"You!" A spiritual shockwave shook the entire world. Contained within it was vehemently brutal rage, unfettered by pride or face. It was pure. It was glacial to the soul. The origins of which were known other than Peng Yue!
The scene began to clear as the remnants of the Soul-Burning Radiance cultivated by the Soul-Scorching Radiance Method began to disperse, revealing a sword-wielding young man and young woman. The former's body pulsed with a golden sword light that released a faint hymn of Awakened Sound Intent intermixed with the Mystic Heart Intent of the Yang Sword, resembling mystical music, while the latter's robes were wrinkled to the point of excessive, her hair unkempt and untied, and her originally white skin was slightly tanned. Besides her otherwise disheveled appearance, she seemed entirely unharmed!
A series of cold gasps erupted from the Imperial Clan's members, extremely awed and horrified that their joint effort had seemingly no effect while being controlled by one of the top three cultivators of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region!
Peng Yue's eyes blazed with an unconcealed, mana-rippling rage! While those without a keen gaze would think that Peng Yue suffered, she knew the full truth; she was injured! Moreover, it was not light! The damage inflicted by the Soul-Burning Radiance had inflicted devastating wounds onto her Mystic Core, affecting her Mystic Soul, and damaging her foundation. The Soul-Burning Radiance was like flaming glue, tethering to all aspects of the soul, trying to permeate and incinerate all things spiritual and soul-related! When it blasted her body, it entered through her pores, pouring into her meridians, sought after her Mystic Soul and Soul, and found its way into her Dantian within a near-instant!
Her Mystic Soul was immediately touched by the radiance! However, she was a Worldly Saint, and by all rights, not an ordinary cultivator with poor origins or comprehension of cultivation. She decisively severed a portion of her Mystic Core and Mystic Soul, dispersing it outside her body, and hurriedly defended herself while simultaneously exerting Primary Mystic Light generated by the Radiant-type Mystic Rune!
She had lost two hundred years of cultivation! Almost all her efforts since entering the Worldly Saint Phase, the Fifth Stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, were eradicated in a single move! Her rage knew no bounds!
Zhen Yang verified Peng Yue's state. She did nothing to halt his Spiritual Sense from probing her intimately, finding out the entirety of her state, and the more he learned, the colder his gaze grew.
Hum! His sword released a high-tempo hymn, reflecting his emotions accurately. Anger! Intense, unbridled anger!
Shockingly, he inclined his head out into the starry skies. "No more; they all die."
It was five words, yet they contained a wisp of piercing chill that entered the hearts of all who heard it! And that was everyone! Not just in the immediate vicinity! It was everyone in the Aeternal Sky Starfield! It was as if a single individual had assigned their fates with only five words!
"..." The starry skies didn't reply. There was only a cold vastness of the Dark Void, and this sight only felt increasingly horrifying. No objection! No dissuasion!
Peng Yue's meridians, dantian, and fleshy body suffered varying degrees of severe damage, and she hadn't just lost two hundred years of cultivation in her hasty sacrifice, but her fighting prowess had plummeted! If before, she wasn't an 'ordinary' Worldly Saint, her current state would place her firmly below 'ordinary' Worldly Saints! Moreover, there were still traces of the Soul-Burning Radiance glued throughout her body, and she was silently exerting her Mystic Power to eradicate it!
She glowered at the Imperial Advisor, "Capture her for me."
Zhen Yang gave a slight nod.
"The rest-do with them as you will." Peng Yue then brought out a yellowish talisman. It was rectangular, paper-made, and on it was a series of mystical runes. It hovered before her, unleashing resplendent rays of earthen-yellow light, establishing a spherical ward around her body. She didn't hesitate to enter a cross-legged position, focused entirely on healing her body with closed eyes.
The Imperial Advisor was as pale as a white ghost. In the world of cultivation, there was a general rule that each stage of advancement was a milestone of epic proportions, vastly exceeding the previous stage, creating an insurmountable gap between cultivators of differing stages. This gap could only be overcome by extraordinary methods or heaven-defying foundations. She cultivated the former, and added an additional layer of combined strength of objects and cultivators, yet despite relying on these aspects, she was unable to do anything more than give Peng Yue a slight sunburn.
Her heart was besieged by a familiar feeling.
Back then, Tian Taizong had entered the Earthly Saint Phase ahead of everyone else through sheer talent, and then concisely conquered stellar regions and organizations that had prepared for this event for tens of thousands of years. They were all forced to bow their heads. They were all forced to admit their inferiority! All their plans and contingencies only highlighted his supremacy. Even when others reached the Earthly Saint Phase and tried to resist, the man suppressed all contenders.
Now, she stood before Peng Yue and Zhen Yang. Was this how the others felt?
"No!" Her closed eyes shut harder than before, creating wrinkles at the edges of her eyes. She refused to yield! The Imperial Clan could not be conquered! This was an unshakeable faith in a single man, the Divine Emperor!
She grabbed her greatsword, straightened her spine, and caused tens of thousands of Mystic Runes to storm around her as her robes fluttered wildly in its tempest of power. She cut an unyielding, powerful figure.
"You all from that world between the fold of ours and beyond: Surrender or die!" Her words shook the hearts of the Imperial Clan's members, reignited their courage, inspiring their hearts, and summoning their blazing pride forged from tens of thousands of years of supremacy.
"SURRENDER OR DIE!" A single Exalted shouted from the crew of Tian Muyang's shattered ship, hanging onto the edge of a broken piece of railing. His voice was like thunder imbued with Spiritual Strength!
"SURRENDER! OR! DIE!" Echoing shouts resounded from the Imperial Clan members. They were all of one heart. United beneath the visage of an invincible legend, under the flag of their nation, and roused by their cultivated pride. The horror of Peng Yue and Zhan Yang seemed remarkably less than a second ago, and they felt their momentum building to an apex!
Tian Weilong, the Dracofist Imperial Monarch, felt the surge of imperial pride in his heart. He joined in!
"SURRENDER! OR!! DIE!!!" Tian Shangyang joined in as well. Who did these people think they were?! They only had two choices, no other! Victory was not for them! It was for us-the Tian Clan!
"SURRENDER! OR!! DIE!!!"
Sky Monarch Bai and Sky Monarch Kong Yi had served the Imperial Clan for thousands upon thousands of years, and while they were largely considered external members, they, too, carried this inexhaustible pride and belief.
"SURRENDER! OR!! DIE!!!"
At the edges of the Aeternal Sky Starfield's borders, the Crimson Moon-robed Librarian was dazed. The momentous spiritual shouts congealed into a single voice, and she felt her heart shutter. The others from the Endless Voyage Realm paled, the lower their cultivation base, the greater their loss of complexion.
The librarian's lips quivered slightly, her gaze growing increasingly befuddled. "Are these people-" She began softly, continuing with "-idiots?"
HUM!!! Zhen Yang's sword was lifted, blazing with golden sword light. With a casual swing, he unleashed an Ascension Art.
Ninth Way, Ascension Art: Heaven's Hymn of the Golden Sword!
An unfathomably gargantuan, star-devouring sword light singing a sharp, peerless hymn for the heavens was released!
The light was blinding and the sound was deafening.
When the hum and light dissipated, the spiritual shouts of the Imperial Clan lingered in the Dark Void.
"..." But no new voices were added; two colossal Sky Destroyers no longer existed!!!
In the path of those two colossal Sky Destroyers, the injured Sky Monarch duo-Kong Yi and Bai Yuzheng was there, assisting with their fragmented crew, trying to regather what strength they could, yet their efforts proved meaningless. They, too, vanished.
Two great Sky Monarchs and several other Earthly Saints...
"Wh-wher-where did they go?" A crew member from the last remaining colossal Sky Destroyer asked absentmindedly.
Yang Chaoyue's eyes constricted to their absolute limits! She was just a few tens of miles away, the sword light barely passing her. One moment, they were there. The next...they weren't.
There was no debris. There was no blood. There was no soul aura. All was eradicated.
Zhen Yang strode through the Dark Void. His movement attracted every ounce of attention that could be mustered. Within a blink of an Ascended's eye, he was atop the third colossal Sky Destroyer's atmospheric barrier. The sight was nostalgic to Tian Lingyu and Tian Muyang!
It was the same way! That unsurpassable presence and tactic of unquestionable superiority that Wei Wuyin and Wu Yu had performed years ago!
"Die." A single word. It resonated with the Mystic Dao itself and he lifted his foot, stomping it downwards with the strength to snuff starfields, distort time, and eradicate space!
Eighth Way, Ascension Art: Song of the Giant's Fury!
BOOM!!! The stomp pressed the atmospheric barrier inwards, piercing through it as if it were made of dough. The force of the stomp carried on! The colossal Sky Destroyer forged by incredible amounts of precious materials, defensive formations powered by Mystic World Stones, and containing hundreds of thousands of lives began to shatter! Bit! By! Bit!
Until...
BOOSH!!! The colossal Sky Destroyer exploded!! A force bearing the power of a Supernova was released! Yang Chaoyue was stunned as the rampant wave of mana smashed against her Sky Destroyer, and she was sent barreling back, twisting through the Dark Void, unable to control it in the slightest! Tian Muyang and Tian Lingyu were the same! They spiraled out of control and were pushed out.
The planets and lunar satellites all released scintillating golden light as they were pushed out of orbit too, unable to resist the raging waves of force! If not for it being mere shockwaves, entire planetary populations would have come to an end right then and there!
"..." The Imperial Advisor, the last remaining captain of a colossal Sky Destroyer, was aghast. Her ashen complexion was no longer just white, but a type of deathly white that couldn't be properly described. She was entirely bloodless!
From the fragments and hectic debris of mangled corpses of Earthly Saints and smashed mystic-graded material, a single lone figure was whole, present, and attracting every ounce of attention.
Zhen Yang stood with sword in hand, his handsome visage illuminated by the glistening rays of the Aeternal Sky Star, and his aura pulsating with unprecedented worldly sharpness. "There will be no surrender." His calm voice was soul-chilling! His flickering gaze turned to the Imperial Advisor, calmly looking at her from hundreds of thousands of miles away.
The Crimson Moon-robed Librarian's heart was pounding. This was the true terror of World Emperors! Did they not know this?! Ignorant fools!
Within Heaven's Sky Palace, Tian Taizong sat on his false throne. The calmness in his gaze was still present, yet there was an added gloominess to it.
Concealed within the Aeternal Sky Starfield, Liu Yinlan held the command talisman for the Endless Void Mirror, drawing upon its strength to ensure that no one could sense them through most typical sensory means. While she couldn't do much with it given the slumbering Spirit of the Endless Void Mirror, she could do at least this much. She was accompanied by Hu Meifang and Zhangjie Wushu.
They were only a few hundred miles away from Imperial Sky! The planet that housed Heaven's Sky Palace!
"How wasteful," Hu Meifang commented lightly, observing the destruction that Zhen Yang was unleashing.
"Get ready," Liu Yinlan warned. Her eyes scoured for a specific aura on the planet. After a short while, her eyes effused a light of happiness. "I found you!"
[Author's Note: Hahaha!
You know the thing about the future knowledge of San Yongli or Wei Wuyin? The original situation was wildly different from present. Not only was Liu Yinlan alone but suppressed.
Oh boy.
I find this hilarious. XD]
