Cold Cloud Mountain was so tall that its peak was usually hidden behind clouds, but today wasn’t a normal day. Today, countless large and small profound ships and profound arks were gathered on top of Cold Cloud Mountain, pushing away the clouds with their auras until they were at least several hundred kilometers away. The airflow was also in a constant state of flux.

The Eastern Frost Monarch, Dongfang Hanwei, and their servants had covertly made their way to the foot of Cold Cloud Mountain. Every time the monarch looked at his daughter, he discovered that he was filled with worry and trepidation.

“Father, will the Nine Great Sects really show up?” Dongfang Hanwei asked. She knew that Yun Che was powerful beyond imagination, but they were still the nine strongest sects of the realm. Every single one of them possessed immeasurable wealth and powerful experts.

Yun Che might be able to fight, one, two or even three sects all at the same time, but nine... Could he really deal with all their peak experts alone?

Moreover, he had murdered three Divine Kings from two great sects already! At the very least, Great Yin Palace and the Dark Roc Clan were sworn enemies with him.

The Eastern Frost Monarch shook his head and said, “How can the likes of us fathom the decision of the Nine Great Sects? That being said, I’m certain that the Sun Death Sword Master won’t be attending. In fact, the Sun Death Sword Realm may not bother to send anyone at all.”

Sun Death Sword Realm was the strongest out of all nine sects!

The Sun Death Sword Master was the strongest sword master and profound practitioner of this realm! No one had been able to dethrone him for several thousand years!

Dongfang Hanwei let out a small sigh of relief after she heard this.

True, there’s no way the Sun Death Sword Master will attend this gathering... so that’s one less danger Yun Che needed to worry about at least.

The Eastern Frost Monarch observed his daughter’s expression before pointing out, “Hanwei, you seem pretty concerned with Venerable Yun’s safety.”

“...Senior Yun saved my life and my country. It’s only right that I feel grateful to him,” Dongfang Hanwei answered.

“Mn.” The Eastern Frost Monarch nodded slightly before shooting her another deep look. Then, he looked away with a complicated expression on his face.

Was the crisis of the Eastern Frost Nation truly over? No, of course not.

Yun Che’s bold taunt had caused a huge stir among the eastern realms, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that Eastern Frost Nation was the “cause” of everything. Moreover, Yun Che had chosen to stay in their country while he waited for the appointed time to arrive, further binding Eastern Frost Nation’s fate to Yun Che’s against their will.

If Yun Che was killed by the Nine Great Sects, then the Great Yin Immortal Palace and the Dark Roc Clan would definitely take out their anger on the Eastern Frost Nation. Their fate would only be crueler and more despairing than the day the Heavenly Martial Nation had marched up to their gates.

On the other hand, if Yun Che really did manage to defeat the Nine Great Sects...

That dreamlike outcome caused the Eastern Frost Monarch to clench his trembling hands into a fist unconsciously.

Whatever today’s outcome might be, it would literally decide the fate of the Eastern Frost Nation, even if the Eastern Frost Monarch knew that Yun Che didn’t care if they lived or died at all.

It was a kind of sorrow the weak simply had to contend with.

Meanwhile, people were talking both above and below the mountain.

“Who the hell is this Yun Che? Don’t we have anything definite on him yet?”

“I don’t know. There are rumors saying that he’s from a whole different star realm, and that he cultivates some sort of strange profound flame.”

“I heard he single handedly killed Fairy Zixuan and the Dark Roc Great Elder. Even Ming Xiao was defeated by him. What is his cultivation?”

“The rumors say that he’s a level one Divine King, but that has to be a mistake. Considering that he was able to defeat Ming Xiao and Fairy Zixuan, he may very well be a level eight or even level nine Divine King!”

“Le... level nine Divine King? Doesn’t that put him on par with the Sun Death Sword Master!?”

“It’s just a guess. Also, I heard that the Sun Death Sword Master is in secluded cultivation, working to reach level ten Divine King. No one knows if he succeeded yet though. It’s likely that he’s still in secluded cultivation.”

“Tenth level Divine King... If the Sun Death Sword Master succeeds, a new legend will be born under his name.”

“Regardless, there’s no way the Sun Death Sword Master will show up today whether or not he’s finished with his cultivation.”

“But of course! He would lose face if he responded to an arrogant taunt like this personally.”

......

Ever since the Nine Great Sects took over the eastern realms, very few people had dared to taunt them, much less survive the retaliation. Yun Che was definitely the very first person to taunt the Nine Great Sects openly and threaten them with execution if they failed to attend.

The number of onlookers grew bigger and bigger. The usually lonely mountain was packed with people, and the sky was blotted by countless profound ships.

A wave of air came out of nowhere, and the sea of profound vessels to the east suddenly split apart.

A couple of people stepped out of the sea of profound vessels and descended on the peak of Cold Cloud Mountain slowly.

The entire Cold Cloud Mountain Range fell silent for a brief moment before a huge uproar tens of times louder than before broke out.

“The Grand Head Elder of Soul Cry Monastery!”

“Behind him is the Shattered Moon Monastery Master... Wan Star Hall Master... Black Fiend Sect Master... Blood Hand Poison Sovereign... Blue Profound Spiritual Master... Yaksha Devil Lord...”

The group of seven landed on the peak in succession, and each person’s appearance triggered a huge uproar.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

An eighth person joined the group as well, but he was covered in wounds and smelling like herbs despite his imposing pressure... It was the clan master of the Dark Roc Clan, Ming Xiao!

The parted sea of profound vessels finally closed after Ming Xiao’s arrival.

The eight figures stood proudly on the mountain peak. Even the profound arks and profound ships hovering above the mountain hurriedly lowered their altitude so that they weren’t higher than the group of eight.

They were only eight, but every one of them was incredibly important in their own sect. Normally, the appearance of any one of them was more than enough to cause a huge stir.

Soul Cry Monastery, Shattered Moon Monastery, Wan Star Pavilion, Dark Roc Mountain, Blood Hand Villa, Black Fiend Poison Sect, Yaksha Devil Sect, and Great Yin Immortal Palace... A total of eight sects were represented by these people!

Each of the sects had only sent one person to represent them, but six of them were sect masters, one of them was a grand elder, and the last one was a master among sect masters with the title “Devil Lord”!

The strongest of the nine sects, Sun Death Sword Realm, hadn’t sent anyone over but it fell within everyone’s predictions.

“Six sect masters and two grand elders... hss.” A lot of people were sucking in deep breaths. This scene alone was worth the trip already.

Obviously, it wasn’t a coincidence that all eight great sects had only sent one representative to attend. They must’ve discussed this among themselves during the three days. The reason they hadn’t sent more people was to avoid shaming themselves and making themselves look weaker... after all, their “enemy” was only one person!

Still, the fact that the sect masters and the grand head elders of the respective sects had arrived themselves proved that they weren’t underestimating Yun Che.

Fairy Zixuan and Ming Ao’s deaths were no accident after all!

“This is...” Although the Eastern Frost Monarch was mentally prepared from the start, he still couldn’t help but be taken aback by their arrival. Six sect masters and two grand elders! It was such terrifying power that he couldn’t even imagine it in his head. Could Yun Che really fight them all alone?

Beside him, Dongfang Hanwei was so nervous she couldn’t even speak.

“Six sect masters and two grand elders, and the Soul Cry Grand Elder and Yaksha Devil Lord are at least as strong as any sect master. They’re all top tier profound practitioners! This... this is just too much.”

“Yun Che brought it all on himself.”

“Yun Che still hasn’t arrived yet... he can’t be afraid, can he?”

“That’s very possible!”

“As I thought, Sun Death Sword Realm didn’t send anyone.”

“You don’t say.”

While the people were busy shouting, guessing and gossiping in excitement, a black light suddenly fell straight toward Cold Cloud Mountain from the sky above.

It looked like a pitch black lightning was striking the mountain peak, and it was followed by an equally loud explosion.

Boom.

The impact caused a shockwave so terrible that all the profound vessels within a ten or so kilometers radius were knocked back. The weaker profound practitioners felt their vision turn black as their ears and body ached with terrible pain. Some were even unconscious and bleeding out of all their orifices.

The entire Cold Cloud Mountain shook once, and a giant crack appeared from the top of the mountain all the way down to the foot, resulting in an entire new cliff that stunned all onlookers.

At the edge of the cliff was a figure clad in black. He stood on the opposite side from the eight great sects’ top experts, and his eyes were cold and indifferent.

Cries of terror filled the air for a time. Everyone’s face was etched in deep shock. They looked at the black figure at the top of the mountain and felt their hearts beating wildly against their chests.

That was the person who taunted the Nine Great Sects... His appearance alone struck deep fear in many people’s hearts.

None of the experts standing on the peak of Cold Cloud Mountain showed any reaction on their faces when Yun Che arrived. Ming Xiao was the only one who subconsciously took half a step backward.

After all, he was the only one out of all of them who witnessed and tasted the terror that was Yun Che with his own body.

He should’ve been recuperating in his sect, but he had come anyway for reasons only he himself knew.

“Are you Yun Che!?”

A man dressed in blue clothes stepped forward slowly. His complexion looked dark, and his eyes were clearly clouded by an unnatural sheen of black energy. “I wasn’t expecting you to show up, but this is fine. At least I won’t need to waste time to find you!”

The man was none other than the palace chief of the Great Yin Immortal Palace and the infamous Blue Profound Spiritual Master!

But it was as if Yun Che hadn’t heard him at all. He stared at the eight people in front of him, noting that their auras were completely different from one another, meaning that no two people belonged to the same sect. His mouth slowly curled into a grin as he said, “So, we’re missing one. Very well. I guess I’ll be removing one sect from the East Ruins Realm after this.”

The near indiscernible sneer on his face and the whisper that sounded like a decree from the heavens shot a chill through everyone’s heart.

“What an arrogant brat.” The Yaksha Devil Lord glared at Yun Che and said, “Huh? A first level Divine King? Clan Master Ming Xiao, are you sure this is the one we’re looking for?”

“Heh. Underestimate him and you’re a goner before you know it,” Ming Xiao said coldly. He dared not offend Yun Che recklessly without confirming the latter’s intentions, but of course he wasn’t going to call Yun Che “supreme one” before so many people.

“Hmph, we wouldn’t come here personally if we did. However, this brat is even more conceited than I imagined...” The Blood Hand Poison Sovereign stretched out his right palm as bluish black light danced eerily between his fingers. “So I’m going to make sure that his end is far worse than he imagined as well!”

No one was bothering to hide their conversations or expressions, but Yun Che still didn’t react to them in the slightest. Instead, he slowly walked toward the group of eight until he was about thirty meters away from them.

Eight people, six level seven Divine Kings, two level six Divine Kings. There was no one in the entire realm except the Sun Death Sword Master who could defeat a force like this.

Upon stopping, Yun Che said indifferently, “The reason I’ve ordered you all to come today is to declare one thing.”

“From this day onward, I, Yun Che, am the ruler of the eastern realms!”

Everyone’s expressions changed drastically when they heard this.

Yun Che slowly raised his hands and narrowed his eyes. He stared at the group of eight in front of him and said, “You now have a choice to make. Submit to me, or die!”