At that moment, the people of the Yan Clan were dumbfounded. The third, fifth, and ninth of the Yan Clan in particular couldn't even muster a single word.
They were all perceptive enough to understand what had just transpired.
This situation was different from the earlier instance when Yan Xie had thrust his spear through Chu Feng's arm.
Yan Xie's strike had been executed beautifully, but Chu Feng had used his keen reflexes to avoid the vital hit, taking only a graze to his arm.
The attack was beautiful, but the evasion was equally impressive. So that strike wasn't Yan Xie holding back—it was Chu Feng dodging through his own skill.
Although Yan Xie hadn't aimed to kill, targeting the heart, the truth was that even if he had aimed for the Dantian, Chu Feng would still have managed to dodge.
But now, Chu Feng's blade strike was something else entirely. This slash was even more magnificent—one slash, three cuts. To put it simply, though Chu Feng only brought his blade down once, it produced three separate strikes.
All three landed on Yan Xie's chest. They struck with absolute precision, yet stopped just short of inflicting serious harm.
But Chu Feng had held back. Setting aside the depth of those three cuts—if Chu Feng had aimed for Yan Xie's Dantian with the intent to kill, Yan Xie would already be dead. And not just dead, but torn to shreds.
This was the fundamental difference between the two.
Though both had sustained injuries in the exchange, in truth, Chu Feng was the victor.
Yan Xie stood stunned, staring at the three bloody gashes on his chest. He seemed unable to believe it—unable to accept this reality. After a long moment, he finally recovered and spoke to Chu Feng:
"Chu Feng, could we fight one more time?"
"If you want a rematch, I, Chu Feng, will gladly oblige," Chu Feng replied.
"Thank you." Yan Xie cupped his fists toward Chu Feng, then rapidly retreated, spear in hand, to a position several thousand meters away.
BOOM—
A deafening explosion suddenly erupted. Yan Xie's body erupted with overwhelming flames that swept outward like a firestorm, terrifying to behold.
Yet this was not the same Earth-Forbidden Sea of Fire Art he had used before. Though both involved fire, the flames Yan Xie now unleashed were several times more powerful—the two couldn't even be compared.
It was as if they weren't mere flames at all, but living fire beasts, stampeding and roaring, projecting their might in all directions.
"What a powerful martial art." Watching the flames rage across the sky at Yan Xie's command—the stampeding, roaring fire beasts—Dugu Xingfeng couldn't help but voice his admiration.
This technique was also Earth-Forbidden tier, but it was far from an ordinary Earth-Forbidden martial art. Such techniques were exceedingly difficult to cultivate and cumbersome to execute. Yet Yan Xie had not only mastered it, but could deploy it in the blink of an eye. Such ability had to be acknowledged.
"Clan Leader Yan, may I ask what this technique is called?" The Head of the Spirit Realm Alliance had also recognized this was no simple art and asked with genuine curiosity.
"I'm sure you've all heard the tale of how my Yan Clan's Flame Emperor, in a single fit of rage, burned ten thousand li and transformed the great sea into a sea of fire, leaving behind what we now know as the Purgatory Sea of Fire."
"The technique he employed was our Yan Clan's closely guarded Earth-Forbidden Sea of Fire Art."
"But that is not actually the case. The technique the Flame Emperor used back then was not the Sea of Fire Art—it was our Yan Clan's most powerful technique: the Earth-Forbidden Heaven Burning Art."
"The Heaven Burning Art possesses extraordinary power. Though its name bears the Earth-Forbidden title, its might is actually comparable to Heaven-Forbidden tier—separated by only a hair's breadth."
"However, the Heaven Burning Art is exceedingly difficult to cultivate. Throughout the ages, those within our Yan Clan who have managed to master this technique have been vanishingly few. I won't shy away from admitting—even I, to this day, have not fully grasped it."