Chapter 150: Yan Qingqing's Crisis

Yan Qingqing’s words struck like a thunderbolt, instantly cooling the atmosphere of the entire scene into dead silence. Every gaze locked onto her delicate figure.

Chen Chang’s face turned pale and ashen. He had never expected this naive little girl to be so shrewd, dismantling all his efforts with a single strategy and leaving him utterly humiliated in front of such a large crowd.

"Long Qingqing, you speak well. I am not your brother’s friend; rather, your brother robbed us of our belongings. Now I must use you to trade for that item. I originally intended to treat you with courtesy and invite you to cooperate, but since you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeiture, do not blame me for lacking chivalry!" Chen Chang sneered.

Yan Qingqing’s pretty face showed not a shred of tension. She looked at Chen Chang with a smile that was not a smile and asked, "Where is my brother now?"

Chen Chang narrowed his eyes and sneered, "He is still trapped within the Sea of Forest, and I am afraid he will never return. Even if he manages to come out, he will never be able to leave the Profound Heaven Realm!"

Yan Qingqing’s lovely face gradually darkened. She looked at Chen Chang and said, "You talk far too much. Forget it, I won't lower myself to your level. I am going to find my brother!"

With those words, her slender figure flashed, and right before everyone's eyes, she drifted out of the great hall.

Chen Chang’s expression shifted—such incredible movement technique! With no time to hesitate further, he roared, "Pursue!" Before his voice even faded, his figure had already darted out ahead of the rest!

Chen Chang possessed the cultivation of the Zhoutian realm, a full tier higher than Yan Qingqing. However, Yan Qingqing was no ordinary Tribulation-transcending expert.

Back when she was in the Merging Power realm, she was already nearly capable of fighting experts in the Dao-Consummation realm. Now that she had crossed the tribulation—and a fourfold heavenly tribulation at that—her strength had multiplied exponentially.

"Trying to escape? I'm afraid it won't be that easy!" Chen Chang swept out with one hand, a deep azure radiance shooting forth as an aqua-blue longsword materialized in his grasp. With a horizontal slash, he directly targeted Yan Qingqing’s legs.

Having been toyed with so thoroughly by Yan Qingqing, Chen Chang had long since abandoned any thoughts of chivalry. His figure flickered as he struck, his sword unleashing furious azure sword qi like a raging ocean surge!

Yan Qingqing merely smiled faintly, raising her delicate hand and pointing a finger. A flame burst from her fingertip, and the very next instant after leaving her skin, it abruptly transformed into a monstrous sea of fire.

Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire! As the saying goes, water and fire are incompatible. Chen Chang’s true Qi possessed the water attribute, but Yan Qingqing was precisely the opposite. While water could extinguish fire, the flame belonging to Yan Qingqing was no ordinary fire.

The Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire was one of the most peculiar flames in the Dragon Realm. Even within the Fire Phoenix lineage, very few people likely possessed a Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire of such an exceptionally high grade as Yan Qingqing’s.

Wherever the flames passed, space warped entirely. Terrifying heat waves surged in all directions, transforming into an overwhelming firestorm that sought to swallow Chen Chang along with his sword qi whole!

Chen Chang’s expression altered drastically—such formidable cultivation! At this moment, Yan Qingqing was no longer holding back, fully unleashing the peerless divinemight of the Tribulation-transcending realm. The pressure of heaven and earth was instantly triggered, sending a massive, overwhelming aura crashing toward Chen Chang.

"Not good!" Chen Chang roared, the momentum of his sword shifting abruptly. His sword qi shattered into countless fragments instantly under the impact of the Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire, though this was a move Chen Chang had voluntarily abandoned.

His longsword conjured layer upon layer of sword qi before him, resembling the sparkling ripples upon the sea!

"A Thousand Layers of Raging Waves!" Chen Chang roared. Sensing Yan Qingqing’s overwhelming might, he no longer dared to harbor the slightest bit of carelessness, unleashing his most formidable technique.

Over a thousand strands of sword qi whirled frantically, forming a dense expanse of sparkling waves. Every single ripple represented a towering tidal wave, and with a thousand waves merging into one, their powers compounded exponentially.

"Not bad, this move actually looks somewhat decent!" Yan Qingqing smiled faintly, forming a hand seal with both hands. The pervasive flames condensed abruptly, transforming into a massive Fire Phoenix spanning forty zhang in size, hovering in mid-air.

The Fire Phoenix raised its head and cried out, emitting a heaven-shaking, ringing sound that pierced the clouds. As its gigantic wings flapped, billowing heat waves howled outward.

It extended its sharp talons and violently clawed forward, causing space to warp in waves as if it were being torn apart by that single strike!

Chen Chang’s sword qi was shattered directly into dust by that grasp, exploding layer by layer. Meanwhile, the radiance atop the Fire Phoenix also began to dim gradually, until at the very last moment, the two forces finally canceled each other out, leaving not a trace of existence behind.

Chen Chang emitted a muffled groan, stumbling more than ten zhang backward. He stared incredulously at Yan Qingqing, his eyes filled with profound shock and disbelief!

The Tribulation-transcending realm! To be defeated in a single move while in the Tribulation-transcending realm to such a wretched degree—what a terrifying woman! Is she truly Long Yun’s younger sister?

The people who had emerged from the great hall were all frozen in place as well. In their eyes, Chen Chang was much like Long Yun in Qu Chong’s mind—virtually a symbol of invincibility.

Yet now, he had lost, defeated by an exceedingly beautiful woman, and defeated so thoroughly!

However, even amidst their shock, they did not remain idle. Instead, they quickly surrounded Yan Qingqing.

Qu Chong had rushed out by this time as well. His expression was exceedingly colorful; he had already discovered this fact during their voice transmissions earlier, but he simply had not anticipated that Yan Qingqing could be ferocious to such a degree.

"If not for the fact that my brother has yet to return, I would certainly not spare you lightly today. All of you, step aside; I do not wish to kill!" Yan Qingqing blinked her expressive, limpid eyes and said.

As she extended her jade hand, two strands of Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire rose gracefully in her palm. The terrifying heat wave caused everyone's hearts to palpitate, and not a single person dared to make the first move.

Chen Chang’s expression finally returned to normal. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "If you want to kill, then kill. Let's see how many more people you can slaughter! Heh heh, did you really think I hadn't anticipated that you were concealing your cultivation?"

As his voice fell, Yan Qingqing’s expression shifted slightly as well. Hastily circulating her cultivation, she abruptly discovered that a mysterious power had emerged within her body. This power seemed to be growing steadily, and the rate of its growth was extremely rapid.

Blocking the meridians! That was right, this power was actively blocking her meridians!

Not daring to be careless, Yan Qingqing hurriedly urged the Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire to course through her meridians, attempting to forcibly expel this foreign power. However, that force was deeply rooted and proved impossible to purge.

"Hmph, the Myennial Mysterious Mud Fragrance originating from the sea realm—did you really think it would be so easily removed? As soon as you stepped into the room, I had already secretly ignited this exotic incense! Let me tell you, even an expert of the Yin-Yang realm absolutely could not purge it out so easily, let alone someone like you! Everyone attack together, she won't be able to hold out much longer!" Chen Chang’s lips curved into a cold, detached smile. With a flash of his figure, his longsword transformed into an azure-blue curved arc of sword qi, slashing furiously down toward Yan Qingqing.

He intended to use continuous, unceasing attacks to deny Yan Qingqing the opportunity to expel the Myennial Mysterious Mud Fragrance, causing the substance inside her body to multiply rapidly until it completely blocked her meridians.

Qu Chong’s brow furrowed deeply as well. Others might not know, but being stationed within the Profound Heaven Realm, he naturally understood what the Myennial Mysterious Mud Fragrance was—a terrifying thing that even his father feared.

Formidable though Yan Qingqing might be, she was merely in the Tribulation-transcending realm and fundamentally lacked the ability to resist the might of the Myennial Mysterious Mud Fragrance.

Feeling her true Qi gradually failing her, Yan Qingqing furrowed her brows tighter and tighter. Her delicate hands moved with the natural grace of a flower-threading butterfly, and under her control, the Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire swayed frantically. Combined with the might of all her attackers, they still found themselves unable to do a thing against her.

Yet Yan Qingqing felt not the slightest bit of ease. The Myennial Mysterious Mud Fragrance was stubbornly persistent, while the Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire she could mobilize was extremely sparse, leaving her in a deeply passive state.

Furthermore, her refining speed lagged far behind the proliferation rate of the Myennial Mysterious Mud Fragrance, tightening her heart with tension as she realized she had stumbled into such a perilous crisis.

Yet deep in her heart, she was still worrying over Long Yun’s safety, causing her pretty face to turn a shade of pale and her heart to contract violently.

"Let's see how much longer you can hold out!" Chen Chang forcefully endured the stabbing pains piercing through his meridians, unleashing endless streams of sword qi as he coordinated with the other experts to fiercely besiege Yan Qingqing.

Several corpses already littered the ground. Now that Yan Qingqing faced mortal peril, she naturally held back no longer. Under the divine might of the Nine-Turn Heavenly Fire, four more individuals had been burned alive, their primordial spirits even refined into absolute nothingness.

"Boom—" With another violent collision, Yan Qingqing let out a muffled grunt as a trace of blood seeped from the corner of her lips. Her figure staggered back a dozen zhang, her lovely face turning deathly pale!