The Night Maiden quickly whispered into Xu Ran’s ear, “The barbarians still have three chieftains who haven’t been listed in the Celestial Dawn. We can’t let them get close.”
Xu Ran nodded and turned to the Swordman, “Activate the formation! Prepare for battle!”
The Swordman bowed and vanished in an instant.
The entire Imperial City began to tremble as the great formation glowed, growing increasingly intense. Within the city, every household contributed their light, merging with the formation to resist the assault of the Sacred Mountain.
This was the simple wish of the millions of citizens, a millennium of accumulated heritage, fusing with the formation, miraculously holding back the Sacred Mountain, preventing it from descending even a single inch!
Atop the Sacred Mountain, Qian Ye stood at the forefront, a faint dark aura rising from his palm. Behind him, the Spider Queen had revealed her true form—a colossal, nearly hundred-meter-tall emerald jade spider. Her eight robust legs lifted the Sacred Mountain, raising and then smashing it down with immense force.
“What is the origin of this Sacred Mountain?”
Empress Li replied, “Rumor has it that the dark races possess two semi-planar weapons, one of which is the Sacred Mountain. But it has always been under the Eternal Night Council’s control; I never expected it to appear above the Imperial City today.”
“I didn’t expect that a mere barbarian tribe would be so skilled in strange and intricate techniques,” Xu Ran said, his expression easing slightly as he saw the formation holding. Suddenly, he thought of something else, “There are two semi-planar weapons? What about the other one?”
Almost immediately, Xu Ran saw the other weapon, the City of Emma.
At this moment, the City of Emma emitted a demonic aura, controlled by three Great Dukes. It leaped out of the void, accelerating towards the Imperial City formation, directly colliding with it!
As it approached the formation, a circle of blood energy rose around the City of Emma, like a surging river, doubling its power!
“It’s the Chieftain, the Night Queen!” The Night Maiden immediately shielded Xu Ran.
Xu Ran, alarmed, shouted, “Quickly recall the Swordman! This formation can’t hold!”
He hurried to cast a spell, but it was already too late.
The City of Emma collided with the Imperial City formation with a deafening boom. A fissure over ten meters wide and ten thousand meters long appeared on the ground, causing half of the buildings to collapse and countless casualties among the residents.
The City of Emma continued to explode, shattering into pieces. The three Great Dukes were each weakened, and the Eternal Flame extinguished for the first time.
Lilith appeared, waving her hand and grabbing the three dukes, before vanishing.
The Imperial City formation flickered, on the verge of breaking.
The Swordman staggered forward, clutching his chest, his sword now only half its original length. As the one who controlled the formation, he was severely injured when the City of Emma collided with it.
Seeing that the Swordman’s breath was still steady, Xu Ran sighed in relief and handed him two bottles of medicine, “Take the blue one now to heal your wounds. The red one is an Ascension Pill; take it in battle to maintain peak combat strength.”
“Thank you, Celestial Envoy.” The Swordman took the medicine, swallowing the blue one, and his vitality gradually recovered.
As the Sacred Mountain continued to exert pressure, a thunderous boom sounded, and the formation finally shattered.
Xu Ran’s eyes narrowed, anticipating the fall of the Sacred Mountain. He cared little for the number of people who might die in the Imperial City.
But instead of descending, the Sacred Mountain rose and hung suspended in the air.
The door of the Heavenly Pavilion opened on its own, and Qian Ye appeared, walking in and looking around, “Is this the Heavenly Pavilion that my foster father once led?”
His gaze swept over the corpses of the Heavenly Strategists, pausing briefly, then shaking his head, “Though the Heavenly Strategists were annoying, they died for a purpose this time.”
Qian Ye flicked his fingers, releasing countless crimson-gold sparks, burning all the strategists’ bodies to ashes.
Xu Ran watched Qian Ye closely, his hand moving within his sleeve, silently calculating, but to no avail.
“Who are you?”
Qian Ye finally looked at Xu Ran, “You must be the envoy from the Heavenly Realm, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I will take over the Celestial Dawn. You need not trouble yourself any further. Please return to where you came from.”
Xu Ran was furious, “Audacity! How dare a mere sinner speak to me this way! For such disrespect, I can wipe out your clan and all your past lives!”
Qian Ye responded calmly, “So, the envoy is not willing to leave?”
“You’re courting death, and it’s not my fault!” Xu Ran’s eyes flashed with cold intent. He signaled the Swordman, who pointed, sending a sword aura piercing through Qian Ye’s heart in an instant.
However, Qian Ye’s figure flickered, disappearing and reappearing in the air outside the Heavenly Pavilion, overlooking the Imperial City, seemingly indifferent to Xu Ran and the others.
Enraged, Xu Ran moved, appearing before Qian Ye, reaching out to grab him. This was the first time Xu Ran used his full strength; his five fingers spread, causing the heavens and earth to change color, and the entire land seemed to resonate.
The power of his grasp was already greater than that of the Sacred Mountain!
Suddenly, a spider thread appeared, sticking to Xu Ran’s wrist, and a wave of blood energy wrapped around his right hand. The spider thread and blood line tightened, exerting a force equal to, if not greater than, Xu Ran’s.
Xu Ran roared, struggling fiercely, but he couldn’t move!
By this time, Qian Ye had the Manjushaka in hand, firing a blast that filled the air with countless flowers, blooming and wilting.
A faint redness appeared between Xu Ran’s brows, and his body shook. Filled with shock and anger, he released a golden radiance, melting the spider thread and blood line, forcing Qian Ye to retreat.
As the golden pillar faded, a white jade ring on Xu Ran’s hand turned to smoke. His face showed a pained expression, and he looked around, “Excellent! Two chieftains, daring to struggle even at the brink of death!”
Though Xu Ran was powerful, he was no match for the sheer brute force of the Spider Queen and the Night Queen, especially when facing two of them. In the end, he underestimated them, was restrained, and struck by Qian Ye. He hadn’t expected Qian Ye’s seemingly ordinary strike to be so devastating, destroying one of his life-saving items.
Qian Ye wiped the Manjushaka, putting it away, “I knew it wouldn’t be easy to kill you. But since you won’t leave, it’s fine. I wasn’t planning to let you go alive anyway. You made the first move, so I don’t have to break my promise.”
Xu Ran sneered, “Want to touch this envoy? Let’s see if you have the skill. Guards, form the Celestial Slaughter Formation!”
His shout was met with silence.
The Swordman and the Night Maiden exchanged puzzled glances, unsure of what had happened.
“Guards?!” Xu Ran shouted again.
No one answered.
Without waiting for Xu Ran’s command, the Night Maiden rushed into the lower palace, returning after a quick sweep, “They’re all dead.”
“How did they die?” Xu Ran’s face twisted in rage.
“They were poisoned, and the toxin was activated when the formation was engaged.”
Xu Ran’s cheek twitched, and he snarled, “Ji Jianan!”
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