Chapter 1321: Killing With A Borrowed Knife
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
An advance emperor cultivator coughing out blood before
trading blows with the enemy?! At this rate, wouldn’t they collapse before the
first sword was drawn? The meeting dissolved into shambles.
“My condolences, Your Majesty, please take care of your
august self!”
“Your Majesty, the fate of the empire rests on your
shoulders!”
The officials were panicking. They normally enjoyed the
greatest wealth and most eminent status thanks to the imperial system. The
imperial family was the core of that system, and the emperor the pillar of the
imperial family. Without the emperor, they would lose everything.
But now, thoughts of self-gain were flying out of heads. The
enemy was at the gate, and if the emperor toppled over, all would fall with him
like dominoes, leaving the ministers helpless wheat to be reaped by the enemy’s
scythe.
They didn’t mind invading someone else and plundering riches
for their own selfish desires, but they absolutely couldn’t accept the same
thing happening to them.
Old Guo scrambled over to the emperor, almost tripping.
“Your Majesty…”
The emperor kicked him away again, shouting, “What the hell
are you all doing?! I’m not dead yet and I won’t die!”
He was pale, but a murderous light glinted in his eyes. That
mouthful of blood had actually cleared his mind. The anguish of losing a son
had only caused a brief loss of self-control.
“Hear my orders. Activate the defense formations, guard the
palace with your lives! We can rise again as long as we weather this crisis!”
He stared at the empty sky, his eyes shining venomously into the sky like a
viper.
“Little bastard, I’ll make you pay a hundred times for the
death of my son!” The flames of hatred burned hot in his chest.
Now that he was lucid again, he realized charging out would
be suicide. The defense formation and his superiority in manpower were his only
advantages.
He could only gamble on House Yan’s forefather successfully
ambushing Jiang Chen and a rescue from Pillfire and the Eternal Celestial
Capital when they received the news.
The Eternal Celestial Capital must have gotten word for
quite some time already, but a resounding silence seemed to be their only
reply. Thus obviously, no matter how strong they were, they still cowered in
front of Veluriyam Capital. Therefore, as long as he could live through this,
the emperor was determined to switch allegiances to Pillfire City. Even being
their dog would be better than having a weak backer.
“Old fart of a emperor…” Jiao Yun’s irreverent voice came
from the sky. “They say rulers have hearts of stone. Maybe you can sit still
even after watching your own son die in front of you, but I have eight other
scions of your imperial family here. Let’s kill them one by one and see just
how hard-hearted you are, hehe!”
He flourished his blade with a devilish grin.
Another body fell from the clouds, its head landing inside
the palace’s inner yard. Then another. Each of these imperial sons were of
noble birth, so seeing them tumble ignobly down from the clouds, their heads
separated from their bodies, made the imperial family restless.
“Your Majesty, those are House Yan’s cream of the crop. You
can’t sit here and do nothing!”
“We have to attack now, or House Yan will face extinction!”
“Your Majesty…” Inside the palace, members of House Yan resorted
to any and all sentiments in order to sway their liege. Even the emperor found
the emotional pressure from his own kinsmen difficult to bear.
“Silence, all of you! My crown prince and two other princes
have already died for the sake of the empire. As members of the imperial clan,
don’t you have any sense of sacrifice?” the emperor angrily shot back. “What do
you want me to do? Trade my life for theirs? Do you want me to die?”
The emperor’s anger cowed his clansmen into silence, but
they clearly remained recalcitrant.
In the sky above, Jiao Yun could only speechlessly report
back to Jiang Chen. He’d killed eight princes by now, but hadn’t received a
flicker of reaction from Great Scarlet royalty.
“Young lord, this Great Scarlet emperor seems determined to
cower and hide. It seems we need to storm the palace.” Jiao Yun felt that the
easiest way was to just crush the enemy with brute force. He was someone who
never failed to avenge a wrong. As a wandering great emperor, he’d always
favored the most blunt and straightforward method.
“Jiao Yun, don’t look down on them. Great Scarlet is nothing
to speak of, but you can tell the palace has a long history and a rich legacy.
It has two formations, one inner and one outer. If we rush in blindly, we’ll
fall prey to them and be forced into a difficult, bloody clash that’ll cost us
countless lives.”
Jiang Chen shook his head after momentary thought,
responding after he noted the heavy guard around the palace. “Each one of the
Peafowl guardsmen is a brother of mine. Since I brought them here with me, I
must bring them back. I would never casually sacrifice my men.”
In war, the best strategy was to unravel the enemy’s plan.
Lives were too heavy a price to pay against a trivial Great Scarlet Mid Region.
Above the clouds, Jiang Chen studied the two formations of
the palace. Both were well hidden, crafted with skill and cunning.
“These formations show a clear ancient design. They’re too
complex for a current formation master to etch. However, simply relying on them
won’t be enough, and it looks like later descendants haven’t maintained them
well. Judging from the structures, these formidable formations more than meet
the standard for sky rank, but how much of their power these later generations
can deploy is another story,” Jiang Chen said as he simulated battle outcomes.
“Young lord, why don’t you summon the other great emperors
in Veluriyam Capital? If they bring their own troops, it’ll be easy enough to
steamroll them together with Emperor Peerless and Emperor Coiling Dragon,” Jiao
Yun proposed. He’d also realized they wouldn’t be guaranteed of victory it they
charged in headfirst.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “No need. These formations are
good, but they have many holes. I can unravel them, I just need to make some
calculations. Does the imperial family think they can escape from my palm with
mere formations? Don’t worry. I’ll let them experience the dread and despair of
someone helplessly waiting for death first.”
Jiang Chen sent a secret order to the Goldbiter Rat King.
“Ole Gold, have your kin launch a full assault on the city gates. Slaughter
anyone who resists!”
He was finally displaying some of his loftiness.
A subordinate reported in, “Young lord, people calling
themselves representatives of the Great Scarlet three great sects are
requesting an audience.”
“The three great sects?” Jiang Chen frowned. He wasn’t
unfamiliar with them. Those were the three sects he’d run into back on
Cloudshatter Mountain.
The three sects were Great Scarlet Mid Region’s main
pillars. Jiang Chen had already sent Emperor Vastsea and his men to pin them
down.
“Let them come.” Jiang Chen was about to refuse but changed
his mind in the end.
The three great sects hadn’t sent their leaders this time,
but an elder each instead. These were three crafty persons. Their attitude was
exceedingly humble and they offered a grand gesture of greeting at once,
kowtowing to the young man. “Young lord Jiang Chen, these unworthy sinners pay
their respect.”
Jiang Chen nonchalantly sized them up, secretly surprised.
All three of them were emperor realm cultivators, albeit initial stage ones.
With their age and cultivation, why were they behaving like meek juniors in
front of him?
“Have the three of you must have come to sue for peace? Go
back and tell the Great Scarlet emperor that only his own life can atone for
the destruction of my sect, the death of my sect’s disciples, and the ruin of
my homeland. Tell him to forget about peace!” Jiang Chen didn’t plan on wasting
time with them and straightaway rejected their overtures.
“Young lord, you’re mistaken. We don’t represent the Great
Scarlet emperor, only our own sects. We sent no soldiers in the invasion of
Myriad Domain. Today, young lord Jiang comes for just retribution in accordance
with heavens’ laws, so we naturally wouldn’t overreach ourselves and try to
stand in your way. Our three sects decided a few days ago to seal off our
gates, break all ties with the imperial family, and stay out of this dispute.
We merely came to beg the young lord not to spread the flames of war to our
innocent sects and to spare the common folk.”
Beneath the veneer of their dignified words lay nothing more
than an appeal to spare them, to not vent his anger on their sects. As to the
common people, it was a casual remark that cost them nothing.
“You sealed off your gates?” Jiang Chen suddenly smiled.
“Are you burying your heads in the sand?”
The three elders froze. “Young lord Jiang Chen, our sects
had nothing to do with the invasion. My lord, please show leniency. We have no
other wish but to cultivate in seclusion. We wouldn’t dream of biding our time
and taking revenge on you in the future.”
“You didn’t participate directly, but you still bear some of
the imperial family’s sins. How dare you say you had nothing to do with it?!
However, since you want to turn over a new leaf, I can give you a chance. Go
back and tell your sect heads to send out all of your elites and attack the
palace. This is the only way for you to demonstrate your sincere determination
to cut ties with Great Scarlet’s imperial house!”
Chapter 1322: The Three Great Sects
“Attack the palace?” The three elders blinked.
Not in a million years would they have imagined this
requirement. Since they’d played no part in the invasion, they’d assumed a show
of humility would be sufficient to obtain Jiang Chen’s understanding and
preserve their status in Great Scarlet.
If the imperial clan was outed, the three sects would still
be the greatest sects in the region. If the emperor stayed on the throne, he
would be too wary of the sects’ power to fall out with them. Either way, the
results didn’t matter.
It was quite a good plan. Only, the young lord had shattered
their beautiful dream with a few words, leaving them without a single inch to
maneuver!
“Is there a problem?” Jiang Chen’s tone grew sharp as an
indifferent smile floated on his lips. Trying to be fence-sitters? Dream on!
“Nonono! In fact…”
“This isn’t a negotiation. I’m already showing mercy by
giving all of you a chance. I came here to kill and exact revenge. Do you think
a cheap trick like sealing off your gates would be enough to keep you safe?”
The three elders couldn’t repress shudders when they sensed
the cold menace in Jiang Chen’s tone. How could a young man reportedly not even
thirty exude such a terrifying aura?
“Young lord Jiang Chen… You’re picking on the wrong target!
We had no part in the invasion, so your enmity with the imperial family has
nothing to do with us.”
“That’s right, young lord Jiang Chen. You can ask anyone,
they’ll tell you we’re innocent and didn’t send any troops.”
Jiang Chen barked a laugh, but his face remained hard.
“Innocent? Aren’t you factions of Great Scarlet? Even if you didn’t participate
in the invasion, have you not obtained any indirect benefits? No resources
allocated by Great Scarlet? Don’t go thinking you can wash your hands of this
simply because you sent no troops! If you had, you wouldn’t even be standing
here right now.”
Seeing Jiang Chen’s fury, the Jiao brothers also shouted,
“The three of you must be blind! Our young lord is already doing you a favor by
giving you a way out! It seems you don’t treasure his benevolence! You must
still be holding some delusions about the imperial family, so you want to sit
on the fence without offending either side. Isn’t that right?”
“Young lord, no need to waste words with them. Didn’t you
order Emperor Vastsea to keep an eye on the three great sects? We might as well
wipe them out!”
“Agreed. Great Scarlet killed off every sect when they
invaded Myriad Domain. They never bothered to ask who did what, so we should
copy them, young lord. Why waste your time?”
The three elders paled, but they didn’t dare make a squeak.
They could only keep their grievances to themselves.
Jiang Chen waved a hand. “I give you half a day. If you
don’t show me your sincerity in half a day, I’ll deem you accomplices of the
imperial family!”
His words scared the three elders witless. They could tell
Jiang Chen wasn’t bluffing randomly. He meant every word he said.
“Young lord Jiang, in that case we’ll take our leave and
notify our sects.”
“Young lord Jiang, please show mercy. We’ll convince our
sect heads to lay siege to the imperial family, you have our guarantee!”
“Yes! House Yan has oppressed Great Scarlet for too long.
They’re guilty of untold crimes, it’s time to do away with them.”
The three sects might be unrivalled in the region, but they
were mere babes who’d barely learned to walk in front of Veluriyam Capital.
Young men were rash and impulsive. What if the young lord ordered them
eradicated in a fit of anger? The prospect was too terrifying for the three
elders to contemplate.
The crestfallen three scuttled back to their sects as fast
as they could, only to find their territory completely blockaded by Emperor
Vastsea’s army. People were allowed in, but not out.
“What? He wants us to attack the imperial family?” Sky
Eagle’s sect head was already frustrated enough by the encirclement. This
shocking request added insult to injury.
“Yes, Sectmaster. He said that we can either attack the
imperial family and prove our sincerity, or be suppressed.”
“How can young lord Jiang be so unreasonable?” the indignant
sectmaster complained. “We didn’t participate in Myriad Domain’s invasion, why
is he forcing our hand?”
“Sectmaster, it’s too late for that. To be one of the three
great sects of Great Scarlet is crime enough. Jiang Chen gave us only half a
day. If we don’t act by then, he’ll order an assault on the three sects.”
Sky Eagle’s sect head gnashed his teeth. The decision to
seal the gates was in fact self-preservation. No matter what happened to the
region in the days to come, they could happily wallow in their status of craven
cowards. But it seemed young lord Jiang Chen had no intention of letting them
do that.
The same news reached the Myriad Buddha Sect and the Scarlet
Parting Sect at the same time.
…...
Surrounded by his subordinates and blockading the three
great sects, Emperor Vastsea was in high spirits. He’d spent a lifetime fawning
over Emperor Shura and all he had to show for it was a narrow escape from
death. He was still a sycophant, but just look at his accomplishments now!
“The young lord is truly merciful. I would’ve destroyed the
three sects myself. Why waste time with them?”
He knew that the young lord planned to make the two greatest
Great Scarlet factions clash against each other. But it seemed too much of a
bother to him. The force he’d brought was more than enough to flatten the
sects.
“Great Emperor, there are people here to see you.”
Emperor Vastsea was presently stationed near the Sky Eagle
Sect. His war plan had been to raze this sect before moving onto the other two.
The ones who’d come were Sky Eagle’s sect head and several sect elders.
“The sinners of the Sky Eagle Sect are here to pay respect
to the great emperor.” Circumstances were stronger than men. In front of
Emperor Vastsea, the sect head could only be as well-behaved as he could be.
“Senior, my sect is willing to obey young lord Jiang Chen’s
command and mount an expedition against the cruel tyrant in the name of
righteousness!”
He and his men were no fools. They knew that, put bluntly,
it was treason for subjects like them to march against the imperial family. It
wasn’t a reputation they wanted to shoulder, no matter the pressure they were
under. They needed a lofty pretext, and what better pretext could they ask for
than to rise against a despot?
The indifferent Emperor Vastsea responded, “Our young lord
is magnanimous enough to give you a chance. Remember, I can level your sect
whenever I see fit, so don’t try to hoodwink the young lord and give it your
all. I’ll be watching you.”
Emperor Vastsea was submissive in Jiang Chen’s presence, but
as one ranked fourth amongst the seven great emperors of Sacred Peafowl
Mountain, he was a mythical existence to a trivial Great Scarlet Mid Region.
“We wouldn’t dream of it. Please be at ease, Great Emperor.
We’ll accomplish our mission no matter what it takes.”
The other two sects also followed suit in declaring their
intentions. In the face of such formidable pressure, their only choice was to
attack the imperial family. Fortunately enough, the imperial house had never
treated them all that well, making promises by the dozen but never delivering
on them, so the sects didn’t feel much guilt.
Each sect dispatched three thousand elites who made haste
for the capital at Emperor Vastsea’s prompting. But when they neared their
destination, their blood ran cold when they took in the ocean of Goldbiter
Rats. The almost ten thousand cultivators wouldn’t even qualify as a snack to
these beasts.
But the most shocking was yet to come. The ocean of rats
split apart when the three great sects’ army appeared, creating a path for
them.
Emperor Vastsea snorted. “The time has come for you three
sects to show your worth. Follow me into the city and pay your respects to the
young lord.”
The Goldbiter Rats had occupied the four gates. They were
ready to flood into the capital as soon as Jiang Chen gave the word. The
capital would be a paradise for them.
“Young lord, your subordinate Vastsea has brought the three
sects to meet with your august self,” Emperor Vastsea piled on the flattery in
an obsequious greeting.
Jiang Chen glanced at the men from the three sects with a
small smile. It seems they sent all of their elites this time.
“These crude ones pay their respects to young lord Jiang
Chen,” the three sect heads greeted.
Jiang Chen waved a hand. “You came right on time. The
imperial family refuses to budge even with their backs against the wall. If you
want to prove your sincerity, you can be the vanguard. What do you say?”
“We hear and obey, young lord Jiang Chen!” The three sect
heads knew they couldn’t refuse.
“Go on then. I await your good news,” Jiang Chen responded
mildly.
The three sect heads shouted, “All of you, look sharp! The
imperial house’s corrupt tyranny will plunge the region into the abyss. As
Great Scarlet’s greatest sects, we can’t sit by and do nothing. It’s our duty
to declare loud and clear that we’ll excise the malignant House Yan for the
sake of our homeland!”
“Understood!”
Chapter 1323: A Terrifying Formation
Great Scarlet Palace was the most well-defended place in all
of Great Scarlet Mid Region. It was better fortified than any of the three
great sects.
Under the leadership of their heads, the elites of the three
sects led a furious assault upon the palace. Unfortunately, their repeated
charges against the outer defensive formation failed to make a scratch. In
fact, the attacking party suffered multiple casualties due to the traps within
the formation instead.
Time passed as the three sects whaled fruitlessly on the
high-level formation. As their offense increased, the defense seemed to match.
There was a standstill for a brief time.
The three sects had originally intended to attack
half-heartedly rather than use their full strength. But when more and more of
their elite members died to the restrictions and traps in the formation, their
tempers flared as well.
Regardless of the extremes that they went to in their
attacks, the defense held. It was as if there were countless palace walls
around them; no matter how much they blasted the structure, they couldn’t find
a way further in.
The restrictions, gouts of flame, and ice arrows dealt a
severe blow to the combined disciples’ ranks. The three sect heads convened a
temporary meeting when they saw that this was so.
“My fellow daoists, we cannot keep going like this. Our
elite disciples won’t last much longer with this battle of attrition,” the
Scarlet Parting Sect’s head wailed.
“Ah. House Yan has ruled Great Scarlet for several thousand
years now. They’ve surely extorted countless riches from the people. The
formation is backed by untold sums of spirit stones.” The Sky Eagle Sect’s head
was also quite upset.
“Not so,” the Myriad Buddha Sect’s head shook his head. “I’m
sure that the formation is a drain on spirit stones, but its strength does not
solely come from raw expenditure. There is something ancient and mysterious
about it. I’m guessing that young lord Jiang Chen finds it a rather laborious
task to deal with it as well. Why were we sent as the vanguard otherwise? At
the end of the day, he’s using us as cannon fodder to save his own men.”
“Shh, quiet down. It’ll be big trouble if they hear what
you’re saying.”
“Hmph, what am I scared of?! But it’s not like the Great
Scarlet imperial family isn’t a shining example of honor either. All the
trouble we’re in is entirely their fault.”
“Yes. If they hadn’t stooped to becoming the Eternal
Celestial Capital’s dogs in the attack on Myriad Domain, none of this would
have happened.”
The three sect heads were huddled in discussion. Thanks to
the deafening din of the battlefield, they were certain that the young lord
wouldn’t hear anything about their conversation. However, they still did not
dare to utter a bad word about Jiang Chen. The youth was sufficiently
intimidating enough in their hearts to garner unspoken respect.
“That dog of an emperor… is he trying to take a bunch of
people with him? His death is assured without a doubt.” Huffing, the head of
the Sky Eagle Sect grabbed at thin air. A black saber materialized in his hand.
“My friends, it may be time for us to join the fray ourselves.”
The wounding and loss of their best disciples was making
their hearts bleed.
“Alright, let us work in tandem to break apart this outside
formation. We’ll rip out that tyrannical emperor out and hand him over to young
lord Jiang Chen.”
“Quite so. Let’s get in there!”
The personal participation of the sect heads won them a
round of adulation. The morale boost encouraged the three sects’ executives to
join the fray using a variety of methods as well.
Weapons flew, light dazzled, and radiance blinded
everywhere. The immense redoubling of effort created enormous ripples between
formation and attacks. The air in the vicinity shook and trembled continuously.
……
Within the imperial palace’s inner court, Commander He of
the imperial guard stood at the core of the outer formation, observing the
crazed offensive from the three sects outside. The commander felt a tinge of
wariness when he saw the sect heads join the fight.
A single one of the three great sects couldn’t match up to
the imperial family. That was an unquestionable truth. The three of them
united, however, presented a huge threat to the outer formation given enough
time and momentum.
The three sects’ concerted strike created a steady stream of
minor flaws and holes. Such issues required a continuous supply of spirit
stones to repair. The toll on spirit stone stores began to ramp up.
As the force of the attacks intensified, so too did the
frequency and size of the damage. The real danger would be when the formation
reached a point where spirit stones alone would not be able to sustain the
repairs.
Commander He grit his teeth. He squinted at the frenzied
sect heads outside, stomping a foot in frustration. “Keep an eye out for me
here. I will go report to His Majesty.”
“What?” Because the emperor was in the inner courtyard, he
was within the inner formation and needed reports from messengers in order to
know what was going on outside.
But who would’ve thought that Commander He would rush back
with horrendous news.
“My good Commander He, are you sure that the three great
sects are the ones attacking? Not Veluriyam Capital’s men in disguise?” Great
Scarlet couldn’t accept that fact straight off the bat.
“There is no mistake at all, Your Majesty. The three sect
heads are energetically leading the charge. They seem to have universally gone
mad. We must plan for the worst, sire. I think it’s best to send a group of our
strongest experts to skirmish with them for a bit. Ideally, we should take one
of the three sect heads out for good. How will we scare them off otherwise?”
Commander He’s face was the very expression of hate.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done wrong by any of them. Why have
they gone to the enemy in our time of need? Traitors, cowards, vipers!” Great
Scarlet’s emperor could barely contain his anger. “Old Guo, take a few royal
experts and go with Commander He. Look for a chance to kill them!”
“Yes!”
Old Guo came forward unceremoniously, kneeling to his old
master. “Your Majesty, I’m not sure if I will survive this battle. I pray that
you keep yourself safe. If I cannot return to serve you, my only wish is for
you to keep calm and act in the best interests of the nation.” Having said
this, he touched his forehead to the ground several times before standing and
waving. “We royal experts have ever received a great deal of imperial grace.
It’s our hour to give up our lives to repay the emperor. Who is willing to come
with this old man?”
“I’m willing!”
“I am!”
As the minister of chambers, Old Guo had a plethora of
experts under his command. His team was the most intimate, loyal, and powerful
group of men who served Great Scarlet’s emperor. They’d been brainwashed since
birth into their role as the emperor’s royal guard. Serving and protecting the
emperor was their one and only purpose in life.
Seeing Old Guo and the royal experts leaving so resolutely
made even the hardhearted emperor feel a bit guilty. Loyalty was proven only in
times of crisis. Adversity was the best flame for testing the devotion of one’s
retainers.
Aside from Old Guo and Commander He, the rest of his
officials were essentially useless. Despite the imperial family’s sheltering of
so many, a precious few had been able to step forward to give aid.
Great Scarlet’s emperor tasted bitterness inside his mouth.
He’d always thought that his empire was superbly strong and he himself a
capable monarch. That was the reason for his expansionist ambitions,
accomplished with an utter disregard for reputation. ‘At any cost’ – that was
his motto!
Therefore, he felt no regret whatsoever for destroying
Myriad Domain. Survival of the fittest was the law of nature. Only when he was
the prey did he come to realize how cruel that law was.
The once-arrogant Great Scarlet emperor had become a sitting
duck. It was his turn to be hunted down at others’ leisure.
……
Outside the formation, it had already been more than two
hours since Jiang Chen began studying it. He suddenly waved a hand at the Jiao
brothers. “Jiao Yun, Jiao Feng, come here. I will teach you a secret method to
attack the core of this formation. If you manage to do that, the entire thing
will crumble.”
Formations were remarkably wondrous things. If one could not
penetrate their secrets, a breakthrough would be impossible no matter what.
With that precondition however, the threat of the formation itself dropped like
a rock.
Jiang Chen wasn’t as capable with formations as he was with
pill dao. Because of this, he didn’t initially have an optimal way to break
through the formation at the beginning. Only after watching the three sects’
attacks did he manage to gradually figure out its mysteries. Now, he’d finally
identified where the core was.
Having found it, he considered the remainder a piece of
cake. After all, the Jiao brothers were around. He told the brothers a few
things of note about the operation, brightening their eyes in the process.
“Go, but do be careful. Don’t make foolish mistakes,” Jiang
Chen instructed.
The Jiao brothers charged fiercely into the outer part of
the formation, orders in hand.
Their descent brought the three sects’ heads hurriedly
forth. “Great emperor seniors, the palace’s defensive formation is extremely
difficult for us. We’re pouring our all into the assault already, so there’s no
need for concern. Regardless of how strong it is, we’ll find a way to…”
Jiao Yun snickered. “There’s no need.”
“The young lord gave you a chance merely to test your
mettles. It seems that the ‘three great sects’ aren’t really all that
impressive. He’s not interested in waiting any longer, so that’s why we’re
here. You can bring your men inside after we break through the formation.”
“Huh?” The three sect heads glanced at each other, the
relief of freedom evident on their faces. They hadn’t staked their entire
livelihoods on the fight per se, but they had given their all already.
Unfortunately, the results didn’t match up to their efforts.
They’d managed to damage the formation time and time again, but each flaw was
repaired without much strain. Were the two great emperors going to break the
formation personally? It would save many of their own from becoming casualties.
Chapter 1324: The Frightening Strength of Great Emperors
“Seniors, this formation is very odd indeed. Terrifying
attacks come from it from time to time. Please take care.” These words were
intended to curry favor with the Jiao brothers, but wandering great emperors such
as they hated the most when others doubted their strength.
Harrumphing, Jiao Yun cackled. “You think we brothers are
comparable to you wastes of space? Take notes on how we break through the
formation.”
Having received the secrets of the formation from Jiang Chen
as well as a method to break it, the Jiao brothers didn’t think much of the
obstacle ahead of them. They were plenty strong enough to take care of the
roadblock. Even without Jiang Chen’s method, there was no question that they
had more than enough strength to throw themselves at the formation and
brute-force it.
“I’ll take the right, brother. You take the left.” Jiao Yun
called out to Jiao Feng.
The duo transformed themselves into streaks of light,
darting toward the formation’s flanks. Two masses of burning light, akin to
comets, disappeared into the depths of the formation.
Grabbing at the air, Jiao Yun materialized an enormous
golden hammer in his hand. He waved the round-headed weapon around like it was
a toy. As he turned the handle over in his palm, the weapon glowed with a vivid
radiance. It caught the eye like a drift of luminous clouds, marvelous and
divine.
“Out of my way!”
The glowing hammer crashed into a certain spot in the empty
space with mountainous might.
At the same time, Jiao Feng brandished a similarly
blossoming broadsword at another gap in space. The steel carried a light that
was almost celestial in nature. He struck with heavenly strength.
“Open up!”
The two brothers guided hammer and sword into the same
direction. One was as ferocious as a tiger, the other vigorous as a dragon.
Boom!
The weapons collided upon an invisible, gigantic wall. The
impact resounded through the sphere.
In the next moment, reality began to tremble violently. The
fabric of space seemed on the verge of collapsing. A powerful turbulence swept
about aimlessly, having found an outlet of spreading release. The wind rampaged
and howled. Remnants of runes hung in the air, as if rent from a tapestry. They
scattered downwards before vanishing.
The runes belonged to the outer formation. The two brothers’
robust destruction of the formation’s core had demolished the structure
entirely. Because of this, the formation was uprooted. Without the foundation,
the formation collapsed instantly. The tadpole-like runes dimmed unto
nothingness in great swathes.
When the spatial chaos cleared, everyone from the three
sects outside the formation was amazed. From the sect heads to the ordinary
disciples, everyone watched with mouth agape.
Was this the power of great emperor seniors?
The cultivators in Great Scarlet had heard of great emperor
exploits before, but none of them had actually seen such an expert use a
powerful method in person.
That was true even with these three sect heads. They’d met
great emperors in person before, but they hadn’t had the chance to see any in
action. They were at a loss for words for very a long time.
“Is an attack from a great emperor truly this powerful?” The
three sect heads traded uneasy glances, an indescribable fear creeping into
their hearts.
All three men were emperor realm cultivators. Though they
didn’t seem far from great emperor, the small gap represented the
insurmountable difference of a lifetime. Seeing great emperors in action was
enough for them to realize that the discrepancy between their two realms was
far greater than they’d thought.
Those within the outer formations were even more astonished.
Old Guo and Commander He had just been about to launch a sortie against the
three sect heads outside when the formations fell.
The offensive formation was attacked just as they were about
to charge. They hadn’t thought much of it, given the power behind the
formation, but the results proved them dreadfully wrong.
The royal experts stood a short distance in from the border
of the formation, completely revealed to the Jiao brothers’ line of sight. It
was an odd and hilarious sight.
The odd part was the discovery that the distance between the
the two parties was so short. The hilarious part was that all of the martial
experts were dumbstruck despite their prowess.
“What are you three sects waiting for? The formation is
broken. It’s time for you to fight!” Jiao Yun shouted.
The three sect heads snapped out of their reverie. They’d
fought before solely out of compulsion from Jiang Chen. Now, the hatred from
suffering casualties at the imperial family’s hands was a much stronger
motivator.
“Disciples of the three sects, listen up! Follow us in when
the order is given. Let us slay the faithless emperor and restore justice to
Great Scarlet! The tumor of House Yan must be removed!”
“Remove House Yan from Great Scarlet Mid Region! We must
brighten the skies of our region once more!”
“House Yan is the puppet of the Eternal Celestial Capital.
Utter fools, every last one of them! They were the criminals responsible for
bringing such catastrophe upon Great Scarlet. Our troubles will persist if the
house is allowed to live!”
The three sects had thought of these battle-cries long
before. These words weren’t intended for the imperial family, but rather Great
Scarlet’s populace. They didn’t want to be branded as traitors after toppling
the imperial family. Therefore, they had to raise reasonably upright banners to
the public.
Commander He’s eyes bulged. He brandished the weapon in his
hand. “Brave warriors, His Majesty has fed us for many, many years. Today is
the day to repay his kindness and defend our nation. Kill these traitors!”
Confident in his own expertise, the commander led the charge toward the three
sect heads. His cultivation was more than a match for any of the trio.
Old Guo and the royal experts shadowed them, keeping
themselves in the proximity of the commander’s spearhead to reinforce the
charge. The easiest way to rout an army was to take out its generals.
The three sects were led by their three heads. Commander He
and Old Guo knew exactly how strong those specific three men were. The
commander and the minister had a slight edge over any individual man out of
those three.
Though a brawl like this usually went by slightly different
rules, they felt that the imperial family had a clear advantage nevertheless.
The royal guards were all well-trained, disciplined troops. They were
professional soldiers, loyal to the emperor unto death.
Sect experts were strong to be sure, but they lacked the
same kind of military expertise. In a large-scale chaotic battle such as this,
it put them at a disadvantage.
“Commander He, keep close tabs on the three sect heads. We
must take out their leaders first,” Old Guo reminded.
Commander He growled fiercely, his eyes radiating a killing
aura. “Anyone who kills one of the three sect heads will be rewarded with
thirty million spirit stones!”
The heads of the three sect heads were worth more than
thirty million for sure. Still, the dangled prize was enough to incentivize the
royal guards and experts.
The two swathes of men rammed into each other in pitched
battle.
The airborne Jiao brothers crowed from above, trading a
meaningful glance. They raised their weapons once more. The round-headed hammer
fell like a trailing meteor, drawing a glittering path behind it. It smashed
toward Commander He who was in the lead.
“Be careful, Commander He!”
This sudden attack from above panicked the commander. It was
a testament to the man’s resolve that he quickly realized he wasn’t going to be
able to evade the attack and so raised his blade to block it. He swiped several
streaks of light as a barrier.
“Hmph, a rash attempt to stop the inevitable.” Jiao Yun
harrumphed, diving down like an arrow. His wraithlike form shot into the
commander’s close vicinity. With a single grab, he found the other man’s chest.
“Piss off!” Commander He was as ignorant as a young ox. He
swept his blade toward Jiao Yun.
Steel clashed against hammer, creating a shower of blinding
sparks. It was like he’d slashed against solid rock. The other weapon would not
budge. In the next instant, the blade shattered into a thousand pieces.
His hilt clattered to the ground. An unarmed Commander He
was rendered helpless before Jiao Yun.
“Too weak.” Jiao Yun smiled faintly, raising his hand in a
casual swatting motion.
Commander He’s head went flying from its former perch upon
his neck. Like ripened fruit falling from a branch, so too did his head.
A ker-chunk sound was all it took to make the arrogant
commander was no more.
All of this took place in the blink of an eye.
Both belligerent parties felt their hairs stand on end.
Commander He was one of the top ten experts in the Great Scarlet Empire. How
had he lost his head so easily?
“Commander, sir!” The royal guards under his command felt
their hearts burst in pain. Their eyes were bloodshot and their lungs burned.
“Avenge the commander!”
“He’s too strong. Let’s attack him all at once and kill him
together!”
“Come on, let’s kill him!”
The several thousand royal guards were all proficient
cultivators. Their grief at seeing Commander He’s death ignited their fighting
and killing spirit.
Jiao Yun’s eyes were filled with scorn. He didn’t bother
with a serious response. An mighty backswing brought a mountain of pressure
down upon the throng of guards. A smash from the hammer could shatter space
itself. These weakling cultivators couldn’t survive being clipped by even the
edge of such an attack!
Thump. Within a twenty-meter radius of wherever the hammer
swept, every royal guard was smashed to smithereens by the weapon’s radiance.
Blood and gore flew everywhere. They didn’t have time to so much as scream
before the hundred-odd cultivators at the front perished. No corpse was left
intact.
“Leave some for me, brother!” Jiao Feng was not to be
outdone. He swooped down as well, pouncing toward Old Guo’s direction. His eyes
were keen enough to tell him that the old man was the other leader.
Chapter 1325: Inside And Outside the Formations
Jiao Feng’s strength wasn’t any lower than Jiao Yun’s, so he
was keen for a piece of action when he saw his brother slaughter to a heart’s
content.
A formidable aura suddenly assaulted Old Guo, locking him
tightly in place.
Apart from House Yan’s forefather, no other imperial expert
would dare say they could be assured of victory against Old Guo. In fact, he
might be a little stronger than both Commander He and the emperor. But even so,
the minister’s entire body was spasming uncontrollably like a rabbit caught in
a hunter’s trap.
The formidable aura of a great emperor imprisoned him like
an invisible cage, leaving him powerless to resist. He couldn’t break free no
matter how hard he tried.
“Jiao Feng, keep this old man alive!” Jiang Chen suddenly
transmitted from far away.
Old Guo’s head was moments away from being squeezed into
paste, but Jiao Feng immediately stopped at Jiang Chen’s order. He lifted Old
Guo like an eagle grasping a chick.
At Jiang Chen’s side, Emperor Vastsea rubbed his hands
together, eagerness written all over his face.
“Young lord, let this subordinate charge in and kill them
all. What do you say?” He was a little jealous of the Jiao brothers showing off
their might. He was confident neither of the two could match him in strength,
so he wanted to use this opportunity and score some merit before the young
lord.
“Don’t be anxious.” Jiang Chen surveyed the situation with
keen eyes, his mind alert.
How many wars between planes had he seen in his previous
life? No one could question his level of discernment. Judging by the clear
layering of the palace’s defense formations, he could see they weren’t as weak
as he’d imagined. Hence, he was in no hurry to show his hand.
Emperor Vastsea had trouble holding back his impatience, but
since Jiang Chen told him not to be anxious, he dared not be rash.
“Young lord, I’ve brought the old man. How do you want to
deal with him?” Jiao Feng dragged Old Guo in front of Jiang Chen, a wide grin
eating his face.
Despair flashed through the minister’s face. He shook his
head with helplessness and closed his eyes to wait for death.
“Old man, why are you playing dead? Do you think it will
protect you from the young lord?” Jiao Feng shouted.
Old Guo sighed dejectedly. “The victor is king. Now that
I’ve fallen into your hands, what’s there for me to say? Simply keep in mind
that while you might extinguish Great Scarlet’s imperial family today, someone
stronger than you will extinguish your Veluriyam Capital in the future. The
heavens are fair, they will deliver just retribution for your sins.”
“Tsk tsk, you have quite a tough mouth on you, old dog!”
Jiao Feng sent a small amount of force inside Old Guo’s body, making the
minister feel the pain of a million bugs gnawing at him. Old Guo couldn’t help
but groan with pain.
“Jiao Feng, don’t bother. There’s no need to torture him,”
Jiang Chen calmly said.
Jiao Feng gave an uncanny chortle. “Hehe, young lord, he’s
one of those self-conceited types who think they can look down on others just
because they’ve lived longer. He’ll keep on babbling if we don’t smack him
some.”
Old Guo shouted in pain. “Kill me if you must. Don’t think
for an instant you’ll make me kneel or beg for mercy!”
Jiang Chen applauded with a smile. “Not bad. Who knew I’d
find someone with a backbone in Great Scarlet? I thought everyone in your
empire was a coward who can’t face his responsibilities, just like your
emperor. Old man, you have some mettle.”
Old Guo snorted.
“What was it you said earlier? The heavens will deliver just
retribution? Brilliant words. Sadly, you’re a frog in a well and know nothing
about the laws of the heavens.” Jiang Chen’s tone was cool and detached.
“So-called retribution is punishment against those who have sinned. Destroying
Myriad Domain, slaughtering countless cultivators, ruining their legacies...
all those are things that go against the heavenly principles. Just retribution
is what’s happening right now to your empire. This campaign of mine is a
righteous one to exact revenge, eliminate evil, and administer justice.
Everything is in accordance with the ways of the heavens. Not only I won’t
incur their wrath, they will even bless my undertaking!”
On Divine Abyss Continent, no one was more qualified to
remark on the heavens than Jiang Chen.
“So start talking, what trump cards are your emperor
hiding?” the young lord calmly asked.
Old Guo laughed like a madman. “Jiang, you’re too naive. Do
you think I’d be afraid of you at a time like this? Want to pry information
from this old man’s mouth? Keep dreaming!”
Jiang Chen couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the old man’s
earnest appearance. He threw a leisurely glance at the palace, a lazy smile on
his lips. “Old man, do you think I’m powerless against this insignificant
imperial palace of yours?”
Old Guo stayed silent as if he hadn’t heard anything, his
face unyielding, his eyes tightly shut.
“Jiao Feng, pass on my command. Have Emperor Peerless make
haste and come here. Emperor Coiling Dragon is to personally handle the borders
in his stead.”
“Understood.” Jiao Feng immediately left to handle the
business.
Hearing the two words “Emperor Peerless,” Old Guo’s hunched
body shuddered in spite of himself. He knew that Emperor Peerless, one of the
six titans among wandering cultivators, was a formidable cultivator in his own
right.
“Young lord, this old man’s temperament is like a stone in a
latrine, hard and stinky. Why don’t we just kill him?” Emperor Vastsea
suggested.
“There’s no rush.” Jiang Chen chuckled leisurely. “This old
man must be one of the emperor’s confidantes. I’ll give him an opportunity to
witness firsthand how insignificant their formations are in front of me.”
“Hehe, how could these trivial Great Scarlet formations be
an obstacle for a wise formation master like the young lord? Is Great Scarlet
relying on these formations to safeguard their miserable lives? What wishful
thinking!” Emperor Vastsea laughed out loud. “A mere formation can never
shoulder the fate of an empire!”
Most of the experts Commander He and Old Guo had brought out
of the palace had already fallen to the siege and Jiao Yun’s rampage. Surrounded
on all sides, the surviving force was in a dire predicament, their demise
imminent.
Jiao Yun was staying out of the fight now and had his hands
together behind his back. As a great emperor, it was beneath his dignity to
participate in a chaotic melee like this.
The shrieks of pain gradually receded. Troops from the three
sects gnawed away at the remaining pockets of resistance, wiping them almost to
the last.
Inside the palace, the court was caught up in utter chaos. A
simple slap had sent Commander He’s head flying. Old Guo couldn’t withstand a
single bout and was now captured. One blow had been all it took to break the
outer formation. Most of the officials were scared stiff.
“Your Majesty, Commander He died in combat while Old Guo has
fallen into enemy hands. Your Majesty, the imperial guards and palace experts
we sent out have been almost entirely exterminated by the three sects!”
“Your Majesty, the enemy is on the verge of attacking the
inner formation. Please issue your orders!”
“Your Majesty…”
The emperor swayed on his feet at the barrage of bad news.
Both Commander He and Old Guo were amongst the most powerful cultivators in the
empire, but they’d stood no chance whatsoever against the Veluriyam
powerhouses. Such a wide disparity frightened the emperor greatly.
He hurried to the rear yard and stopped in front of a door. “Forefather,
Commander He and Old Guo have been killed in combat and the outer formation is
broken. The enemy is unstoppable!”
The forefather’s voice filtered through from the secret
chamber. “Keep your composure! I’m almost done with my preparations. I’ve
already taken a look at Jiang Chen. His cultivation might be high, but it’s
only emperor realm. The genuine threat isn’t that kid, but the great emperors
at his side.”
The forefather’s voice was cold. “I must make certain I can
capture him before acting. Any failure would spell doom for the Great Scarlet
Empire and House Yan.”
The emperor was on tenterhooks, a cat on a hot tin roof. The
outer formation had crumpled easily like a sheet of paper. How long could the
inner formation resist? Could it really withstand the enemy’s assault? These
questions were too frightening for the emperor to contemplate.
“What are you panicking about? I really wonder how you’ve
stayed on the imperial throne for so long given how easily you lose your
composure.” The forefather’s tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Yes.” The emperor didn’t dare say anything. The forefather
was the only remaining hope.
Just then, the stone doors to the secret chamber opened. The
forefather walked outside.
“Come with me, we’ll go to the edge of the formation and
take a look at how the battle is going.” Worthy of a man who’d accumulated
sharp wisdom throughout his long years, the forefather’s impassive face was a
picture of serenity. It was impossible to guess from his expression the
imminent peril they were under.
Standing close to the formation’s border, the ancestor gazed
at the situation at large. It was one of the advantages of the formation. One
could observe what happened outside, while those on the outside couldn’t
distinguish the circumstances inside. The emperor stood beside his senior,
looking like a stooge.
“Forefather, these three sects are turncoats. The food they
ate, the resources they used, everything came from us. How dare they help
outsiders against the imperial family!” the emperor complained, his teeth
clenched with anger.
“Hmph, most sects are ungrateful and disloyal things, they
can’t be relied on. It’s one of the reasons that we of House Yan have always
looked to consolidate our own power. Strength is the only thing that matters in
this world.” The forefather quietly snorted.
“Forefather, these two men over there are incredibly strong.
When the outer formation fell, Commander He and Old Guo died in their hands.”
“Hmph, the Jiao brothers.” The elder sneered. “This Jiang
Chen is quite something. What trick did he use that wandering great emperors
like the Jiao brothers and Mo Wushuang show such unfaltering obedience?”
“The enemy brought a bunch of great emperors, isn’t that bad
for us?” It seemed near impossible to ambush Jiang Chen with so many masters
present.
“Hmph, what are you worried for? I have my own plans. The
only thing you need to worry about is how to delay these people. Leave the rest
to me.”
The emperor’s face burned hot at the admonishment, yet he
didn’t dare show any temper in front of the forefather.
“Go, increase the inner formation to its highest level,” the
old man ordered.
“Understood.” The emperor could only obey.
“Other than that, did you find anything good when you
invaded Myriad Domain? Maybe keepsakes? Keepsakes belonging to the dead would
be best. Use them to provoke that Jiang Chen and disturb his mentality,” the
ancestor ordered again.
Chapter 1326: The Four Great Emperors Assembled
“Young lord, why do we need to wait for Emperor Peerless?”
Outside the palace, Emperor Vastsea fidgeted left and right, eager as he was to
lead his elites and raid the imperial clan.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “What do you think about this
formation?”
“Your subordinate thinks that with the strength of us great
emperors, sheer force will be enough even if there are some gimmicks to it.
Wouldn’t that be easier and more satisfying?”
Jiang Chen responded with a small smile, “If that’s what you
think, then the imperial clan will probably be delighted. This formation is
special, you see. Even great emperors might be trapped if they try to force it
open. It won’t be lethal, but it’d still be dangerous.”
“Oh?” Emperor Vastsea was a tad skeptical. Could a trivial
region have such a mighty formation? As a long exalted powerhouse in Veluriyam,
even an Upper Eight Regions first rank sect wasn’t much to him, to say nothing
of the trivial Great Scarlet.
“Young master, is this formation really so peculiar?”
Vastsea couldn’t help asking again as he carefully studied the design.
“I’m certain it’s an inheritance from ancient times. The
imperial palace itself must also have been rebuilt on top of ancient ruins, so
its layout enhances the formation. Its effect isn’t limited to simple
confusion, it can also trap and kill. This is an ancient composite formation of
remarkable power. If you make careless use of brute force, there might really
be something hidden in its depths to make you great emperors suffer.”
Jiang Chen might not fear Great Scarlet’s cultivators, but
he dared not look down on its ancient legacies. Ancient formations, ancient
methods, and anything involving the ancient times was to be taken seriously,
because things had been quite different during the ancient era.
Upper Eight Regions might not have been mankind’s core area
back then, and Great Scarlet might not have been a backwater region. And even
if Great Scarlet had been a comparatively remote area, inheritances from that
era were strong enough to be a menace for current experts.
Vastsea’s contempt vanished somewhat when he heard Jiang
Chen’s words. The young lord already inspired deep veneration in Vastsea, but
that veneration was nowadays combined with great trust in his judgment.
Even Emperor Shura had been forced to yield in front of
young lord Jiang Chen. It was impossible for Vastsea not to have faith in
someone like this.
The outer formation’s battle finally abated an hour later.
With their superiority in troops, the three sects slaughtered the last of the
imperial guards and palace experts.
“Young lord, everything’s settled here. Should we storm the
palace ourselves now, or should the three sects continue to be the vanguard?”
Jiao Yun came back to report, the three sects’ sect heads in tow.
Pained expressions appeared on the three sectmasters’ faces
when they heard Jiao Yun. It wasn’t that their sects had suffered disastrous
losses, but they were exhausted from the fighting and had indeed lost quite a
few men. If they continued as the vanguard, it wasn’t out of the question that
they might be annihilated during the assault against the inner palace’s
formation.
“Heh, the arduous fighting has made the three sects weary.
To have them charge the formation now would be no better than sending them to
their own death.” Jiang Chen glanced at the three sect heads with a smile.
“Don’t worry, I’ve seen your sincerity.”
The three leaders were comforted by Jiang Chen’s words. A
strange idea even flashed through their minds, that this young lord wasn’t as
frightening and unreasonable as they’d imagined. At the very least, he was
showing some consideration for them instead of forcing them to their demise.
“Take a breather. I’m still counting on your sects to handle
the mopping up after we break the inner formation.”
The sect heads nodded, beaming with delight. The breaking of
the formation was the part they dreaded, not the killing. A fight pitting man
against man, the glint of blades and the shadows of swords, the cutting of
flesh and the spraying of blood, those were things they could see.
What they feared were formations. They had no experience
dealing with formations and could only batter with brute force, a method that
was both ineffective and certain to require a heavy cost in lives. Hence, all three
of them sighed in relief when they heard they would only be required for the
mop up.
The imperial clan was an arrow at the end of its flight. As
long as the formation broke, the combined force from the three sects was
certain to wipe it out.
A ripple suddenly appeared in the void inside the formation
at this moment.
Someone shouted. “Jiang Chen, you little lowlife from the
Regal Pill Palace! I have no idea what underhanded tricks you used to latch
onto Veluriyam. But no matter what airs you put on, you’re nothing more than a
stray dog, so why do you come and bark at our doors?” The voice was filled with
exaggerated derision.
Jiang Chen frowned while Vastsea and the Jiao brothers
seethed with anger.
“Young lord, these scum have no manners. Let this
subordinate of yours lead a group of elites and storm them. I’ll cut off that
dog emperor’s head!” Emperor Vastsea once again urged Jiang Chen to battle.
“Young lord, I’ll go!” Jiao Yun was even more direct.
“Hmph, do they think they can anger this young lord with
these clumsy methods?” Jiang Chen smiled with indifference. “The more they act
like this, the firmer my determination to induce a bloodbath.” His tone was
impassive, but a foreboding, murderous aura exuded from his entire being.
“Jiang Chen you little whelp! Take a good look, these are
things we looted from the Regal Pill Palace. We robbed this from the Regal Pill
cultivators we killed. Aren’t you quite the wild thing? Then why don’t you keep
at it? Come here and take those things back if you dare!”
“Also, your Regal Pill Palace had quite a few female
disciples. Hehehe, we turned all of them into slaves for our imperial family. I
can’t begin to describe how amazing it feels to enjoy them… Hahaha, I wonder if
there’s a relative of yours among them?”
There was unexpectedly more than one voice provoking Jiang
Chen. Their tone was incomparably vulgar and impertinent, like street gangsters
hurling abuse at each other.
The Regal Pill Survivors couldn’t endure it any longer.
Fists were clenched, eyes glowering with anger.
Jiang Chen had no relatives in the Regal Pill Palace, but
these survivors did. For that reason, the provocation didn’t anger the young
lord, but it fanned the rage of those survivors as they recalled their past
grief.
“Senior brother Jiang Chen, these bastards are truly
lawless. What are we waiting for? Let’s charge in and capture all of them, then
crush them into a thousand pieces!”
“Right, these scum are worse than pigs. Our anger can’t be
appeased if we don’t rip them to pieces!”
“Senior brother, just give the order! We’ll have no regrets
even if we die in battle!”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “The one they’re provoking is me.
I’m not angry at all, so why are you all getting worked up?”
Palace Head Dan Chi added, “Shut your mouth, all of you.
Your senior brother has always acted prudently. He knows what to do, why are
you so anxious?”
All sorts of provocation sounded from inside the formation
in an unending stream, the voices using every trick in the book.
Old Guo also sneered. “It turns out the young lord Zhen
whose prestige shakes the entire world is nothing more than a coward without
balls!”
Jiang Chen glanced at the old man with a contemptuous smile.
“Are men of the imperial clan all so idiotic?”
Two figures them quickly approached from the rear at this
time. Jiao Feng had finally arrived with Mo Wushuang.
“Young lord, am I late to the party?” Emperor Peerless
asked.
““Not at all.” Jiang Chen smiled and pointed at the
formation. “You four great emperors, take a look at this formation. It can’t
appear any more ordinary, but it’s been crafted according to techniques
inherited from ancient times. Drawing support from the local terrain, this
combination of heavenly order, earthly layout, and human formation is a rare sight.
“The four of you must attack from all four directions. You
need to coordinate your efforts and disrupt the formation’s internal cohesion
together. To break it open, you must break all four of its gates. Otherwise,
breaking one gate, two gates, or even three gates will be futile, because this
formation has an incomparable ability to regenerate itself. That’s already
brilliant in itself, but it becomes astonishing and when combined with the
terrain.
“Emperor Peerless, take some elites and raid the eastern side.
“Emperor Vastsea, take some men and batter the formation
from the west.
“Jiao Yun and Jiao Feng, you’re in charge of the north and
the south.
“I’ll coordinate the four of you. Listen to my orders, I’ll
communicate with you through my consciousness. All of you must obey my words
without hesitation and act in tandem. There are four gates inside this
formation linked with each other. The only way to break through is to destroy
all four gates at the same time and prevent them from reinforcing each other.”
Jiang Chen wasn’t being an alarmist.
He hadn’t thought much of the formation at first, but he
became more apprehensive the longer he studied it. He didn’t have the slightest
doubt that a single great emperor blindly charging in would more likely than
not be trapped inside. Without special means of survival, they might even
perish inside.
When Old Guo heard Jiang Chen’s plan, his indifferent face
instantly became deathly pale. He naturally knew where the crux of the palace’s
inner formation lay. Judging from Jiang Chen’s method to cope with it, it
seemed the young lord had entirely seen through its core as well. It meant the
palace’s final barrier was in grave danger.
Old Guo panicked. If not for his whole body being
restricted, he would already have shouted at the top of his lungs and warned
the men inside the palace to be careful and to make contingency plans.
Unfortunately for him, he was restricted and powerless to disclose any
information.
“These four sub-formations follow the principles of water,
fire, wind, and lightning. All of you need to be careful. Don’t let your focus
waver for even a second,” Jiang Chen admonished again.
“Understood.” The four great emperors grew grave when they
heard Jiang Chen’s repeated warnings.
“Brother Dragon, provide support for me from the shadows.
Don’t reveal yourself, act as my eyes and ears. Does that sound good?” Jiang
Chen transmitted silently to Long Xiaoxuan.
“Hmph. Kid, you’re pulling all the stops for a trivial Great
Scarlet. If you’d taken all the great emperors in Veluriyam with you, you could
have spared yourself the effort and just rolled right over them,” Long Xiaoxuan
lazily mocked.
“Haha, Brother Long, who will defend Veluriyam if every
great emperor came here? Just get ready, we’re breaking the formation soon!”
In fact, Jiang Chen had no desire to drag things out. He
wanted to finish things as soon as possible. But he had to exert every last
precaution when facing this formation of surprising might.
Chapter 1327: Ambush From the Forefather
All four of the great emperors were battle-hardened
veterans. With Jiang Chen’s orders, they led their elites to each of their
assigned positions outside the formation. The young lord remained in the center
to oversee the affair.
“Old Brother Mo, attack the eastern gate first. Beware of
lightning strikes.
“Vastsea, take the western gate. Watch out for chaotic
astral winds!
“Jiao Yun, Jiao Feng, ready yourselves to attack the north
and south gates at any time. Listen for my command, and note well that these
two gates conceal threats of water and fire.”
With a thunderous rumble, Emperor Peerless led the attack.
He pushed both fists in a single stretching motion, sending two aureate peaks
towards the eastern gate.
The emperor kept Jiang Chen’s reminder about the lightning
strikes at the forefront of his mind. That was why he had elected to forgo
metallic weaponry, choosing to attack great emperor level boxing auras instead.
Emperor Vastsea was determined not to be outdone. This was
the first time he had a chance to do anything for Jiang Chen! He poured a
hundred twenty percent into the effort and rained a storm of blows upon the
western gate.
The Jiao brothers followed suit at the northern and southern
gates.
The palace’s inner courtyard was plunged into hysterics. The
agitations from the attacks on the formation made those inside feel like they
were on a vessel in a turbulent sea. The possibility of capsizing at any moment
was panicking everyone.
They knew that the inner formation was very powerful, but
the posturing behind the attacks seemed even more impressive. No one was sure
that the formation would hold against such phenomenal blows.
“Forefather, have… have they seen through the secrets of our
formation? How can they know that they’re supposed to attack all four gates at
once? Is that Jiang Chen kid really some ridiculous formation master?” Great
Scarlet’s emperor felt his heart twist in a knot. His face was bloodless and
pale.
“Hmph, so what if he has? The formation will hold for a
while yet! Take over operating the formation and try to draw their attentions
this way. I’ll look for an opportunity to attack that Jiang Chen kid. I’ll take
him out in a single swing!” House Yan’s forefather was grim.
“Be careful, forefather.” The family’s forefather was the
emperor’s only bulwark. He didn’t want anything to happen to his last bastion
of defense.
“Hmph! Since we’re at this point already, we can only charge
forward the face of adversity. This is our only option, regardless of how slim
the chance. I think we have a fifty percent chance of coming out of this alive
anyways.” The forefather was confident.
……
Outside the palace, Jiang Chen oversaw the four battling
great emperors from a high vantage point. He marveled at the remarkability of
the inner palace’s formation. Despite a concerted strike from four great
emperors and his superb leadership, destroying the formation still proved
difficult.
As more and more attacks pounded into the formation, so too
did more and more of its hidden features come to light.
Lightning crackled, thunder rumbled, and electricity snaked
across the firmament.
An ocean of flames roiled, fiery tongues licking the sky.
A crashing wave threatened to swallow up all in its wake.
A roaring tempest sent currents of turbid air in every
direction.
The four-attribute formation would be significantly more
fearsome without the four great emperors suppressing its strength from all four
directions.
The great emperors in question respected Jiang Chen all the
more for his foresight. They’d been a bit confused about the young lord’s
caution a few moments prior, but personal experience now informed them of the
formation’s hidden potency. They realized that the young lord’s eye was keener
than theirs after all.
If they’d charged headlong into the formation and triggered
its restrictions, they would’ve suffered rather painful injuries – if not
outright death.
“The formation is strong, but it costs a lot of spirit
stones to maintain. Great Scarlet doesn’t have stones that are particularly
pure, which is an intrinsic flaw they cannot overcome. They won’t be able to
utilize the formation’s power to its fullest. Make sure to put your own safety
first. We will break the formation apart bit by bit!”
Jiang Chen uttered a reminder to the great emperors. He
didn’t want them to act in haste. As he concentrated on the battle, his
Psychic’s Head triggered an uncomfortable notion. In the next moment, he felt a
piercing pain in the ring seal located in the ocean of his consciousness. Was
it warning him of something?
“Hmm?” Though Jiang Chen was still curious about what the
restriction actually was, he always trusted the seal’s premonitions implicitly.
There was always something afoot when he received one.
The Great Scarlet capital was already under his control. The
imperial family was presenting some futile resistance still, but Jiang Chen
believed that they had no chance of escaping. The entire capital had been
surrounded by Goldbiter Rats. Everything was proceeding as he had expected. So
why then, had he received a warning?
His considerations didn’t delay his physical actions. He
grabbed at his Crimson Heavens formation disk without hesitation, concealing
himself within an Eight Trigram Boulder Formation. Simultaneously, he opened up
his senses and probed for any slight differences in the fabric of space.
He felt a faint current beneath him, almost imperceptibly
so.
“Who’s there?” Jiang Chen glared downward, golden rays
blasting out of his Evil Golden Eye. The aureate light expanded to fill the
surrounding place, revealing all concealed objects and persons.
“Hehehe, lie down, kid!” There was a snicker from the middle
of nothingness. A person tunneled out from a patch of thin air immediately
beneath Jiang Chen, as if he had torn through space to get there.
It was a white-haired man with an impressive presence. His
outstretched, wrinkled palm projected an enormous version of itself in a
grasping motion toward Jiang Chen. The momentum behind it was as stupefying as
a thunderclap.
“A great emperor domain?” A bit shocked, Jiang Chen called
upon his Eight Trigram Boulder Formation for aid.
Boom!
Everything happened in only an instant. If Jiang Chen had
been half a second slower, the assailant would’ve grasped a hole in the middle
of his chest. As the grasp clutched towards the young man, the formation
rumbled into motion.
Ker-chunk!
A wave of cracking sounded all around the formation. Rifts
appeared in its runes, created by the forcefulness of the hand alone.
Thankfully, the latter was stopped in its tracks in the process. The hand
clattered to a halt just one yard away from Jiang Chen. The assailant was none
other than House Yan’s forefather!
He had borrowed the wind and lightning of the formation to
conceal himself and sneak out. The four great emperors hadn’t detected his
presence because of this. Drifting here on the chaotic currents of the
formation, he had hidden himself like a gust between the spaces. His sole
objective was to land a lethal blow upon Jiang Chen.
As he delivered his attack, the old man thought that he had
already succeeded. Alas, he had underestimated Jiang Chen’s alertness and
reflexes in the end. The Eight Trigram Boulder Formation had managed to block
his grasp.
The forefather was stunned, but knew that he couldn’t lose
the opportunity by delaying. He pushed forward aggressively, pouncing upon
Jiang Chen like a huge eagle. A sizable pair of shears appeared in his hands.
Like an enormous, bestial maw, the shears carried rows of
jagged teeth upon its edges. It swept through space toward the young lord’s
position. The shears moved with frightening speed and ferocity. They could
seemingly cut up even a mountain that stood in their way.
But how would Jiang Chen be hit by the second attack after
neutralizing the first? He instantly dove into the Kunpeng Meteoric Escape,
disappearing from his original location.
As he did so, he tossed something into the air. It turned
into a stream of golden light, expanding almost instantaneously. It was his
magnetic golden mountain!
“Down with you!” Though Jiang Chen hadn’t tapped into all
the powers of his magnetic golden mountain, he could use it to good effect to
hinder the old man’s attack.
Deep down, Jiang Chen was astounded. He hadn’t thought that
Great Scarlet would have a great emperor in his wildest dreams.
Even the three sect heads hadn’t heard of such a thing.
However, there was no reason for him to panic. This expert
of the imperial family was plenty strong, but not nearly to the same degree
that Emperor Shura had been. Having successfully dealt with the latter, Jiang
Chen wasn’t scared at all of the former.
The mountain’s crushing weight bore down furiously upon the
old man, who was glaring daggers at it. He swept his sleeves at the mountain in
an attempt to swat it aside, foregoing everything to propel himself closer to
his young target.
Unfortunately, he found that a strange force had slowed his
sweep. In the next moment, currents of invisible, turbid magnetic forces made
his entire person sluggish.
“Hmm? What the hell is this?” The old man was astonished.
Finally, he understood why such a young kid had been able to become Veluriyam
Capital’s young lord. That someone of his age had been able to evade a great
emperor expert’s repeated attacks without breaking a sweat… this was truly
appalling news!
“I must kill that kid. House Yan faces certain destruction
with him around!” The forefather became even more determined to kill Jiang Chen
after his shock.
Not that he had much chance of succeeding; his initial
strike had had the highest likelihood of success. It was all downhill from
there.
The old man twisted free of the magnetic golden mountain’s
restrictions, only to be met with a giant claw from space. Five finger-talons,
sharp as knives, shot toward the top half of his head.
A true dragon was behind the claw!
House Yan’s forefather felt his blood run cold.
Emperor Peerless was the first to react. He abandoned the
formation, leaping to the young lord’s aid.
“I am here, young lord.”
Emperor Vastsea instantly dropped everything to arrive at
Jiang Chen’s side as well.
“Excellent timing,” Jiang Chen smiled coolly. “Capture this
old man. If you can’t, kill him on the spot!”
Emperor Peerless looked meaningfully toward Emperor Vastsea.
With a tacit understanding between the two, they both activated their great
emperor domains, locking down the nearby space.
The Jiao brothers blocked the two remaining directions,
taking the front and rear respectively. Their own great emperor domains were
deployed to the maximum as well. The four great emperors acting in unison
created a harmonizing effect between their domains. The amazing presence
exerted obstructed any possibility of escape for House Yan’s forefather.
Chapter 1328: Fall of the Forefather
House Yan’s forefather was almost a legendary character in
Great Scarlet Mid Region. None of the region’s three great sects knew that he
was still living. However, his resources were still limited by the scope of his
location. He’d managed to break through to great emperor, but his level was
mediocre. He was inferior to any one of the Jiao brothers, which put him far
below Mo Wushuang.
Being surrounded by four great emperors put him in a state
of alarm. He accelerated as much as possible in order to make an attempt at a
full-speed escape. He knew intimately the danger that he was currently in. He
wasn’t sure if he could get out of here alive, much less kill Jiang Chen.
As a decisive man, the forefather was single minded in his
pursuits. There was no need to consider anything aside from his current plan of
fleeing.
He drew his fingers across empty space, materializing a
powerful talisman that illuminated its surroundings like a golden sun. In the
blink of an eye, the forefather was swallowed up by the sun’s rays, turning
himself into a fleeing streak of light.
“Hmph!” Emperor Peerless seemed to have known about the
forefather’s plans beforehand. He rubbed his hands together, creating two
enormous palms that crushed inward like two icebergs.
Emperor Vastsea sniggered. “Leaving so soon? I don’t think
so!”
The emperor raised both arms, sending wave-like ripples into
space. The beautiful ripples created a watery veil that stretched around
several dozen yards of surrounding space, enclosing the area within.
Jiang Chen was astonished at Emperor Vastsea’s ability. The
young man had had the wrong impression of the emperor given the penchant for
flattery and a weak spine, but the man was actually quite strong.
The Jiao brothers traded a look with similar sentiments.
They hadn’t thought much of Emperor Vastsea either. But from the looks of this,
the great emperor’s prowess was definitely above either one of the brothers!
Emperors Peerless and Vastsea’s simultaneous attacks
rendered House Yan’s forefather’s escape attempt futile. His streak of golden
light collided with walls left and right, but was unable to clear a path out.
The forefather’s face paled, anxiety rising in his mind.
Once the space was fully locked down, he would be a sitting duck. Someone of
his strength would struggle against even a single one of the Jiao brothers,
which meant he had no chance whatsoever against four great emperors together.
Emperor Vastsea had a vested interest in showing off his
strength before his new master. He showed off a wide variety of methods,
sending House Yan’s forefather scurrying every which way.
“There’s nowhere for you to run! Give up already!”
Snickering, Emperor Vastsea sent wave after wave towards the old man.
The forefather was already tired from evading the prior
barrage of attacks and could only continuously retreat from Emperor Vastsea’s
new wave of merciless attacks.
Emperor Peerless was content to sit back and watch. He
wasn’t going to take the spotlight from someone who clearly wanted to put on a
good performance before the young lord. He was more than fine with simply
backing Emperor Vastsea up for the moment.
The Jiao brothers on the other hand, watched with predatory
eyes. They wanted desperately to put themselves in there, but were unwilling to
join Emperor Vastsea’s relentless pursuit. They didn’t want a reputation of
ganging up on their opponents. Therefore, they refrained from participating in
the fight.
One on one, House Yan’s forefather wouldn’t have fared
nearly so poorly against Emperor Vastsea despite his inferiority.
Unfortunately, because he wanted to escape very badly, the difference in their
strengths made it harder for him to weather Emperor Vastsea’s attacks.
Thump!
There was a collision of forces. The forefather’s body was
sent flying. Emperor Vastsea kept up the attack, sending forth a one-two punch.
His boxing aura created a horrifying wringing force, like two azure dragons
forming two watery twisters. Every path of retreat for the forefather was cut
off. He was swept involuntarily into the enormous vortex by the twisters.
Once he was dragged inside, he was within Emperor Vastsea’s
domain of influence. His fate was now in the emperor’s hands.
Thump, thump, thump!
Emperor Vastsea moved as quickly as lightning. He landed a
flurry of lethal blows upon House Yan’s forefather. The old man couldn’t move
to evade them; his movements were forcibly restricted by the twisters.
“Pfft!” The forefather spewed blood everywhere. The golden
light about him evaporated almost instantly, and his entire person exploded
like an overfilled balloon. Emperor Vastsea’s attacks had destroyed the old
man’s ocean of qi and shattered his meridians.
Thud!
The forefather’s body fell hopelessly down, his limbs
twitching like a near-dead dog’s. His body curled up, and he tried to struggle
to his feet, but the flow of blood from his mouth was unceasing.
His natural survival instincts fueled a half-hearted crawl.
Unfortunately for him, a great emperor who’d his ocean of qi destroyed was
effectively crippled. The severity of his wounds meant that he had very little
life left in him, if he wasn’t about to die outright.
“Haha, congratulations, Daoist Vastsea.” Emperor Peerless
smiled serenely. “This man must be an forefather-level character in Great
Scarlet. You’ve done valuable work today.”
Emperor Vastsea chuckled. He didn’t dare put on airs before
Emperor Peerless. “I know that the three of you held back for my benefit. I do
appreciate it plenty. I’ll be sure to remember the favor next time!”
“Let’s go down and take a look, shall we?” Emperor Peerless
smiled.
The captured minister, Old Guo, felt his face utterly pale.
The sight of House Yan’s forefather being defeated so swiftly had deadened his
heart. If the forefather died, House Yan would have no more cards up its
sleeve.
“It’s all over!” Old Guo was despondent.
“Young lord, my job is done.” Emperor Vastsea dashed
excitedly to Jiang Chen’s side, like a child who’d just won a prize.
“Yes, you’ve done good work today.” Jiang Chen frowned at
the House Yan forefather still struggling on the ground. “End his misery,” he
said coldly.
“Please don’t,” Old Guo pleaded mournfully. “Young lord
Jiang Chen, this old man is House Yan’s forefather. He didn’t participate in
Great Scarlet’s incursion into Myriad Domain. In fact, I’m sure he had no
knowledge of it in the first place. You’ve rendered him useless already. Why
kill him?”
Those from Regal Pill Palace were furious when they heard
this.
“Why are we not supposed to kill him? What gives you the
right to say that? Did you think of showing mercy back in Myriad Domain?” Shen
Trifire couldn’t resist jumping out.
“That’s right. Crimes must be punished. We won’t kill
innocents for no reason, but these people from the Great Scarlet Empire must be
destroyed!” Every disciple of the Palace was filled with righteous fervor.
“I’ll do the honors,” Palace Head Dan Chi cupped his fist to
Jiang Chen. Walking over, the palace head cut off the old man’s head with a
single flashing stroke.
House Yan’s forefather died with his eyes open. The look in
his lifeless orbs resembled a dead fish’s, full of despair and tinged with
regret.
Old Guo wailed, his entire body shivering. “Jiang Chen, you
petty thief! You deserve a cruel death!”
“Silence!” Jiao Yun swatted the old man into
unconsciousness.
“Young lord, this is House Yan’s forefather. He is the
imperial family’s last bastion of reliance. Showing his head off to the public
will shatter any lingering thoughts of resistance,” Emperor Vastsea advised.
“There’s no need.” Jiang Chen’s tone was cool. “The
forefather is already dead. The formation should be trivial. Continue breaking
through the it.”
With the death of the forefather, the imperial family’s last
trump card was done for.
Great Scarlet’s emperor had seen the proceedings from
beginning to end. He’d felt uneasy when the forefather’s preemptive strike
failed, and trouble when the old man was encircled by four other experts.
Alas, his knowledge made no difference. A man like him had
no strength or courage to rescue his relative, and there was little he could do
but watch as his forefather was smacked down to earth and decapitated.
“Emperor of House Yan, this is your forefather’s head! Take
it home with you and wail!”
“House Yan’s forefather is dead. The remnant of House Yan
should come out to their deaths!”
Dread spread through the palace upon House Yan’s
forefather’s death. The emperor in particular became like a soulless corpse.
The din outside elicited no reaction from him.
“You must take hold of yourself, Your Majesty!”
“The future of the empire rests in your hands, Your
Majesty.”
But the emperor reacted as if he hadn’t heard any of those
words. His face was emotionless as a paralyzed man. How could he collect
himself in such a situation? The death of his house’s forefather had torn his
last sliver of hope to shreds.
Veluriyam Capital’s army waited watchfully outside, and four
great emperors were tearing into the palace’s formation. It was a powerful one,
but its destruction was inevitable under the great emperors’ combined
strengths.
Everything was over!
Great Scarlet’s emperor dragged himself toward the inner
courtyard with heavy steps.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you can’t abandon us now!”
“Your Majesty, we still need you to maintain order here.
Your Majesty…”
Anarchy filled the entire palace. Everyone knew that this
was the end. This really was the end!
“Stop shouting, everyone!” A man in the robes of a military
officer stepped forward. “This empire belongs to House Yan,” he said
indignantly. “The invasion of Myriad Domain all those years ago was due to that
family’s willingness to act as the Eternal Celestial Capital’s dogs. We didn’t
participate in their crimes, so why should we pay for them?”
“Yes, Grand Commandant Huo is right. We’ve all been working
hard on the empire’s domestic affairs. None of us has ever laid a hand on
anyone or anything from Myriad Domain. Why should we die for House Yan?”
“Yes, let’s arrest all the members of that clan. We shall
deliver them unto young lord Jiang Chen!”
“Come on, everyone! Don’t let a single one from House Yan
escape. They are a helpful layer of protection in these troubled times!” One
person’s incitement was enough to evoke a tide of responses. Like a
boiling-over pot of soup, the palace became more chaotic by the minute.
Chapter 1329: The End of the Road
Multiple hands come together to push a wall down. It was a
scene of kicking a man on his way down. The imperial clan had ruled for
countless years over Great Scarlet. The emperor’s word was law and his prestige
radiated like the sun.
However, his decisions during this series of momentous
events had incurred his subjects’ disappointment, causing them to lose all
hope. And at this moment, the accumulation of all these negative emotions
finally broke the camel’s back.
When people lost all hope, they could lash out with a crazed
violence difficult to imagine. Unlike some mundane empires, loyalty and
patriotism weren’t paramount in the world of cultivators. Self interest and
benefits reigned supreme.
Great Scarlet’s emperor wasn’t truly beloved to begin with.
Now that his people also blamed him for leading the empire to its ruin, the
tensions finally exploded. A stubborn, brainwashed minority tried to stop the
crowd’s impulsiveness, but was drowned by a human tide in no time at all.
“Capture him, seize that vermin and hand him over to young
lord Jiang Chen!”
“House Yan’s cruel and unjust rule should have been ended
long ago. If not for them, how would Great Scarlet be backed into such a corner
today?”
“Indeed, they happily did the Eternal Celestial Capital’s
bidding and ended up dragging all of us down. Why should we pay for their sins?
What gives them that right? Everyone, let’s charge together.”
“Charge!”
Like a tumultuous torrent, the crowd crashed toward the
harem, startling the palace guards who shouted in panic, “Protect the emperor,
protect the emperor!”
Palace guards were brainwashed from birth. Their whole
existence revolved around the emperor. They lived and died for him. Every one
of the guards was an elite. Despite their few numbers, each of them was a force
to be reckoned with.
Hearing news of the turmoil inside the palace, they had no
choice but to abandon the perimeter defense and group together to suppress
internal strife. The palace was turned upside down in a hubbub, a chaotic
bloodbath in which dogs howled and ghosts wailed before Jiang Chen’s forces
even stormed the place.
Under siege from civil officials and military officers
alike, the emperor’s humiliation turned into rage. He shouted like a madman,
“Kill them, slaughter all of these deserters!
“Don’t leave any of them alive. These renegades are harming
our nation, I want all of them butchered! They were dogs in the manger to begin
with, and now instead of sharing my burdens in times of life and death, they
even dare rebel?”
The emperor bristled with rage. He couldn’t win against
Jiang Chen out there, but was he also going to let these traitors step on him?
His anger instantly turned the palace into a river of blood.
“Your Majesty, it’s enough to make an example of some. Who
will the empire rely on if we kill everyone?” A vice-captain of the palace
guards advised quietly.
The emperor responded with a punch and sent the vice-captain
flying through the air.
“You animal, who the hell do you think you are? Do I need
you to teach me what to do? Do you have what it takes? The empire? What bloody
empire? All of us are dead once the formation breaks!
“Rather than dying to these outsiders, I might as well
relieve them of their suffering myself! Hahaha. The food they eat, the water
they drink, the wealth they enjoy, everything belongs to me. They live if I say
they’re to live, they’re dead if I say they’re to die. All of them is to die!”
Gone insane, the emperor looked incomparably malevolent, his messy hair
floating in disarray, his head and face covered in bloodstains.
Holding a longsword, he hacked at anyone he saw. Other than
House Yan’s forefather, almost no one in Great Scarlet was his match
cultivation-wise. Now that he had his eyes on slaughter, who was his match?
As the lively massacre took place inside, an enormous rumble
suddenly sounded from the formation outside. The entire palace trembled as if
struck by an earthquake.
The emperor’s body stiffened. He narrowed his eyes, staring
fixedly at a direction outside as a despairing thought flashed through his
mind. “Is the formation broken?”
He suddenly remembered something and ran madly towards his
harem. This was where the imperial family lived. Other than grown princes who
had to leave to establish their own princely mansions, all the women and
children of the clan lived there.
Of course, with the emperor’s advanced age, he had no young
sons. As soon as he rushed inside the harem, he chanced upon a group of
concubines gathered together, panic and trepidation written all over their
faces. Seeing the emperor, the women ran to him shouting, “Your Majesty, Your
Majesty, what’s going on?”
Insanity glinting in his eyes, the emperor suddenly slashed
wildly.
The flash of the naked blade cleaved into two the concubines
running at the front, felling them into a pool of blood. Split in two, the
women didn’t die right away. They propped their hands on the ground in
desperation, trying to stand up, only to find there was nothing left below
their waist...
Incomprehension and desperation flashed through their eyes.
“Don’t blame me! When those vicious bastards storm this
place, all of you will be dirtied. I would rather see my women die at my own
hands than to let you be tarnished by that scum!” He lifted his sword and
charged inside.
There were countless beauties in his harem. The killing
moments ago was merely the beginning. When the concubines saw him rushing at
them with murderous intent, they shrieked and ran away.
Was this still the emperor they yearned for day and night?
No! This was a demon king escaped from hell and bent on massacre!
“His Majesty has gone mad, everyone flee for your life!”
“Your Majesty, one night as husband and wife is worth a
hundred years of devotion. Please spare your loving concubine!”
“Your Majesty, don’t kill your humble servant. Ah!”
How strong was Great Scarlet’s emperor? What could be easier
for him than to kill a few defenseless women? In his frenzy, he hacked down the
hundreds of concubines with just a few charges, leaving none of them alive.
Studying the ground coated in blood and limbs, the emperor
murmured to himself, his eyes rife with madness, “That’s right, there’s still
the descendants of House Yan left. If they have to die, they then should die
beneath my sword. I can’t let them perish at these bastards’ hands.”
Insanity had taken hold of his entire being.
Right when he was about to step out of the door, a blinding
light flashed in front of him, followed by a voice shouting, “Young lord, I
found Great Scarlet’s emperor. This old guy’s gone mad, he killed all of his
women.”
Following that voice, countless people quickly rushed in,
including the heads of the three great sects.
Great Scarlet’s emperor had quite a delinquent streak in
him. Realizing he was surrounded, he simply stayed put and dropped his butt
onto a chair with a strange giggle.
“Where’s Jiang Chen? Have him come and see me!” He looked
entirely unfazed in the face of death.
“Tsk tsk, this idiot must still think he’s the mighty
emperor.” Jiao Feng looked at him in disbelief.
“No need for nonsense. Let’s cripple him first, then let the
young lord handle him. We can’t kill this scumbag, we need to wait for the
young lord’s decision,” Jiao Yun reminded.
Just then, Jiang Chen arrived at the scene, accompanied by
Emperor Peerless. The Regal Pill Palace’s survivors followed in their wake.
Great Scarlet’s emperor sat on his chair without the
slightest concern in the midst of enemies. Since he knew he couldn’t escape
from death’s clutches, he feigned an undaunted confidence, looking very much
like a hooligan. He glanced at Jiang Chen. “You’re that little scoundrel Jiang
Chen?”
Blazes erupted from Palace Head Dan Chi’s eyes. “Yan, you
heartless wretch, after invading our Myriad Domain twice and destroying our
lives, how dare you still be so insolent with so many crimes on your
conscience?”
“Hahaha, who do you think you are?” The emperor laughed
heartily as he threw a contemptuous glance at Dan Chi. “If I’m not mistaken,
you must be the so-called palace head of the Regal Pill Palace? Why are you
running your mouth here? Without Jiang Chen, what could your Regal Pill Palace
do against me? What could ten Regal Pill Palaces do against me?”
That was the naked truth, but Dan Chi graced him with a mere
grim smile. “Now that things have come so far, what use are your little tricks?
Trying to drive a wedge between allies? Correct, my Regal Pill Palace relies on
Jiang Chen, just like your Great Scarlet is the Eternal Celestial Capital’s
lackey. And what of it? All that matters is that your death is at hand. Your
bloodline is going to be exterminated, your house eradicated. From today on,
Great Scarlet’s House Yan will disappear from this world!”
Great Scarlet’s emperor’s face drained of all color. His
gaze swept through the three great sect’s sect heads, his whole being burning
with anger. “House Yan being erased by Myriad Domain is retribution from the
heavens. But what of you three sects? You enjoyed the most honored status in my
nation, yet collude with my enemies when push came to shove. Do you have any
face left to be standing in front of me?”
“Pfft. Yan, aren’t you ashamed to mention this? Great
Scarlet was already driven to the brink by your clan. Resources? Correct, our
three sects did indeed get some. However, everyone knows that your clan hoards
at least more than half of the resources from Great Scarlet. You also offer a
portion as tribute to the Eternal Celestial Capital. The sects are only thrown
some scraps. Otherwise, why isn’t there a single second rank sect in Great
Scarlet?”
“That’s right. Almost every mid region has a second rank sect.
Only Great Scarlet has been monopolized by your House Yan, yet you still want
to make us believe you hold sects in high regard. The origin of Great Scarlet’s
destruction is none other than House Yan!”
“Our region will never see a better tomorrow if House Yan
doesn’t die!”
For some reason, Jiang Chen felt utter disgust for the
bickering between the emperor and the three sect heads.
“Yan, there’s only one road left for you no matter what you
say today. Will you travel down this road on your own, or will this young lord
have to send you off on this journey?” He had no desire to waste time in
nonsense.
“Hmph!” the emperor sneered. “You want to send me off? Do
you dare fight against me one on one?”
Jiang Chen smiled impassively. “Stop putting up a front.
Killing you would be as easy as slaughtering a pig. Do you think you’re worth a
duel?”
The emperor wanted to goad Jiang Chen into single combat and
use that opportunity to seek a lifeline. But seeing Jiang Chen’s sheer disdain,
he realized how vain his hopes were. He howled with laughter. “So much for that
young lord bullshit! Jiang Chen, you might destroy my empire, but the great
powers in Upper Eight Regions won’t take this lying down!
“Just you wait. Pillfire City, the Eternal Celestial
Capital, they won’t let you get away with it!” He shouted himself hoarse, as if
the anger in his heart could kill Jiang Chen and destroy the entire world.
The final whimpers of a defeated dog was beneath Jiang Chen’s
contempt. He merely ordered with an indifferent smile, “Jiao Yun, kill him!”
The emperor’s face became as pale as death. He suddenly
activated an escape glyph in hand, wanting to borrow its power to flee.
However, even House Yan’s forefather couldn’t run from the
inescapable siege. How could a mere emperor realm like him slip away in front
of so many great emperors?
Jiao Yun sent the fleeing light crashing down from the sky
with a single slap.
Thump! Great Scarlet’s emperor dropped on the ground like a
dead dog. When he opened his eyes, his vision chanced upon the face of a
concubine he’d cut in half. Her eyes full of bitter rancor seemed to be cursing
and mocking him.
Chapter 1330: The Scene is Set
The death of Great Scarlet’s emperor marked the end of House
Yan.
Emperor Vastsea led his men into the palace and exterminated
the entire imperial lineage, leaving none alive. With the assistance of the
three great sects, another purge was conducted in the capital, completely
uprooting House Yan’s foundation.
The extensive slaughter caused a great amount of anxiety
amongst the citizens, but Jiang Chen was quick to ease their fears.
“The imperial family colluded with the Eternal Celestial
Capital to invade Myriad Domain and slaughter all that I held dear. My vengeance
today is only directed towards House Yan and their collaborators. Those who
have nothing to do with them can rest easy. There’s no need for panic.”
These words eased the public’s anxiety a little.
“Young lord, we’ve done all we can here. What should we do
about the fourth rank sects that also invaded Myriad Domain?” Emperor Vastsea
smiled.
“Those sects are no longer a cause for concern. They’re
sitting ducks now that we’ve taken over Great Scarlet.” Jiang Chen smiled
blandly. “Vastsea, split your men into four groups and stamp out the Qitian
Sect, Bamboo Sect, Golden Glyph Sect, Zither Sect…
“Jiao Yun, you shall lead two more groups of men to deal
with the Four Quadrant Sect, Cloud and Wind Palace…
“Jiao Feng, lead two groups as well and deal with the Mystic
Fire Sect, Nine Waves Sect…
“Old Brother Mo, accompany me to the Thunder Note Hall and
the Great Roc Sect!”
It was only natural that Jiang Chen would want to destroy
those two sects out himself as they were the ones who’d personally invaded the
Regal Pill Palace.
…...
He quickly graced the two sects with his presence, arriving
when they were still contemplating if they should flee after hearing about the
purge. These fourth rank sects all suffered major losses when they attempted
hunting down Jiang Chen, so much so that they were no longer any better than
the fourth rank sects from Myriad Domain.
They could never withstand a series of onslaught by the
Peafowl Guards, especially when overseen by Jiang Chen himself and with Emperor
Peerless here in support.
Palace Head Dan Chi and Elder Yun Nie was finally able to
vent their grievances after so many years. They showed the two sects no mercy
and slaughtered the high level executives like pigs. This was especially true
for Palace Head Dan Chi. A half-step emperor like him was now a mammoth-like
existence to them. Fueled by seething hatred, he personally disposed of at
least a dozen of them.
Having trained in Veluriyam Capital for many years, the
Regal Pill Palace disciples quickly realized how mediocre Great Scarlet fourth
rank sects were now. Since widening their horizons, these sects that were once
deemed too gargantuan to overcome had become a small nuisance at the very most.
They were now far stronger than the geniuses from these fourth rank sects. In
fact, the geniuses from Regal Pill Palace consistently flattened their peers.
Three days later, the slaughter in Great Scarlet finally
stopped. House Yan and their collaborators were completely purged from the face
of the earth. Those who managed to escape the catastrophe would eventually be
captured as well. There was nowhere to hide from an all-encompassing net.
The fourth rank sects had been uprooted from their very
foundation. A complete and utter shift had occurred in Great Scarlet after the
dust had settled. The region was now advancing towards a new tomorrow.
“Young lord, we've completely taken over the region. The
only factions left are the third rank sects and the weaker fifth to sixth rank
sects. All collaborators of the imperial family have been cleansed from the
realm.”
“Young lord, this region is quite vast.”
“Why don’t we take over the reins and turn it into Veluriyam
Capital’s rear garden?” The crowd voiced various suggestions.
Jiang Chen smiled. “You needn’t worry as I’ve already made
plans. For now, let’s leave them to their own devices.
The crowd didn’t understand what Jiang Chen was thinking.
“Young lord, now is a great time to take over Great Scarlet.
The imperial family has fallen and there’s a void to fill. Wouldn’t it be a
pity if we don’t strike while the iron’s hot?”
Jiang Chen waved his hands. “We’ll take over the region one
day, but now isn’t the time. Eliminating them was only the first step. Now, we
need to move onto the next step and restore my homeland back to its former
glory. Everyone, care to take a trip with me to Myriad Domain?”
“We are more than willing.” The crowd answered willingly.
“But young lord, why aren’t we taking over the region now?”
Emperor Peerless asked curiously.
Jiang Chen smiled. “If we leave the three great sects to
their own devices, they’ll start a power struggle to fill the void of
authority. After they’re done clawing at each other’s throats and the region
has fallen into utter chaos, we’ll come back and take over the place in one
fell swoop.”
Emperor Peerless’ eyes glimmered after a moment’s thought.
“How brilliant!”
The Jiao brothers simply couldn’t fathom the reasoning
behind all of this. What difference did that make? Were they supposed fear the
three great sects? These lowly peasants posed no threat! One could easily
obliterate them with a swat of a hand!
Emperor Vastsea also slapped his thighs after pondering
about it briefly. “Such brilliance! Young lord, I’m thoroughly impressed by
your foresight.”
Jiao Yun scratched his head with puzzlement. “Everyone is
singing the young lord praises, but this brute still has no idea why.”
“Hehe. If the young lord takes over the region now, the
outside world will denounce him for commencing conquest under the guise of
revenge. This will reflect badly on the young lord.
“If the region falls into chaos by itself, the young lord
can assume control of the region under the guise of keeping peace. By then, the
citizens would have grown weary of the chaos inflicted by the three sects.
They’ll be begging for a powerful faction to intervene, stabilize the
situation, and return peace to their home. Moreover, they’ll be more than happy
to welcome the young lord due to his reputation and status.
“Any naysayers from the outside world would be wasting their
breath as long as the citizens supports the young lord’s reign. They will
willingly let the young lord take power as he is the only one who can return
peace, stability, and prosperity to the region.”
The Jiao brothers finally understood what was going on. Jiao
Yun scratched his head. “Heh! To think that there’s so many intricacies to this
situation! A brute like me only knows how to fight and kill! I’m not very good
with my brain.”
Jiang Chen laughed. “Alright, since most of House Yan’s
stragglers have already been eliminated, let’s head to Myriad Domain.”
…...
The senior executives of the three great sects had been
under a great deal of stress lately. What were they going to do if the young
lord chose to stay? However, their worries quickly faded away when they heard
that young lord Jiang Chen was leaving for Myriad Domain with his men.
The news made the three sects beyond excited. The young lord
was a lot more honorable than they’d initially thought. Was he really going to
leave right after taking his revenge, leaving behind the entire region? Anyone
with even the slightest ambition would’ve taken the area for themselves.
“Are they really leaving?” The Sky Eagle sect head thought
that it was a hoax when he first heard the news.
“Sectmaster, Veluriyam Capital’s army is already preparing
to depart.”
“Report!” Someone immediately rushed into the room.
“Sectmaster, great news! Young lord Jiang Chen and his cohort of experts have
left the Great Scarlet capital! Half of Veluriyam’s men have already departed!”
“What?” The sect head surged to his feet. “Quickly, summon
the sect executives! I have plans to arrange!”
The Myriad Buddha Sect and the Scarlet Parting Sect had
received news of Jiang Chen’s departure as well. The sect heads of the two
sects were already excitedly plotting for the future. Jiang Chen’s departure
meant that Great Scarlet was now without a ruler, and that they were the most
powerful factions here! This was an opportunity of a lifetime!
Their ambitions instantly blossomed to extreme proportions.
…...
Jiang Chen led his army to the borders of Myriad Domain. The
land was still in tatters and a downcast pallor still clung to everything. It
was apparent that the region hadn’t recovered from the invasion yet. The four
emperors in charge of overseeing Myriad Domain immediately came to greet Jiang
Chen when they learned he was here.
“You’ve worked hard. All four of you.” Jiang Chen commended.
Palace Head Dan Chi and the others were overwhelmed by
various emotions after stepping foot on Myriad Domain soil. It was a mix of
excitement, melancholy, anticipation, as well as endless painful memories.
Tears streaked down Elder Yun Nie’s face. “To think that an
old man like me would set foot on Myriad Domain soil once again. The heavens
have eyes! The Regal Pill Palace will finally see the day once more after all
these years because of young lord Jiang Chen!”
Elder Yun Nie suddenly faced Jiang Chen and went on his
knees. “Young lord Jiang Chen, please accept this kowtow from me.”
Thump! Thump!
The young disciples of the Regal Pill Palace followed suit
and got on their knees too.
“Everyone please get up! I may be the young lord of
Veluriyam Capital, but I’m also a member of the Regal Pill Palace! How can I
accept your bows when it is also my responsibility to restore our sect to glory
and reclaim our homeland? Come, let us head to the sect!”
Jiang Chen helped everyone up.
The crowd grew more and more cheerful as they made their way
towards their home. They’d finally returned, not discreetly, but proudly. No
matter how much tragedy they’d faced, the worst had already come to past. A new
dawn was finally rising for the Regal Pill Palace.
