“Outrageous!” Jiang Yun’s roar shook Divine City, reaching every single person’s ears.

He could not help but be furious. So many powerful figures had gathered together to kill the old Divine King — it was a settled, iron-willed determination to prevent Jiang Taixu from returning to life, to carry out an act of total annihilation.

“If time could be turned back four thousand years, who would dare cross blades with my clan’s Divine King? Now they take advantage of his aged desolation and his life hanging by a thread — and call themselves supreme experts?”

Jiang Yun’s voice was cold, his killing intent surging out like a tide sweeping across the land.

“The passage of time brings all things to age — the Divine King should have passed on long ago. Why do you make this so difficult? You cannot protect him. He will not have the chance to return to life,” a low, deep voice called out.

Boom!

From the shadows, the unknown Great Emperor’s sacred weapon came to life — like an ancient ferocious beast opening its great maw, swallowing and exhaling the essence of heaven and earth. In one motion it drained all the spiritual energy in Divine City and roared back to awakening, countering the Eternal Universe Divine Furnace with full force.

Its terrifying oscillations were like a vast ocean surging — as if the sovereign of ancient times had stepped into the world, or as if a deity were looking down upon all living things from above.

At the same moment, the cry of a phoenix rang out — clear and far-reaching, resonating within every person’s heart. Supreme divine might poured forth. The entire Divine City trembled.

A divine phoenix spread its wings — enormous beyond all reckoning, blocking out the night sky in an instant, hovering over the ancient city. It suppressed the unknown sacred weapon below it, and the aura of an ancient Great Emperor spread throughout the land.

That night, everyone wished they could flee immediately — Divine City felt suffocating!

Around the Dragon Transformation Pool, it was as if many eternal divine furnaces were burning. Column after column of great-dragon blood energy pierced through sky and earth, nearly at the boiling point.

Supreme experts closed in from all four directions. The vital blood within their bodies rose like tsunamis — each of them like a volcano erupting. Joined together, their combined force swept the heavens.

The sky shook, the earth trembled, hearts quailed. Divine City was saturated with a murderous chill — endless dread and suffocating pressure made breathing nearly impossible. Many cultivators had already collapsed to the ground, incapable of bearing it.

“Strike out with the supreme divine might!” Jiang Yun bellowed — decisive and merciless.

His voice seemed to come from the depths of the nine hells — cold and utterly without feeling. Every cultivator in Divine City could hear it, and every single person felt a chill sweep over their entire body, cold sweat soaking through their clothes.

A Great Emperor’s sacred weapon merely awakening had already produced such terror — if it truly unleashed its power, who could withstand it?

Not a single soul could remain calm. Everyone cried out in shock and fear. If the Solar Sacred Furnace were truly activated, Divine City would certainly cease to exist — no one could survive.

“Are we truly… going to strike?” Some of the Jiang Family elders’ voices were trembling.

“Strike!” Jiang Yun’s voice was ice.

Beside him, Ye Fan’s heart was in turmoil. He had not expected things to come to this. If it were him — what would he do? He would likely also have to strike — there was no other choice.

Hum!

The Solar Divine Furnace blazed with light ten thousand zhang tall, turning the black night into bright day. Phoenix blood like sunlight — smoke and crimson clouds brilliant and gorgeous, nearly beautiful in their tragic splendor — a blood-stained phoenix soaring through the sky.

The sky and earth of this domain were about to shatter. The Eternal Universe Sacred Furnace had nearly achieved complete awakening — its terrifying oscillations burst forth in an instant. The heavens quaked, the earth shuddered.

The Great Emperor’s sacred weapon that had lain dormant for so many years was about to unleash its destructive strike — to erase every living creature from this stretch of earth, like an ancient deity descending into the world!

But at that critical moment, the void suddenly froze — as if an endless swamp had materialized — and the Sacred Furnace became mired in it.

“The Sacred Furnace cannot be struck out!” Several of the Jiang Family elders cried out in alarm. They were the ones controlling the supreme-grade weapon.

“What has happened?!” Jiang Yun was no longer calm. With so many Saint-level figures attacking and likewise wielding an Emperor’s divine object, the Solar Sacred Furnace was their only trump card.

“Within this domain, there are engraved remnant formation patterns of a Great Emperor — they have linked the Eternal Universe Furnace and the other sacred weapon together. The two Great Emperor’s sacred weapons are suppressing each other and neither can be activated.” The Jiang Family elders were in a state of extreme agitation.

Jiang Yun’s face went pale. The enemy had come prepared, having devised exactly this method. With two Great Emperor’s sacred weapons holding each other at bay, separating them in a short time was certainly impossible — for the Jiang Family, this was nothing short of a calamity!

“Slay the Divine King!”

“Strike off Jiang Taixu’s head!”

“Send the declining Divine King on his way!”

…

From all four directions around the Dragon Transformation Pool came voice after voice — cold and utterly without mercy. Each one was a Saint-level figure, every person a supreme expert who dominated a region. Their voices were not loud, yet they resonated throughout Divine City — every person heard them. Indifferent and cruel, those low, subdued words struck each listener’s heart like divine hammers.

“The Jiang Family can no longer hold. The Divine King has reached the end of his road — in the end, death cannot be avoided!”

“The enemy comes bearing an ancient Great Emperor’s weapon — no less powerful than the Jiang Family’s. Two sacred weapons are holding each other in check. The Jiang Family is powerless to reverse the situation.”

“No matter how powerful the Jiang Family is, they cannot withstand an alliance of so many supreme experts. In sheer numbers of Saint-level figures, there is simply no comparison!”

…

Within Divine City, many elder figures were horrified, unable to help whispering among themselves. With a great battle like this unfolding, the Jiang Family would likely suffer enormous losses — and might even have their supreme-grade weapon seized.

Boom!

Above the underground palace, one among the many Saint-level figures struck — a single palm slapping the earth and splitting it in four directions, shattered rock flying through the air, entire stretches of palace halls reduced to dust.

Crack!

Another struck — a palm smashing down, causing the earth to sink. Massive fissures erupted outward one after another. A great crater appeared — and the underground palace lay just below.

These figures were all utterly cold and indifferent — each one shrouded in heavy mist that made it completely impossible to see through. None of them would expose their true identity. No one would reveal themselves to the eyes of the world.

Devastating killing intent caused the underground palace to crack and crumble. They filed in one by one — not a word spoken among them. Their killing intent was like an ocean — silent, surging — and the space underground was as frigid as an ice cellar.

So many terrifying figures appearing at once was an extremely rare occurrence. All of them had come solely to kill one dying old man. Every one of them radiated a bone-chilling aura of murderous intent.

“Is it our Jiang Family Divine King’s life, the Nine Secrets’ Battle Art, or the secrets of the Purple Mountain’s Beginningless Emperor that you want — what is it that drives such a massive assault?” Jiang Yun confronted these figures calmly.

“All of it,” said one — an elderly man of towering stature, shrouded in black mist, his voice raspy, radiating endless killing intent.

“To have all of that, you would need our Jiang Family’s Divine King to return to life before you could learn any of it. You are all far too impatient,” said Jiang Yun, sweeping his gaze across them all.

“There is no need for him to return to life.”

“A soul search will suffice.”

Two different people spoke in turn — their words brief and forceful, unwilling to waste even a single extra character.

“In that case, first step over my corpse!” A divine light shot from Jiang Yun’s eyes. He stood in the center of the space, a battle halberd appearing in his hand, an ancient pagoda manifesting above his head.

“If you wish to die, we will grant your wish.” Two of them began to walk slowly forward — the underground palace trembling beneath their steps, as if it were on the verge of collapse.

Above Jiang Yun’s head, the ancient pagoda rose and fell. His battle spirit shot to the heavens. Alone in the underground palace, he brandished the black battle halberd — its icy gleam flashing — pointing forward, blocking every single figure from advancing.

Hum!

The two Saint-level figures who had stepped forward were suddenly struggling to move — every step they took triggered what seemed like a powerful earthquake. It was as though they had expended every last ounce of their strength, both of them trembling.

“Great Emperor formation patterns!” they both exclaimed in unison.

At the same moment, Jiang Yun struck. The battle halberd in his hand traced a dark arc of light, cleaving through the void, slashing horizontally across the two figures’ chests and abdomens — aiming to cut them in half.

Crack!

The two changed color. Both struck out simultaneously with both palms, resisting the black iron halberd — but they did not lose their footing, continuing to withdraw with measured, rhythmic steps.

One of their great hands was lustrous as jade, the other red as blood. They interwove the power of natural law, piercing through the void, blocking the halberd’s advance.

Boom!

Quick as lightning, Jiang Yun charged forward — thrusting the black battle halberd ahead — while simultaneously the ancient pagoda above his head rapidly expanded and came crashing down.

Bang, bang, bang…

The underground palace rocked. The three of them clashed in a dizzying tangle of movement too fast for the eye to follow. The void was torn apart. The two powerful experts struggled backward out of the zone where the formation patterns held sway — one of them with blood flowing from a wound on his shoulder.

“The formation patterns of an ancient Great Emperor!” When they had retreated to a place far enough to feel safe, they cried out in unison, clearly still shaken.

“The Jiang Family produced the Eternal Universe Great Emperor — it is certain that formation patterns were left behind. But these heaven-defying patterns — there is no way they could have restored them in their original form,” someone nearby said coldly.

“These formation patterns are less than one-tenth complete — they are so severely fragmented that they can only buy time!” another added.

One shadow after another stepped forward — a full thirteen figures now stood arrayed before them. They joined their power together, intending to shatter the incomplete Great Emperor’s patterns, refusing to give the Jiang Family any more time.

This was a force of incomprehensible terror. So many Saint-level figures acting in concert was enough to sweep through all under heaven. Without an ancient sage returning to the world, who could stand against them?

Crack!

They struck together — hammering the earth into collapse, attempting to destroy the innate Dao patterns and obliterate everything here.

But the faint imprints did not disappear. They were branded into the void, keeping the attackers sealed outside, preventing them from truly breaking through.

“The ancient Great Emperors were truly formidable — with just a single fragmented corner of damaged formation patterns, they have held back so many terrifying figures,” Ye Fan marveled inwardly.

At the same time, he sensed that the situation was dire. He had thought he had devised a clever plan by hiding here — no one in Divine City would be able to find him. But what he had not anticipated was that having escaped the dragon’s lair, he had walked straight into a tiger’s den. The Dragon Transformation Pool was far more dangerous than anywhere else in Divine City. All these super-terrifying figures had gathered here to behead the Divine King, and he had been passively swept up in it.

Crack!

The thirteen powerful figures struck out together, working to wear away and erase the Dao pattern imprints branded into the void. They unleashed heaven-shaking divine power again and again — and at last, gradually, it began to have an effect.

“These are merely incomplete formation patterns. If you could deploy even one-tenth of the full formation diagram, we would never be able to break through!” one of them said, his voice ringing like metal striking metal — forceful and resonant.

Before the Dragon Transformation Pool, the space was packed. The powerful members of the Jiang Family had gathered here — all of them frowning, for the Eternal Universe Divine Furnace could still not be used, as it remained locked against the other Great Emperor’s sacred weapon.

In the milky-white pool water, the true dragon divine medicine’s blood essence — the nine tiny dragons — had by now had six of them refined and absorbed into Jiang Taixu’s body. His flesh was no longer quite so withered, and thread by thread, faint traces of vitality had begun to appear.

Yet there was still no sign of him waking or reviving. He lay still and silent in the pool water. An ominous feeling rose in everyone’s hearts.

Was it possible that even refining all nine tiny dragons would not be enough to revive the Divine King?

“We cannot let them break the formation patterns. If they do and these people pour in, all our efforts will have been for nothing!”

More than ten Jiang Family elders stepped forward — every one of them with blood energy blazing skyward, their bodies surging with vital essence. They strode to the edge of the formation patterns and braced to meet the powerful enemy.

Boom!

Even through the barrier of the formation patterns, the ocean-like divine power could not be fully deflected. Both sides clashed fiercely — but the gap in power was immense.

Splat, splat…

Almost the moment contact was made, four of the elders were reduced to pulped flesh — transformed into a mist of blood, leaving nothing behind.

It was not the case that greater age meant greater power. These elders were the most venerable elders of the Jiang Family, with ages none could rightly estimate — yet they were simply no match for Saint-level figures.

“Stand down!” Jiang Yun bellowed. He could not bear to watch his family members die in vain. They simply could not stop these people — they could not buy even a moment’s delay.

Boom!

Suddenly, a final strike was unleashed. The thirteen powerful figures obliterated the Dao pattern imprints carved into the void. The incomplete Great Emperor’s formation patterns vanished entirely.

“Jiang Taixu — I have come to take your head!”

“Divine King Jiang — you have dominated one era, and that is enough. There is no need for you to return to life!”

“Since the beginning of time, how many have had the honor of slaying a peerless Divine King? Today I am fortunate enough to be here to stain my hands with divine blood — a great joy of life!”

The thirteen Saint-level figures advanced. Even the heavens trembled at their approach. Their words spread throughout Divine City — every person’s face changed. The assassination of the Divine King was about to succeed!

Thirteen terrifying great figures stepped forward. Divine City shook beneath their footsteps. United together, who in the world of today could be their match?

Even an ancient sage, were one to reappear, would likely have to furrow their brow!

Boundless killing intent surged upward. The thirteen supreme great figures advanced with cold smiles — the extermination of the Divine King was at hand.

Flash!

Suddenly, two streaks of cold lightning shot out from within the Dragon Transformation Pool — like the radiance of primordial beginnings splitting through the void. Every person who saw it trembled involuntarily, an irresistible urge to prostrate themselves rising up within.

“Jiang Taixu… is alive!”

All thirteen Saint-level figures changed color. Every one of them was shocked into stumbling backward!

This was the awesome might of a peerless Divine King!

Even after four thousand years had passed, now that he had awakened, he still struck awe into every heart. Even so many Saint-level figures gathered together — all of them were startled into retreat.