Beihan Chu’s body finally stopped moving and he lay on the ground limply.

Countless jaws smacked the ground in the same instant, and even the eyes of the great Divine Sovereigns had very nearly popped out of their sockets.

Superior Unwhite’s body abruptly sank down but he forcefully caught himself. As he stared at the scene in front of him, a look of deep shock and astonishment appeared on his face for the very first time.

What had they just witnessed?

Beihan Chu... The Beihan Chu, who had become a Divine Sovereign, had actually been sent flying by a single punch...

From Yun Che!?

Beihan Chu slowly stood up from the ground amidst the frightful silence. His eyes were widened to their fullest and they were trembling violently. He felt incomparable pain course through his Divine Sovereign body, his aura was a mess, and he felt as if his internal organs had been minced...

A mouthful of fresh blood surged up his throat but he forcefully swallowed it. He barely managed to stand up, but the moment his aura fluctuated, blood wildly spewed from his mouth in a manner that was many times more violent than before, and he vomited wave after wave of blood... He dropped to his knees just after he managed to stand up, and he spat out mouthful after mouthful of blood, more than a dozen in total, each mouthful of blood containing pieces of tooth.

About eighty percent of his teeth had been shattered. Given his Divine Sovereign body, they naturally had not shattered due to the impact of his fall. Instead, they had been cruelly destroyed by the power that had come from Yun Che, the power that had surged through his entire body in a split second...

It was clear that this had been Yun Che’s malicious intent.

The blood he had vomited had very nearly taken away half of Beihan Chu’s life. Blood no longer flowed and his aura had become much more restrained. However, he still knelt limply on the ground and did not rise to his feet even after a long time had passed. The only things that were moving were his widened and trembling eyes and it looked as if he had suddenly been thrust into a preposterous nightmare.

Right... A nightmare... This was definitely a nightmare...

Yun Che slowly lowered his arm as he said in a calm and indifferent voice, “Are you still going to let me attack you?”

Those nine incomparably cold and indifferent words were like nine steel needles stabbing into Beihan Chu’s heart and soul. His pupils froze and he was startled awake from his nightmare. His body flipped in the air as he leapt up and stared straight at Yun Che... His hand involuntarily moved towards his face and his entire hand was stained a bright crimson.

His face... was ruined.

Just a moment ago, he had been oh so majestic and awe-inspiring, oh so lofty and matchless. He was one of the young palace masters of the Nine Lights Heavenly Palace, an extraordinary genius whose name had been entered into the Northern Region Heavenly Sovereign Ranking, who was the referee of this Central Ruins Battle. The realm kings of the Five Nether Ruins had to treat him with extreme deference and respect, and that included his own father. All the people who directed admiring gazes at him looked as if they were worshipping a child of the gods with their eyes.

As he faced Yun Che, he had displayed all of a Divine Sovereign’s might and presence, he had stood proudly with his hands behind his back, as if he was facing a large ant.

Yet Yun Che had smashed him into the ground like a defeated and paralyzed dog with a single fist.

A face that was smeared with blood, teeth that were completely shattered, sinister and warped features... He cut such a sorry figure that everyone could not even bear to look at him as their hearts filled with pity.

“Chu... Chu’er!?”

It was only now that the Northern Chill Divine Sovereign managed to force out a croak... He had been struck dumb, he had been left completely stupified by these turn of events.

In fact, everyone had been struck dumb, the word “flabbergasted” was writ large on every face in the audience.

“...” The corners of Beihan Chu’s eyes and mouth were twitching violently. His vision blurred and it sometimes spun. Nothing had happened to his vision, but he had never experienced such humiliation and wretchedness in his entire life, and they were violently tearing at his heart and soul.

“You...” He opened his mouth, but the voice that came from his lips were as hoarse as the quacking of a duck whose neck had been twisted.

“Ahh!” A disordered black light suddenly flashed through his violently protruding eyeballs as Beihan Chu let out a strangled yell and rushed crazily toward Yun Che.

In an instant, his entire body was enveloped by black light and even his skin seemed to have turned a dusky gray. The oppressive might of a Divine Sovereign, an oppressive might that was clearly a little disordered, was violently released from his body as sword energy explosively erupted from his right arm and solidified into a black sword energy projection that was a foot long.

What proof? What letting Yun Che attack him seven times... He had already lost all of his face in that previous moment, so what dignity did he still have left!? Right now, he only wanted to rip Yun Che to shreds in the cruelest way possible.

All of the energy waves in the battlefield were shoved aside in an instant. As loud, startled gasps ran through the crowd, that black sword-shaped energy projection thrust toward Yun Che’s throat.

Yun Che did not move a single inch. Under countless eyes, whose pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, he raised an arm and actually grabbed at the dark sword energy that was piercing toward his throat.

Due to Beihan Chu’s humiliation and rage, he was using all of his Divine Sovereign strength without holding anything back!

“GO AND... DIE!!” Beihan Chu howled in a sinister voice.

SCREECH———

The clanging noise was so screeching that everyone felt as if countless sharp knives had shattered deep inside their hearts. Beihan Chu’s black sword energy projection made contact with Yun Che’s fingers and fresh blood erupted in the air...

But it was not Yun Che’s blood that had erupted into the air...

Beihan Chu’s black sword energy projection was instantly shattered along with five of his fingers, filling the air with black light, chunks of flesh, and blood.

Yun Che’s hand continued on its path forward, instantly latching around Beihan Chu’s throat, cutting off the miserable wail that was about to escape his mouth. After that, his fingers started to tighten, swiftly causing Beihan Chu’s neck bones and windpipe to contract, change shape, and start to fracture.

“Young palace master? Northern Region Heavenly Sovereign Ranking?” As he stared straight into Beihan Chu’s eyes, stared into those pupils that nearly ruptured due to his shock and fear, Yun Che muttered in a gloomy and cold voice, “You were crowing so happily that I wondered just how much ability you actually had. But it turns out that you are nothing more than a crippled dog who only knows how to bark!”

“Urgh... Ah... Aaaahhh...” Beihan Chu’s face turned black before swiftly turning green, the crippled hand which had lost all of its fingers wildly waved in the air as he struggled. But this terrifying hand had not only shackled his throat, it had even shackled his profound energy...

The power of a Divine Sovereign he had been so proud of, the Divine Sovereign power that was clearly so strong, had been trampled by Yun Che as if he was stepping on a small worm. No matter how hard he tried, he could not struggle free.

“Chu’er!”

“Stop!!”

Two roars that were so loud that they nearly shattered everyone’s eardrums rang out from two different places simultaneously. What followed quickly after those two shouts were two earth-shaking explosions... and many screams of misery.

Profound energy erupted from the bodies of the Northern Chill Divine Sovereign and Superior Unwhite at the same time as they rushed straight toward Yun Che.

As the number one person in the Five Nether Ruins, the Northern Chill Divine Sovereign was not only a Divine Sovereign, he was a level four Divine Sovereign that approached the midstage of his realm of power! Superior Unwhite was also a level four Divine Sovereign and his power was slightly superior to the Northern Chill Divine Sovereign’s power. As the power of two level four Divine Sovereigns erupted in the Central Ruins Battlefield, just the energy waves and the force that exuded from their bodies was enough to send thousands of people flying through the air.

These two blasts of power, which were viewed as divine might in the Five Nether Ruins, were hurled toward the same person at the same time... A person who they had merely viewed as an “insignificant participant in the Central Ruins Battle”.

The power of the two great Divine Sovereigns engulfed Yun Che at the same time, suppressing his movements for an instant as his eyebrows fiercely sank.

BOOM!!

A huge blast of extremely cold and bizarre energy smashed into the left side of Yun Che’s chest. His body flipped in the air as he was instantly knocked several hundred meters away, the force of the blow cracking the ground underneath his feet.

Beihan Chu, who had been trapped in his grip, was also sent flying into the distance. The Northern Chill Divine Sovereign’s body turned as he grabbed Beihan Chu. When he saw Beihan Chu’s crippled and maimed hand, his eyes bulged so violently that his eye sockets nearly shattered.

“...” Yun Che straightened his body before using a hand to lightly sweep away the dust covering the left side of his chest.

The Central Ruins Battlefield had been thrown into complete chaos. Fear, shock, bewilderment... No, the audience were all at a complete loss as to how to describe their emotions as they witnessed the events that had just unfolded.

Beihan Chu had actually been heavily wounded by a single punch from Yun Che, and his furious counterstrike had been like a joke to Yun Che, easily disrupted and countered.

He was the genius Divine Sovereign in the Northern Region Heavenly Sovereign Ranking, the miracle of the Five Nether Ruins, the pride and joy of the Five Nether Ruins!

And Yun Che was clearly only a level five Divine King!

Could it be that he truly had not used any extraordinary methods to defeat those two Divine Kings before this? Could it be that he had truly not used a devil artifact to heavily injure those ten great Divine Kings in the span of a few breaths!?

Before this, no one would have believed that a level five Divine King would possess such strength. They were all convinced that he had used something like a devil artifact to defeat those ten great Divine Kings...

So what exactly... were they witnessing right now!!?

A level five Divine King had completely crushed Beihan Chu, a level one Divine Sovereign, under his foot, and he had trampled on him as if he was a small dog... Even a lunatic would not be able to spin such a ludicrous joke, yet this very “joke” had played out before their eyes.

“He... he... he...” Nanhuang Jian stared at Yun Che. Amidst his extreme shock and astonishment, he could not even speak properly. “Just who... exactly... is he...”

“Ah...” Nanhuang Mofeng’s throat continuously jiggled, but he had been rendered completely speechless.

“This isn’t good!” a Southern Phoenix Divine King suddenly blurted out. “Beihan Chu was wounded and he even suffered such great humiliation in front of the crowd. So there’s no way the Nine Lights Heavenly Palace will leave the matter at that... and Yun Che is representing our Southern Phoenix in this battle today.”

Once he said that, all of the dazed members of the Southern Phoenix turned their gazes toward him, shock and astonishment writ large on their faces.

Yun Che’s strength was so terrifying that it was completely inconceivable. Furthermore, his methods were also extremely venomous and vicious. He had shattered Beihan Chu’s teeth, ruined his face, maimed his hand... and what was even worse than all of these things was that he had caused Beihan Chu to lose all of his dignity and suffer endless humiliation!

Given Beihan Chu’s status in the Nine Lights Heavenly Palace, this was not as simple as just offending them anymore... Their revenge would be unimaginable.

Given Yun Che’s shocking strength, if he wanted to shrug off all the matters and leave, no one would be able to stop him. So the wrath of the Nine Lights Heavenly Palace would undoubtedly fall upon the Southern Phoenix Divine Country... and how could the Southern Phoenix Divine Country bear it?

“There’s no need to get flustered over this matter.” The Southern Phoenix DIvine Sovereign finally spoke and he sounded bizarrely confident.

He looked at Yun Che before looking at Nanhuang Chanyi. As he recalled his daughter’s utterly strange behavior and words today, his heart swelled with shock.

He was well aware of Nanhuang Chanyi’s “other identity”.

For her to act like this... Just who exactly was this man called Yun Che!?

Qianye Ying’er, who had been extremely silent up to this point, started to slowly rise to her feet... At the exact same instant, Nanhuang Chanyi’s gaze briefly flickered to the side.

Under countless shocked and stupefied gazes, she slowly walked forward and stepped into the battleground. She did not stop walking until she reached Yun Che’s side.

“There was no need for you to come out,” Yun Che said. “As long as their heads are screwed on straight, they won’t attack.”

“Hmph, the one whose head isn’t screwed on straight has always been you!” Qianye Ying’er retorted in an icy voice.

In front of them, the Northern Chill Divine Sovereign stared daggers at Yun Che, his eyes boring into him like hooks, as he supported Beihan Chu with one hand. Shock and rage pounded in his heart like tidal waves, but he bitterly held himself back from attacking. “You... Just who are you!?”

Even when he had seriously injured Beihan Chu in a single strike, even when he had shattered Beihan Chu’s fingers with a single hand, Yun Che had released the profound energy of a fifth level Divine King from beginning to end.

He had never witnessed such a bizarre and terrifying thing before. In fact, he had never even heard of such a thing before.

Even the rumors and legends about the distant king realms had not contained such an inconceivable tale.

“Is this proof enough?” Yun Che asked as he simply ignored the Northern Chill Divine Sovereign’s question.

“...” The Northern Chill Divine Sovereign’s face twisted up.

Bang!

Beihan Chu, whose profound energy was no longer suppressed, struggled free from his father’s grasp as his body fiercely shot forward. Just after he had advanced two steps, his body froze once more as fear and hatred danced wildly in his eyes. He finally started to backpedal as he howled in a quavery voice, “Royal Father... kill him... KILL HIM!!”

“Shut up!”

Superior Unwhite descended from the skies and those two fierce and severe words had been directed at Beihan Chu.

Beihan Chu was stunned. “Junior Master...”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut your mouth!?” Lu Bubai let out another deep yell. After that, he faced Yun Che and one could not find a single trace of anger on his face. In fact, he looked completely calm as he said, “Yun Che, your duel with the young palace master has already proven that you did not use any forbidden devil artifact to defeat those ten Divine Kings. The result of that battle was completely based on your own strength.”

“So, in the battle between the Southern Phoenix and the three sects, the Southern Phoenix wins.”

These words should have been said by the referee, Beihan Chu. But at this moment, it was Lu Bubai who pronounced these words. “According to the agreement, the Central Ruins Realm will belong to the Southern Phoenix Divine Country for the next five hundred years. The other star realms in the Nether Ruins are not allowed to take a single step into this place.”

The winner of the Central Ruins Battle normally only won forty percent of the Central Ruins Realm and they only held that portion for fifty years.

But this time... it was the entire Central Ruins Realm and it would be for a whole five hundred years!

This was completely unprecedented in the history of the Five Nether Ruins!

That was because they had absolutely never imagined that this scenario would truly come to pass when they had presented this bargaining chip.

The faces of the Northern Chill Divine Sovereign, East Ruins Divine Sovereign, and Western Ruins Divine Sovereign warped violently, but... none of them said a single word.

There were no cheers or rejoicing from the people belonging to the Southern Phoenix Divine Country either.

“There’s something else.” Yun Che stretched out his hand. “The Hidden Heaven Sword.”

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“Young Palace Master, give it to him.” Lu Bubai heaved a heavy sigh as he said those seven words that left everyone disbelieving.