Chapter 674 - Absolute Deterrence

“However, we do not need to spar,” the black-robed old man said as he lifted his left arm and a pale and slender white hand appeared from amidst that voluminous black sleeve. The hand slowly flipped open, and a cluster of flames that was only the size of a fist soundlessly appeared and began to silently hover there as it burned.

This was a cluster of blue flames, and among the profound flames, blue profound fire was one of the lowest grades of profound flames. It was also a profound flame that belonged in the lower rungs of power. Above the Earth Profound Realm, all of the profound flames should be purple at least. So that was to say that blue profound fire could not even harm a Sky Profound Realm practitioner, much less these strong and mighty Monarchs.

But what differentiated this blue flame from normal profound flames was the bizarre ice-blue tint that these blue flames had… and its color was almost exactly the same as that of extremely dense ice energy. What was even more bizarre was that one could not feel any profound energy emanations coming from this icy-blue fire. It was as if it was not even profound fire, but instead was the most ordinary and most harmless natural flame which could only be used to burn normal things.

“You only need to be able to block this old man’s small cluster of starfire and this old man will leave immediately and never again meddle in the affairs of your Sun Moon Divine Hall. But if you cannot even handle this tiny bit of starfire… then all of you will have to leave immediately and never trespass in this place again!”

The icy-blue flames gently swayed on top of the black-robed old man’s palm. While that heavy voice was still calm, it carried along with it an incomparably huge pressure, and the way the words were phrased made it obvious that this was not a discussion; instead, it was an unquestionable order… Furthermore, there was one more thing that was left unspoken but was clearly spelled all for all to see: You are basically not even to exchange blows with this old man. So if you can fend off this tiny cluster of flames, it will be counted as your win!

Once someone becomes a Monarch, he would have reached the highest level of power in this world. So as an individual that could look down on the rest of the world, there was never a time when a Monarch had been so despised before. Ye Shi’s heart burned with anger and he gave a cold laugh, “Even the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Phoenix God who is at the Divine Profound Realm would not dare to look down on an elder of Sun Moon Divine Hall. So this distinguished one, to speak in such a manner, you must truly be unafraid that your own words will come back to haunt you!”

“Haha…” The black-robed old man gave an indifferent laugh and did not speak any further. He simply pushed his hand out slightly, and the icy-blue flames leisurely flew towards Ye Shi’s chest.

The stronger one’s profound energy was, the stronger one’s comprehension of the natural laws would be, so the released energy would naturally become strong and dense. And once one had reached the level of Monarch, even the amount of energy it would take to lift a finger was enough to cause the air around to twist and tremble… This icy-blue flame flew out without a single vibration of profound energy, and there was no rippling or distortion in the space around... In fact, without even needing to mention space, even the natural elements in the area were not disturbed in the slightest.

When it was still in the black-robed old man’s hand, they could still understand that this cluster of fire’s lack of aura was due to the old man using profound strength to suppress it, but now that it had flown out of his hand, it still did not have any energy aura to speak of… The only explanation was that this cluster of fire was not composed using any laws of fire, and it was merely the most ordinary of flames!!

Besides this explanation, there was definitely no other possibility!

Immediately, Ye Shi’s only remaining thread of anxiety vanished into thin air. At this moment, he could completely verify that the black-robed old man who had appeared out of nowhere was only bluffing, and that absurdly strong aura was definitely artificially created by some special method in order to scare others… that is right! In this world, besides the Divine Phoenix Sect’s Phoenix God, there existed no other person that could defeat the Saint Emperor, the Sovereign of the Seas, the Heavenly Monarch, or the Sword Master! To think they had almost been so scared that they were going to retreat!

Ye Shi’s expression immediately grew dark, and he gave a cold laugh. He did not even bother to circulate his profound energy and simply sent a palm towards the incoming cluster of icy-blue flames. When his hand came into contact with the fire, he did not even feel the slightest bit of heat at all. That fire completely vanished from his view without leaving even a single mark behind.

“Hahahaha!” Ye Shi began to laugh wildly, “And here I was, thinking that this was some noble individual that hailed from unknown parts, but it looks like it was only a mad clown who tried to use smoke and mirrors to trick us! Hahahaha, this is simply too hilarious!” As he continued to laugh, he turned towards Ye Xinghan. “Young Master, Ninth Elder, it looks like today we will…”

When he had spoken up to this point, his voice suddenly came to a sudden halt. This was because he had discovered that Ye Xinghan, Ye Guying, Ye Juanyun, and Ye Shuran all looked like they were looking at something extremely terrifying as their eyes had opened to their widest degree and their pupils had completely dilated. As for the fifteen protectorates behind them… their faces were filled with abject terror and all the muscles on their faces and their entire bodies were trembling greatly… and as that trembling grew more and more intense, they opened their mouths as if they wanted to say something, but in their extreme terror, they could not voice their words.

The entire world seemed to completely freeze at that point, and there was a momentary silence that was broken by Ye Guying’s desperate and hoarse roar, “Your hand!! Hand!!”

Ye Shi involuntarily turned to look at his own hand… In an instant, his pupils had widened by many times, and his face had turned deathly white due to his extreme shock and terror.

Because the arm that he lifted up… no longer had a hand attached to it!!

His right hand… had disappeared!!

And this cluster of icy-blue flames continued to silently burn on the arm that had lost a hand… No! His arm was not being burned. To be accurate, it was being devoured! And as the icy-blue flames spread, he witnessed his hand disappearing inch by inch… and in the blink of an eye, the flames had spread to near his shoulder and half of his arm had completely disappeared.

During this entire process, there was no aura or sound that he could sense. In fact, he could not even feel the slightest bit of pain! There was no hint of something being burned… no one could see even a speck of ash being produced!

It was as if his arm was being mercilessly devoured by an invisible and terrifying black hole!

And what was being devoured was the mighty body of a Monarch at that!!

This was something that all of them had never seen or heard of before. This was a terrifying scene that completely exceeded their knowledge. Ye Shi’s pupils had dilated to the point where it seemed like they were going to rupture as the greatest fear that he had ever felt in his life swelled up within him, causing him to let out a hoarse and distorted cry while he frantically focused all of his profound energy towards his right arm, as he was trying all means to suppress that dreadful “fire.” But the moment his profound energy came into contact with the icy-blue flame, it seemed to be swallowed up completely and disappeared in an instant. The blue flames did not even seem to be the least bit affected, much less suppressed, as it still unhurriedly continued to burn its way up slowly towards Ye Shi’s shoulder…

There was no pain… not even the slightest hint of pain, but as he witnessed his body slowly disappearing, Ye Shi experienced a fear that was several times worse than being plunged into hell. His whole body shook as shrill screams echoed from his mouth while his eyeballs practically protruded from his eyes in extreme fear and a web of blue veins could be seen scrawled across his forehead…

But no matter how he screamed and struggled, that cluster of beautiful, crystalline flames that was even scarier than a demon continued to silently burn…

“Save… Save me…”

Shing!!

Ye Shuran fetched a deep-purple longsword from his spatial ring, and as his body blurred, the purple sword made an arc through the air as it slashed down on Ye Shi’s right arm, fiercely cutting off the remains of the arm that had been infected by that icy-blue fire.

But before the members of Sun Moon Divine Hall could breathe a sigh of relief, they discovered, to their horror, that even though Ye Shi’s amputated arm had completely disappeared, the icy-blue flames still remained, and it hung there in midair without dissipating until it separated into several smaller clusters… which all fell on Ye Shi’s body.

In the blink of an eye, many holes appeared on Ye Shi’s remaining arm, his legs, his chest and his abdomen… and as the embers swifty spread and magnified, they whittled away at Ye Shi’s body as it began to be reduced to nothingness.

Ye Shi’s screams of shock and terror grew more and more shrill as his entire body began to spasm and warp. His remaining arm was frantically flapping as if he was trying to tear apart his own body… but the moment his left arm touched the icy-blue flames, it began to shrink into nothingness as well. His frantic struggles caused the icy-blue flames to spread even faster to the entirety of his body as it caused this mighty Monarch’s body to be covered with holes…

The weakest member of Sun Moon Divine Hall that was present was still an Overlord, and the strongest was a Monarch who had almost reached the late stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm. But every single one of them had expressions of deep shock and terror on their faces. The pretty faces of the ladies of the Frozen Cloud had paled in shock as well… because they were witnessing an event that was so dreadful that it was unfathomable! And at this time, Ye Guying hurriedly turned towards Ye Shuran and screamed, “Shuran, throw your sword away!!”

Ye Shuran gave him a blank stare before he involuntarily dipped his head and he was immediately frightened to the point where his spirit nearly left his body… The purple sword in his hand that he had used to sever Ye Shi’s arm had been contaminated by some of those icy-blue flames… and even though it was only a small amount, it had already caused the entire tip of the sword to disappear as it began to swiftly spread downwards.

Ye Shuran’s hand began to tremble as his soul flew out of his body, but he did not immediately throw the sword away. This was because this purple sword was Ye Shuran’s beloved sword since it had accompanied him for more than three hundred years, and normally, he held it to be as precious as his own life. But in this moment of hesitation, the icy-blue flames had already engulfed most of the sword and raced towards his hand.

Ye Guying suddenly dashed over and fiercely struck Ye Shuran’s hand. He had not held back at all and caused Ye Shuran’s hand to dislocate as the purple sword flew a great distance. Ye Guying stopped there and gave a low yell, “Do you want to die?!!”

Ye Shuran's entire body was filled with cold sweat. If his hand had been afflicted by that icy-blue flame, he would undoubtedly share the same fate as Ye Shi! After the lingering fear had passed, he promptly replied, “I than… thank the Ninth Elder for saving my life.”

Ye Shi at this time, however, had already become unable to utter a single word. Most of his body at disappeared, and what remained was not recognizable as a human being. Even that was being swiftly consumed by those icy-blue flames. Those remains occasionally twitched, proving that the elder from Sun Moon Divine Hall who had the strength of a Monarch still had a trace of life left, but very soon, even the last vestiges of life soon completely faded away… and his entire body had completely faded away from existence!

There was not even a single trace of him left!

As they looked at the spot where Ye Shi had vanished from, the faces of all the people present were filled with a stunned horror. All of them remained rooted to the spot as if they had turned to stone. A cold wind blew, and their bodies trembled as a chill that was ten thousand times colder than the wind frantically washed through them… Their bodies had long ago become drenched in cold sweat.

The Sun Moon Young Master and the Sun Moon Elders… they were undoubtedly all peak existences on this earth, but at this moment, only fear existed in their hearts… Even their shock had been buried beneath a fear that was far too heavy. This black-robed old man had a peerlessly strong aura, so they had concluded that he might truly have an extremely terrifying strength, but they had never expected that his very first move would be so dreadful!

This small bit of starfire had actually caused a mighty Monarch to disappear from this world without even being able to put up a fight… The scene they had just witnessed was more than terrifying… it was a power that should not even exist in the mortal realm, something that should only belong within myths or legends!

This flame had not only been freely been created by the black-robed old man, but it did not even produce a hint of profound energy.

“Sigh…” the black-robed old man gave a soft sigh. “I had originally only wanted to give a stern warning, but who would have thought that an elder of a Sacred Ground would actually lose his life due to this small bit of starfire. To think that the profound level of this Profound Sky Continent has fallen to this extent…”

The black-robed old man had seemed disappointed and frustrated… his words indicated that he had only wanted to use this bit of fire to give Ye Shi a warning, but he had never expected a stately elder of a Sacred Ground like Ye Shi would die without even being able to resist...

In other words, what was being said was… I know that all of you are very weak, but I had not expected you to be quite this weak!

“Since I have broken my vow to not kill another… then all of you can stay here as well.” The black-robed old man gave another soft sigh as he extended his pale, white hand. Another cluster of identical icy-blue flames burned on top of his palm… and this cluster of icy-blue flames was more than two times larger than the previous one.

And it was still the same as before, he had easily ignited these flames without even giving any indication that he had circulated his profound energy! It was as if this process was far too simple for this black-robed old man, and it was something that he did not even need to concentrate to perform.

Looking at that cluster of icy-blue flames, all of the hair on the bodies of the remaining three Divine Moon Elders instantly stood on end. And Ye Xinghan had also hurriedly retreated several steps as his expression no longer contained any vestiges of his previous arrogance and brashness; what remained was only the deathly pale color of shock and fear.

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