“Hehehehe.” Long Bai merely chuckled at Yun Che’s icy threats. “Yun Che, I heard that you were a peak Divine Sovereign a few months ago when you and the northern region devil people invaded the Eastern Divine Region. You seriously wounded Honorable Tai Yu single-handedly, and defeated the Moon God Emperor together with that Qianye woman of yours.”
“This made me assume that your cultivation would improve when you emerged from the Eternal Heaven Pearl, but…” Long Bai looked down on Yun Che as if judging him with a mild expression of disappointment. “It seems that you are still a Divine Sovereign despite bearing both the power of the Heretic God and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor. How entirely predictable yet disappointing.”
“Even my talons disdain the very idea of going up against a Divine Sovereign.”
Yun Che replied with the same expression and gaze as before, “You wish to fight me alone?”
“It will be a boring and laughable fight, but…” Long Bai raised an arm, and an astounding pressure slammed down even though he hadn’t unleashed his draconic aura at all. “You must die by my own hands!”
“Ptooey!” Yan Three spat bloody spittle on the ground before stepping forward angrily. “You’ll have to walk over my corpse first before—”
“Get lost,” said Yun Che indifferently.
Yan Three immediately withdrew his neck and his foot.
“Very well.” Yun Che slowly clenched his fingers into a fist. His expression was still calm and collected, but only he knew that the rage scalding his heart and soul was like a million devils screaming for release, and that he could lose control over them at any moment.
“That is true. There are some very boring and laughable things in this world that have to be done regardless of one’s personal feelings.”
Yun Che slowly stepped toward Long Bai despite the scared and worried expressions on the northern region profound practitioners. “If you wish to fight me alone this much, then I, the Northern Region Devil Master Yun Che, shall grant you this favor!”
“He’ll grant him this favor…? Hahahahaha…” The Dragon Gods, Dragon Sovereigns, and Western Region God Emperors all laughed like crazy when they realized what they had just heard.
He might be the Northern Region Devil Master that the devil people had fought to the death to protect, but it did nothing to change the fact that he was just a level ten Divine Sovereign. How could they not laugh at his ridiculous statement?
In fact, they were even starting to wonder if Yun Che had broken under the sheer desperation and pressure he was facing, and had lost his mind.
“Hmph.” Long Bai exhaled slowly. “I suppose you deserve a favor for what you’ve done for the Primal Chaos back then. Do enjoy it while it lasts. The amount of time you’ll be able to hold out directly translates to the amount of time your devilish pets will be able to breathe.”
The moment he finished speaking, he took one step forward and unleashed his draconic power in full, causing almost all the profound practitioners from both sides to shudder violently. The weaker ones had to take a step backward, and the heavily injured ones were even knocked to the ground and bled from the inside.
Long Bai said slowly, “This is my battle with Yun Che. No one is to interfere no matter what happens.”
Both the northern region profound practitioners and the western region profound practitioners were stunned by this. The Sky Dragon God blurted, “But my lord, a defeated, drenched dog like him do not deserve—”
The Pure Dragon God seized his arm before he could finish and said, “Shut up.”
“Anyone who dares to ignore my order… will. Pay. For. It!”
Long Bai’s warning was as alarming as it was intimidating. The words sounded like a ridiculous joke, but his tone was anything but that!
The Sky Dragon God immediately shut his mouth and broke out in a cold sweat.
At this point, even the slowest person had come to the realization that Long Bai wasn’t attacking Yun Che just because he was the Dragon Monarch, and the latter was the Devil Master. There obviously existed a deep, personal grudge between the two.
When they recalled the Devil Queen’s earlier taunts and put two to two together…
The possibility flashed across everyone’s mind, but was extinguished as quickly as it came. They didn’t dare to let even a single trace of their blasphemous thoughts slip through their mouths or their expressions.
The few people who knew the truth such as Chi Wuyao, Qianye Ying’er, and Yun Che himself weren’t surprised that Long Bai would want to fight the latter alone at all.
After all, it was the only way the jealousy-maddened dragon could vent the pure hatred he had been accumulating in his heart for the past couple of years. Only by crushing Yun Che in every way possible with his own two hands could he finally regain some shreds of his pathetic pride and balance.
One only needed to look at his lack of expression when the Western Divine Region had utterly crushed the Northern Divine Region a moment ago to know that it was true. All he had felt during that battle was impatience and irritation.
Finally… finally… FINALLY…
His expression was calm, and his draconic aura was silent. However, his seemingly relaxed fingers were really so taut they could break with just a bit more force.
“All of you, move to the back.” At the same time, Yun Che made a similar order. “Anyone who interferes with my battle with Long Bai will be punished severely!”
Yun Che’s declaration stunned every northern region profound practitioner besides the three Yama Ancestors who never questioned his orders. They all looked hesitant because their greatest desire and the very reason they fought up until this point was to deliver him safely away from this place, no matter the cost.
With that in mind, how could they allow him to face the terrible Long Bai alone?
Chi Wuyao shot Yun Che a long look, but didn’t try to change his mind or even confirm his intentions. Raising an arm and pushing out a gentle gust of dark energy, she said, “Do as the Devil Master’s says. His Magnificence’s order cannot be denied, and this is his battlefield. We don’t have the right to interfere.”
Qianye Ying’er staggered her way to Chi Wuyao before falling on top of the Devil Queen. Somehow, she was able to find the strength to grab her arm in a vice grip and say, “What… are you doing…”
“Believe in him,” Chi Wuyao said.
“It’s not a matter about believing in him or not…” A bitter-looking Qianye Ying’er clenched her teeth so tightly she could shatter them. “You and Mu Xuanyin… absolutely have the strength… to send him away from here! You two can turn that risk… into no risk at all!”
“If not for him, then think of everyone… who has sacrificed to come this far. Are you… going to let them die… for nothing!?”
“…” Chi Wuyao’s lips parted. She didn’t realize that she had clenched her hands into fists. The normally decisive woman was hesitating greatly.
She had never seen Yun Che looking this certain in her life. However, she didn’t know if his confidence was driven by good reason or complete insanity, nor could she ignore the fact that he was, without a doubt, still a level ten Divine Sovereign.
“He won’t…”
A soft, girlish voice suddenly entered her ears. It was Shui Meiyin murmuring while covering her slumped sister with her aura, “Big brother Yun Che… won’t let their sacrifices be for nothing… he will never.”
She carried Shui Yingyue and flew away after that.
Her reply affirmed Chi Wuyao’s resolve, and she spoke while lifting several grievously wounded northern region profound practitioners with her aura. “Move! We obey the Devil Master’s order!”
Both sides retreated from the center of the Deep Sea God Realm. Soon, Yun Che and Long Bai were the only ones left.
“Come,” said Long Bai while putting his arms behind his back.
His heart screamed for blood and wanted nothing more than to tear Yun Che to pieces right here and now, but his pride, arrogance, manhood, status, and reputation all stopped him from making the first move.
The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword winked into existence with a black flash. Yun Che grabbed the weapon and said, “Grab your weapon.”
“Weapons are beneath me,” Long Bai said indifferently.
“Is that so?” Yun Che actually put away his weapon after replying. Then, his gaze landed on Long Bai’s solar plexus, and he said, “Oh? You were hurt?”
Yun Che’s eyes darkened, and he raised his right arm with a burst of profound energy. A stunning, fiery light appeared around his right fist, and he punched himself in the solar plexus to the shock of everyone.
PCKBOOM!!
The blow was so devastating that it penetrated his internal organs. Large amounts of blood flowed out of his solar plexus, his back, and his mouth at the same time.
“Your… Your Magnificence!?”
“Yun Che!!”
Confused cries erupted from behind him. Forget the northern region profound practitioners, even the western region profound practitioners couldn’t understand what the hell he was doing. Of all the things they imagined that he would do against the terrible Long Bai, mutilating himself was the absolute last thing in their minds.
It was no superficial self-harm either. It was a blow through the solar plexus!
The heart-piercing wound Long Bai received earlier was tiny to begin with. Also, enough time had passed that nearly half of it was fully healed.
Meanwhile, Yun Che’s self-inflicted wound was obviously worse than Long Bai’s in every way. Even if it wasn’t, it was a perfectly fresh wound. It would surely affect his vitality and profound energy drastically.
“Is… is he insane?” the Myriad Manifestations God Emperor asked.
“Hah, he must be.” The Hui Dragon Emperor snorted in disdain. “Or maybe this is his way to buy himself some pride knowing that he would lose horribly? Hehe. Looks like the so-called Devil Master is just a thirty year old brat after all. How childish and pitiful can you be?”
The five Venerable Withered Dragons were frowning, however.
It was because Yun Che’s level ten Divine Sovereign profound energy was as strong as a level ten Divine Master’s!
Although they had heard about this from Long Bai and the Dragon Gods, they had to see it to believe it. They couldn’t help but be shocked by the transcendent sight they just saw.
“…” Long Bai didn’t say anything. His only reaction was curling his lips into the glimmer of a sneer.
It didn’t take much imagination to know just how painful it was to be on the receiving end of an attack that went through the heart. However, Yun Che’s expression remained perfectly neutral, almost as if he couldn’t feel the pain at all. He puffed up his blood-drenched chest in no time and stared back at Long Bai. “Now it’s almost fair… let us begin.”
Boom!
With that, Yun Che gathered all his profound energy into his right fist and rushed toward Long Bai like a tornado.
The Dragon God didn’t use weapons because their physical bodies and strength were superior to almost everything in the Primal Chaos. More accurately, their talons were already the greatest weapons they could possibly wield. To use anything else would only be detrimental to them.
On the other hand, Yun Che had seriously injured himself and abandoned his own weapon.
Worse, he decided to punch Long Bai directly instead of using his greatest powers, darkness and fire.
No matter how you looked at it, he was working hard to dig his own grave.
All seven Dragon Gods looked at the Devil Master scornfully.
While Yun Che’s profound energy was as abnormally strong as the rumors claimed, the idea of hitting the Dragon Monarch’s body with pure strength was… they could already imagine what was going to happen next.
Long Bai still didn’t react to Yun Che’s violent action. He hadn’t even moved his hands from behind his back.
He let Yun Che’s fist fly toward his face.
BOOM
Yun Che’s fist struck the space above Long Bai’s forehead.
There was no darkness or fire, but it was still the power of a peak Divine Master. The entire world shuddered beneath its explosion.
Space shattered, and dust flew everywhere. However, not only did Long Bai not move from his spot, his head only tilted around three inches backward.
It was because a faint layer of white light was stopping Yun Che’s fist from reaching him.
The western region profound practitioners looked on with scorn and pity on their faces. The northern region profound practitioners felt their hearts stop. To the latter, it was obviously a most despairing sight.
“It’s that unnatural white light again!” Chi Wuyao muttered to herself.
Long Bai’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He looked as if he was punched by a powerless child, not the northern region Devil Master.
He stared at Yun Che like someone would stare at a dying, struggling larva. “Have you realized how laughable you are?”
Yun Che’s face didn’t warp into the astonishment or panic he was expecting to see. Instead, his lips stretched into an eerie sneer.
“Good question.”
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, Yun Che’s spent energy defied common sense and erupted greater and stronger than it was before. At the same time, a pale profound energy exploded across Long Bai’s forehead!
The layer of white light surrounding Long Bai suddenly disappeared, and even his protective energy withdrew like a shameplant.
Rumble!
There was a thunderous impact, and Long Bai’s forehead crumpled inward like some sort of balloon. Not only that, the terrifying energy sent him spinning through the air before smashing into the ground hard!
Rumble rumble rumble…
The earth split, and the dust clouds floated. The ground was plowed at least fifteen kilometers before Long Bai’s body finally came to a stop.
