaining members of the Fire Evil Clan were filled with grief and despair. They roared hoarsely towards the sky.
Immediately following, what came was deep, profound terror. They didn't know how His Highness Yun Yi, who had just dispersed their old ancestor, would deal with them.
"Your Highness Yun Yi! It was you who guided my clan here! I was the first Fire Evil Clan member you knew! You can't kill me! I can serve you faithfully, be your horse, your ox!" The terror of death made Leighton's heart tremble. He knelt in the void, pleading towards Yun Yi high above.
"Since you can do anything for me... then lend me a helping hand!"
Unfortunately, Leighton's pleas did not stir the slightest ripple in Yun Yi's heart. He looked at the Fire Evil Clan members below and spoke in a cold, indifferent voice.
In the next second, a giant hand spanned the sky. Within its palm was contained a terrifying devouring power.
"No—"
After a single, blood-curdling, miserable scream, the millions upon millions of Fire Evil Clan members on the ground burst apart in quick succession, transforming into rolling demonic qi that dispersed between heaven and earth.
"Next... it's up to you." Lowering his head to look at that vast, massive demonic qi, Yun Yi murmured.
"Bang—"
Just at that moment, the sound of shattering space rang out. Hun Tiandi's figure broke free from within the World in the Palm.
"I didn't expect you to actually be able to escape!" Yun Yi watched Hun Tiandi, his body drenched in blood and continuously burning in the distance, and chuckled lightly.
"Yun Yi..." Hun Tiandi's body trembled. His eyes blood-red, he stared at Yun Yi. To break free from that alternate space-time, he had not hesitated to self-ignite his Dou Di Body. Only then had he barely managed to escape.
Even if he had escaped this time, recovering his self-ignited Dou Di Body would take at least several hundred years, or even longer, before he could cultivate it again. Sometimes... it might even be impossible to successfully cultivate it again. This price was extremely and devastatingly heavy.
"Since you're in a hurry, let's start with you first!" Yun Yi turned a deaf ear to Hun Tiandi's furious roar. He looked at the other expressionlessly, then raised his hand and pointed out with a single finger.
Seeing this, Hun Tiandi was instantly alarmed. His figure immediately retreated explosively into the distance.
Yet, as Yun Yi's finger pointed out, a pitch-black flame swiftly swept over. Around Hun Tiandi, it formed chain after chain of pitch-black chains. The chains formed an exceptionally profound and abstruse array.
Seeing that flame array, Hun Tiandi's face turned ashen pale. From it, he sensed the aura of death. He immediately hurried to retreat explosively.
Swoosh!
Yet, the moment his figure retreated, that enormous flame array pierced through the void, following closely behind him like a bone-burrowing parasite. Immediately after, the array swept across, drawing Hun Tiandi into it.
"Rumble!"
"My Hun Clan's thousand-year schemes... to ultimately end in such a fate..."
"I am not willing... not willing to accept this..."
"Ah..."
Under those countless watchful gazes, Hun Tiandi's blood-curdling, desperate roars echoed thunderously across heaven and earth.
The layer upon layer of chains around the array coiled around Hun Tiandi's body. His body, entangled by those lines of fire, rapidly melted away, finally transforming into a cluster of crimson-red energy light.
The moment the light cluster appeared, under the refinement of the Saint Demon Flame, it transformed into the purest energy and transmitted into Yun Yi's body.
"Hun Tiandi... is dead—"
"Not just Hun Tiandi! That Extraterritorial Evil Clan has also been wiped out!"
Upon the earth, countless people watched as Hun Tiandi and the Fire Evil Clan's experts were annihilated by Yun Yi. For a moment, they actually forgot their own dire circumstances. Their bodies couldn't help but tremble. That apocalyptic, seemingly hopeless, desperate situation... was finally over.
"Hun Tiandi..." Gu Yuan and the others also watched that now-empty void with complicated expressions. That utterly domineering and unconstrained Hun Tiandi had thus fallen right before their eyes.
Even a Dou Di couldn't live forever and endure through the ages. Then what meaning was there in their own bitter, desperate pursuits?
"Now is not the time to celebrate too early!" Just as the people of the Dou Qi Continent were cheering and rejoicing, within the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan, Zhu Kun was watching Yun Yi high above with an extremely grave, solemn expression. He spoke heavily.
"Indeed. There's still one major problem here that hasn't been resolved!" Zhu Ming nodded with equal seriousness. This Yun Yi... was probably even more dangerous than the Fire Evil Clan and Hun Tiandi.
"That stinking brat Jiang Yun—is there still no sign of movement from him yet?" Casting a solemn glance at Yun Yi's figure, Zhu Kun turned his head and looked at Zi Yan and Medusa, asking.
Hearing this, the two women exchanged a glance and simultaneously shook their heads. They had not yet received any news of Jiang Yun. Qing Lin and the Little Medical Fairy had been guarding his place of seclusion the entire time. There was still no news from them either. It seemed Jiang Yun still needed some more time before he could emerge.
"Then this matter is truly thorny and troublesome..." Having received the answer, Zhu Kun rubbed his hands together with some headache and frustration.
"Jiang Yun said to give the Emperor-grade Prototype Pill to Hun Tiandi. That was his plan. Now that Hun Tiandi has been refined by Yun Yi—is that also within his plan?"
Hearing Zhu Kun's inquiry, Zi Yan and Medusa shook their heads once again. They only knew that Jiang Yun had instructed them to let the Emperor-grade Prototype Pill fall into Hun Tiandi's hands. Because using an Emperor Pill to break through would leave behind major hidden dangers and drawbacks later on. At the same time, it was also because Jiang Yun had a larger scheme afterward that required Hun Tiandi to break through to Dou Di. But they didn't know that Jiang Yun precisely wanted Hun Tiandi, after breaking through to Dou Di, to lend Yun Yi a helping hand.
Now, with the situation as it was, even they felt an extreme sense of urgency and danger.
Seeing the two women shake their heads, Zhu Kun immediately cursed in a low voice, "That stinking brat! Hiding things even from his own wives and father-in-law! What a little bastard!"
"Boom—"
At that moment, an enormous, thunderous boom made the cheering, rejoicing crowd snap back to their senses. Looking at the enormous grand array in the sky, they instantly felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.
So they still hadn't escaped the crisis.
One Hun Tiandi had fallen, but there was an even more terrifying Yun Yi. This time... who would come to save them?
"Hua-la-la—"
In the sky, rolling demonic qi surged towards the four corners of heaven and earth. Wherever it passed, the Dou Qi originally existing on the Dou Qi Continent began to be polluted and tainted by the demonic qi one after another. All living beings were extinguished, transforming into a demonic realm utterly devoid of life.
This was the domineering, tyrannical nature of the Extraterritorial Evil Clan. Compared to the spiritual energy of the Great Thousand World, evil qi was even more invasive and aggressive. Once a region was polluted by it, returning to its original state was practically impossible.