The violent force within the water tornado made Xu Qi’an realize that once caught within, his body would suffer the pain of a thousand cuts.

Moreover, being enveloped by vast amounts of water meant putting his life in the White Emperor’s hands.

Without the slightest hesitation, the fire ring at the back of his head “boomed” open, like the flash of an exploding shell.

After mastering the Vajra Divine Technique, this fire ring formed at the back of his head might seem useless hanging there normally, but it was supremely masculine and yang, specifically countering yin cold evil spirits and water-based techniques.

Hiss hiss!

The “tentacles” wrapped around his ankles evaporated into mist. By now the water tornado was right before him, leaving no time to perform shadow jumping.

Xu Qi’an indeed retreated, using his superior speed to distance himself from the water tornado. Meanwhile, he gripped the Nation-Stabilizing Sword tightly, collapsed all his qi, suppressed all emotions… and suddenly slashed behind him.

A warrior’s sense of crisis gave warning, forming an image—the White Emperor appearing behind him, lunging with bared fangs.

The golden sword light destroyed the enemy behind him with overwhelming force, making it disperse into tons of rainwater.

No, it had been formed from rainwater to begin with.

A fake? Xu Qi’an’s pupils contracted slightly.

The next second, he was swallowed by the howling water tornado.

The White Emperor let out a “heh”—this was one of its highest-level techniques within its innate divine abilities, able to create a clone with qi identical to its main body to participate in the battle.

It hadn’t used this before because of environmental limitations. Even though it could extract water spirits from the air, creating a powerful clone still required considerable time. And that would certainly not escape Xu Qi’an’s notice.

Now was different—with torrential rain, water spirits filled this realm, making it its domain.

The water tornado spun “Whoosh whoosh,” Xu Qi’an’s body disintegrated inch by inch, like ice cubes are thrown into boiling water, flesh rapidly peeling away, exposing the white bone in multiple places.

The Buddhist Pagoda was also caught within, spinning with the water tornado. The pagoda spirit’s golden light attempted to surge up but was firmly suppressed by the water spirits.

The Nation-Stabilizing Sword danced against the water tornado’s direction, attempting to break through the White Emperor’s technique through its power.

Xu Qi’an’s body alternated between shadow form and normal form, unable to execute shadow jumping to escape.

He was trapped in the White Emperor’s technique domain. After all, the Dark Curse hadn’t reached the transcendent realm yet—its ghostly unpredictability was predicated on not being suppressed by higher-ranked techniques.

Asura and the others felt their hearts tighten. They had been walking along a cliff edge all along, unable to lean left or right, carefully maintaining the balance between both sides.

But the Water Lightning Tribulation had created an advantageous domain for the White Emperor, breaking the balance they had painstakingly maintained.

“Zizi…”

The White Emperor’s horns bloomed with bright, flaring electric arcs. Between the two horns, a lightning ball rapidly condensed.

Zhao Shou’s expression slightly sank. He flicked his scholar’s cap, staring at the White Emperor, and said in a deep voice:

“Retreat three hundred zhang!”

The air around the White Emperor began to distort as if about to exchange with space elsewhere.

But in the next moment, the distorted space smoothed out, not moving an inch.

The White Emperor remained in place.

Garuda Tree Bodhisattva formed hand seals, the Immovable Wisdom King manifestation behind him making synchronized movements. He had sealed the space around the White Emperor.

Zizi!

The White Emperor suddenly thrust its head forward, violent lightning shooting forth, illuminating the surroundings.

The thick lightning, no weaker than heavenly tribulation, crashed into the water tornado. The turbid flow carrying mud was instantly illuminated, casting shadows of Xu Qi’an, the Nation-Stabilizing Sword, and the Buddhist Pagoda.

The two magical weapons’ surfaces were instantly covered in scorch marks, their radiance dimming. They couldn’t scream, but their rapidly dropping qi indicated their poor condition.

Xu Qi’an’s body suddenly stiffened, then quickly carbonized, his brittle flesh increasingly unable to resist the water tornado’s “cutting.”

In the distance, Xu Pingfeng remained silent. If the puppet had eyes, they would surely have gleamed with wild joy, coldness, and… relief.

If one were to speak of the greatest error and oversight in Xu Pingfeng’s lifetime of scheming, it would be his eldest legitimate son, Xu Qi’an.

His growth had truly been terrifying. From the tax silver case until now, merely two years have passed. In these two years, Xu Qi’an had risen from a mere runner of Long Le County, a mere Ninth Realm warrior, to a Second Realm warrior, joining the ranks of the world’s finest.

And all this was achieved through the blessing of national fortune and various opportunities.

Xu Pingfeng’s oversight lay in the fact that throughout history, no one had ever truly condensed half the national fortune within themselves. Therefore, even Xu Pingfeng didn’t understand what “consequences” this would lead to.

In the术士 system, although First Realm术士 shared the nation’s lifespan, it was different from Xu Qi’an’s containment of half the national fortune.

The former “shared life and death” with the national fortune, existing in an equal state. The latter directly incorporated the national fortune into his body, privatizing it.

Xu Pingfeng hadn’t cared about Xu Qi’an’s various performances before reaching transcendence. When he entered the Third Realm and killed Jeanne d’Arc, though Xu Pingfeng was surprised, he still didn’t think much of it.

It wasn’t until the Battle of Sword State that he adjusted his attitude, viewing this eldest son as a dangerous figure.

But even then, Xu Pingfeng still maintained a condescending mindset, not considering his eldest son as someone who could stand as his equal.

Indeed, after sealing the Observatory Master, Great Feng was almost certainly defeated.

What waves could he make as a mere Third Realm warrior?

This mindset continued until that transcendent battle outside Xun State, where Xu Qi’an “overnight” broke free from his constraints, advanced to the Second Realm, and rallied allies like Asura and Earth Sect’s Golden Lotus, standing against him as an equal.

He vaguely became Great Feng’s number one figure, becoming a player in the Central Plains war.

Xu Pingfeng had to admit that his eldest son had become the biggest obstacle on his path to conquering the Central Plains and advancing to Heaven’s Mandate Master.

He had become a peak figure capable of competing with him on equal footing.

At this moment, Luo Yuheng let out a long cry. The Earth Phase that had just passed tribulation rushed out of her physical body, suicidally smashing itself inside the water tornado, causing the rapidly spinning water tornado to stagnate.

Earth conquers Water!

Immediately after, the Wind Phase dragged the divine sword howling forward, charging into the stagnant water tornado, piercing through Xu Qi’an’s abdomen. The sword’s momentum is undiminished, it carries him out of the water tornado.

“Hmph!”

The White Emperor’s azure pupils narrowed, lightning raging from its horns, bolt after bolt pursuing the flying sword and Xu Qi’an.

Simultaneously, its four hooves flew like the wind, blocking the flying sword’s escape route.

Heavenly tribulation and torrential rain struck her one after another. Luo Yuheng’s seven apertures bled, her Water Phase on the verge of collapse, but she remained oblivious, controlling the flying sword to turn back.

Since they couldn’t escape, they would enter the tribulation domain, seeking life in the face of death.

Seeing this, the White Emperor stopped, letting out a “ha”:

“Seeking death.”

Even it didn’t dare casually enter this heavenly tribulation. Though the Second to First Realm tribulation might not kill it, it would certainly gravely wound it.

In Xu Qi’an’s current state, entering the tribulation meant certain death.

Whoosh… Xu Pingfeng exhaled in his heart, then suppressed all emotions, returning to his casual demeanor, transmitting mentally:

“Still too green.”

Garuda Tree Bodhisattva’s expression slightly relaxed, saying:

“Seize the opportunity!”

To directly kill both of them within the tribulation.

At this moment, the rolling tribulation clouds above showed signs of stagnation, no longer striking down lightning tribulation, the overwhelming torrential rain gradually receding.

The black cloud layer rapidly gained a golden glow, which quickly spread, transforming the entire tribulation cloud into gorgeous, red-tinged sunset clouds.

The final tribulation—Thunder Fire Tribulation!

…

Outside the capital, the Yun State army advanced in force, each camp forming square formations. Leading the charge were infantry carrying various siege engines, the second echelon consisted of artillery and crossbowmen, with cavalry at the rear.

Atop the towering, majestic city walls, Wei Yuan stood outside the barbican, gazing at the Yun State army on the plains. Confidently ignoring the rabble, he looked back at those four thousand Dark Tortoise cavalry.

“Yang Gong was defeated by this iron cavalry?”

Beside him, Zhang Shen nodded gravely:

“This army’s charge is unmatched—even Fourth Realm warriors must drink bitter defeat.”

A Martial Arts Alliance sect leader, trying to cover his fellow disciples’ retreat, was helplessly trapped in formation and finally ground to death.

It should be noted that the Dark Tortoise army also had many experts, not lacking Fourth Realm warriors.

Ordinary cavalry meeting this invincible army would be finished in one round. As for siege warfare, they were equally formidable—abandoning their horses, this heavy cavalry became heavy infantry, their armor impervious to blades and spears.

Neither firearms nor crossbow arrows could penetrate.

The Dark Tortoise army’s individual quality was extremely high, fully able to bear the weight of heavy armor.

“Not bad!”

Wei Yuan commented, his gaze moving upward, looking toward a certain point in the sky. The next moment, clear light rose, and a white-robed figure appeared with flowing clothes.

“Wei Yuan!”

Xu Pingfeng looked down at the city walls from above.

The moment he appeared, the experts among the city’s defenders, such as Zhang Shen and Li Mubai, tensed up, as if facing a great enemy.

This was a Second Realm术士.

“Many years without meeting, your bearing remains as before!”

Wei Yuan smiled warmly.

He knew Xu Pingfeng—though back then he had been an unknown eunuch, while the other was a minister whose power influenced the court and commons. The Xu Faction then was like the Wei Faction later.

Later, when he had just shown promise, greatly defeating the barbarians on the northern border and becoming a new star in court, the Xu Faction was already in decline.

Back then, Emperor Yuanjing supported Wei Yuan precisely to fill the void left by the Xu Faction’s demise.

Xu Pingfeng smiled faintly:

“I understand thoroughly the formations within the capital’s walls. I can break them all within at most a quarter-hour.”

“Though you’ve been resurrected, you’re merely mortal flesh. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

Wei Yuan was silent for a moment, then sighed:

“These past twenty-some years, you’ve calculated meticulously, secretly pushing waves to place me in death’s path, only daring to rebel after.”

“Were you that afraid of me?”

Xu Pingfeng wasn’t angered, smiling:

“Of course I was afraid. In schemes and strategies, you’re no match for me. In leading troops and warfare, I’m not your equal.”

“If you hadn’t died, the Yun State army couldn’t have taken even Qing State.”

“Back when you were rising, I had already decided to withdraw from court. You and I never contended in court—it’s always been a regret in my heart. Today, since you’ve been resurrected, let’s have a proper contest of strength, to fulfill that wish.”

Wei Yuan’s gaze turned to the Yun State army, shaking his head and sighing:

“It’s over!”

“Today is the thirteenth day of Luo Yuheng’s tribulation. This battle is already over. I was resurrected too late, only catching the finale.”

Xu Pingfeng’s lips curled:

“Forgot to tell you—the northern border battle is finished, Xu Qi’an will certainly die. The capital is already in my grasp.”

Wei Yuan’s gaze shifted from the Yun State army to Xu Pingfeng, saying word by word:

“You have lost!”