Chapter 228: In the face of absolute strength, everything turns to nothingness

Empress Alisha mounted her golden war elephant, the holy lion phantom re-condensing behind her, this time actually as solid as reality.

Every strand of mane turned into burning golden chains, wrapping around eight hundred giant elephant war beasts.

The blood-colored runes carved on the tusks of those war beasts, the sound of them shattering space while charging was like ten thousand drums sounding together.

The Giant Elephant Legion turned into a golden spear, the tip pointing directly at Li Chen before the Tian Ce army formation!

"Li Chen! You have invaded my borders; today is your death day!"

The Empress's roar was wrapped in the holy lion's pressure, and wherever the sound waves passed, the Tian Ce iron cavalry's black iron heavy armor army was actually crushed by such powerful momentum.

As expected of the Sassanid Dynasty's core monster army, the power was actually this terrifying.

However, Li Chen only slightly raised his eyes, waving his hand to let the black iron heavy armor army clear a path.

Just at this moment, the six Sage Realm experts behind him simultaneously formed seals.

Lady Youlan Lady Youlan Xianzi Lady Youlan of the Tianyan Divine Sect pointed her jade finger lightly, and seventy-two star tracks suddenly appeared above the Empress's head.

It was precisely the remaining array patterns of the "Three Enclosures Nation-Protecting Array" that had just been shattered, now actually being reversed into a cage!

"Heaven and Earth Reversed, Refining Heaven and Earth, Universal Star Lock!" the six shouted in unison.

The Empress was shocked to realize the surrounding space was collapsing; those star tracks were like giant pythons coming to life, dragging her and the Giant Elephant Legion into an independent space rift.

She was as if trapped in a special 'barrier'.

The holy lion phantom crashed into the star tracks, only emitting bursts of booming sounds, but it simply could not break it.

The giant elephants had already crashed until their heads were broken and bleeding, yet they could not advance half a step.

"Using my dynasty's nation-protecting array to trap me? Shameless to the extreme!"

The Empress's eyes were blood-red; she indeed had not expected the Tian Ce Dynasty's cultivators to be heaven-defying to this extent.

This was a shrunken version of the array; if the Empress wanted to break it, she couldn't do it without using some real ability.

The weapon in her hand constantly erupted with world-shining divine radiance, bombarding the array.

Beside the Empress, countless burning holy lions crashed toward the array.

And the six Sage Realm experts also constantly changed the array to resist the Empress's offensive.

Bi Luo Tianzun of the Star Moon Cave had long since integrated the 'Star Moon Heavenly Secret Technique' into the array; every time the Empress launched a bombardment, red energy would appear and backfire into the Empress's meridians.

"Li Chen! Can you only hide behind the array?!"

The flustered and exasperated Empress began to verbally attack Li Chen.

"Then what do you want to do?"

Li Chen still did not have much expression.

"If you have the guts, duel me; let the two of us decide life and death!"

This was the Empress's goal.

She was just blowing hot air; she knew that if she were Li Chen, she certainly wouldn't agree. Relying on a huge advantage, who would agree to this?

As it turned out, Li Chen agreed.

"Fine, I will duel you."

Hearing Li Chen say this, Empress Alisha was overjoyed.

An emperor's words are golden and jade; words spoken cannot be changed easily.

The surrounding Sage Realm experts also didn't feel there was any problem with Li Chen doing this; after all, they were just stalling the Empress.

They still couldn't deal with the Empress's intensity for the time being.

So in the end, there was still that battle.

As he spoke, the array opened a gap, and Li Chen walked in.

And at this moment, Empress Alisha had also jumped off the giant elephant and come before Li Chen.

She looked around and then said guardedly: "Are you really going to duel me?"

Li Chen said indifferently: "If I don't do this, you certainly won't be convinced, isn't that right?"

Li Chen just wanted to beat Alisha until she was convinced, and in the end, even convinced internally.

"Fine, since you dare to fight me openly, then I am not someone who can't afford to lose. How about we make an agreement?"

"Just say it."

"If you lose, I will let you go back, and you will immediately withdraw your army and leave Ardashir City; next time we will set up our formations and continue to fight. If I lose, I will be at your disposal."

Li Chen had come to attack the city openly and honestly, without using any small tricks, completely breaking through with strength.

Under such circumstances, to still be willing to agree to her duel request could be called upright and honorable; she indeed should pay some price.

But still, that same saying: Sage Realm experts, before engaging in battle, never think they will lose.

And her request was not excessive; it only asked Li Chen to withdraw his army temporarily.

"No problem, then you prepare first; tell me when you're ready."

Li Chen saying this made Empress Alisha feel some respect for his character.

Being able to be so fair and just, no one could find any fault with Li Chen.

Alisha waved her hand, letting the Giant Elephant Legion behind her retreat further away so as not to hinder her battle.

Li Chen also glanced at Lady Youlan Lady Youlan Xianzi Lady Youlan, and Lady Youlan Lady Youlan Xianzi Lady Youlan knowingly put away the array.

The surrounding great army left enough space for these two Sage Realm experts.

Empress Alisha took a deep breath, and heaven-topping power suddenly erupted from her whole body.

Her holy lion phantom condensed again, this time even more solid than before, as if a true ancient holy beast had descended into the human world.

The golden mane was like burning flames, each strand containing heaven-destroying and earth-shattering power.

Her eyes turned a brilliant gold, and countless ancient runes reflected in her pupils; those were the secret techniques inherited by the Sassanid Dynasty's generations of Sages.

"Li Chen, you'd better be careful."

The Empress's voice was cold and majestic; her hands slowly raised, and two scorching golden light orbs appeared in her palms.

Countless tiny runes could be seen circulating within the light orbs, as if containing the purest power between heaven and earth.

Li Chen still had an indifferent expression, only nodding lightly.

His right hand slowly raised, and a ball of purple-gold energy condensed in his palm.

That energy looked calm, yet it made the surrounding space begin to distort, as if even light was being swallowed.

A low humming sound came from the air, as if heaven and earth were trembling for this power.

"Ready?" Li Chen asked lightly.

The Empress sneered: "Come!"

Before the words had faded, Li Chen's figure suddenly disappeared.

The Empress's pupils shrank, her entire perception instantly raised to the extreme.

She had thought that Li Chen might attack her from any direction, and had even prepared to deal with space jumping.

As a Sage Realm Empress, she had already seen that Li Chen's move had triggered spatial fluctuations and would definitely appear somewhere instantly to attack her.

Her holy lion phantom surrounded her body, forming an indestructible barrier, while her hands had already condensed two golden light blades, ready to counterattack at any time.

As long as Li Chen's strike failed, she would give Li Chen a painful blow.

The next instant, a sharp pain came from her abdomen.

Li Chen's palm had somehow crossed the barrier established by the holy lion phantom and was pressed against her abdomen, and that purple-gold energy instantly erupted.

Fast, it was simply too fast!

The Empress only felt the meridians of her entire body being torn by an invisible force, and the holy lion phantom shattered in an instant, again turning into a sky full of golden light spots.

Her body spasmed uncontrollably, she spat out a mouthful of golden blood, and her entire person flew backward like a kite with a broken string.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the Empress's body crashed heavily onto the ground, stirring up a sky full of dust.

The golden war armor on her abdomen shattered inch by inch, revealing the pale skin beneath.

The Empress's hands hung weakly at her sides, the golden light in her eyes gradually dimming, replaced by a look of shock.

Only at this moment did she understand that Li Chen hadn't crossed her barrier; he had directly punched through her barrier.

She had been guarding against spatial fluctuations, preventing space jumping.

As it turned out, this guy was simply fast, and the power was fierce.

If she had known, she would have moved first; why did she have to be arrogant and take a hit!

Everything around seemed to have stopped.

The originally violent energy fluctuations stopped abruptly, the dark clouds in the sky were driven away by an invisible force, revealing the clear blue sky.

Sunlight spilled onto the battlefield, and everything returned to calm.

Li Chen slowly withdrew his palm, the purple-gold energy dissipating into nothingness.

He stood in place, looking calmly at the Empress lying on the ground, as if that strike just now had been done casually.

"You... you... is this speed still Sage Realm?"

The Empress raised her head with difficulty, her eyes full of disbelief.

She had never thought that she would be defeated so thoroughly, to the point where she couldn't even see Li Chen's movements.

Li Chen said indifferently: "This is called the Evasion Technique, escaping heaven and entering earth."

The reason he knew this was from last time, when he studied the "Flowing Light Disintegration Great Technique" left behind by Tuoba Zhen.

After the "Flowing Light Disintegration Great Technique" was performed, even spatial arrays couldn't lock onto him.

But this kind of spell couldn't be used without dying, so Li Chen had been dismantling it, dismantling it into the Evasion Technique.

Actually, it was just significantly increasing speed to cause huge destructive power.

Who told the Empress to have nothing better to do than to put on a full-body defense stance? If she had concentrated on one point, Li Chen wouldn't have been able to break through so easily. The Empress's lips trembled, wanting to say something, but found she didn't even have the strength to speak.

In the distance, the Giant Elephant Legion and Duke Azman saw this scene and were all dumbfounded.

They had never seen the Empress so disheveled, and even less did they expect Li Chen's strength to be terrifying to this extent.

Duke Azman, who was also a Sage Realm expert, knew that Li Chen's palm strike—the Empress might have been able to withstand it, but he himself would have already died.

If Li Chen knew he was thinking this, he would certainly say: it wouldn't take that much effort to kill you; you overestimate yourself too much.

"Your Majesty!"

Duke Azman exclaimed, wanting to rush forward, but was deterred in place by a single look from Li Chen.

Li Chen's gaze swept over the crowd, his voice calm yet carrying unquestionable majesty: "The outcome is decided. According to the agreement, Alisha is at my disposal. If you are not convinced, you can continue to fight, but the result will not change."

The soldiers of the Giant Elephant Legion looked at each other, and in the end, all lowered their heads, not daring to look Li Chen in the eye.

The Empress was their spiritual pillar; now that the spiritual pillar had fallen, they were powerless.

Duke Azman gritted his teeth, but in the end, he still had no choice but to act.

!

Empress Alisha looked at this scene, a trace of helplessness flashing in her eyes; she knew she had been thoroughly defeated.

Li Chen had already done this much; if she were to continue to be unreasonable, it would mean she couldn't afford to lose.

"I admit defeat."

The Empress said with difficulty, her voice carrying a trace of trembling.

Li Chen nodded; his figure appeared exceptionally tall in the sunlight, like an invincible god.

Empress Alisha looked at Li Chen's back, a trace of complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

She knew that from this moment on, her fate and the fate of the Sassanid Dynasty had been thoroughly changed.

Just as Li Chen was preparing to take away his 'spoils of war', a messenger soldier ran over hurriedly.

The Tian Ce Dynasty's central command tent, which was the headquarters.

Guo Guo Po Yun and a group of generals were waiting anxiously for news here; they had already fallen into the Sassanid Dynasty's trap and were hoping Li Chen could withdraw from the front line early, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

Seeing the messenger return, Guo Guo Po Yun asked anxiously: "How is it? Has His Majesty withdrawn?"

What Guo Guo Po Yun feared most was that he had already analyzed the Sassanid Dynasty's tactics, but His Majesty was halfway through fighting and couldn't withdraw; that would be troublesome.

The messenger said: "His Majesty told me to tell you, next time you want him to withdraw, say it earlier. He has already captured Ardashir City, and you only asked him to withdraw; how is he supposed to withdraw?"

Guo Guo Po Yun: "..."

The group of generals: "..."

Hearing this news, Guo Guo Po Yun's first reaction was, did my ears hear wrong?

What situation? His Majesty actually captured Ardashir City?

That was Ardashir City, known as the Sassanid Dynasty's number one military stronghold!

Damn, is this world too crazy?

"You're not joking?" Guo Guo Po Yun's voice was trembling slightly.

"It is absolutely true. When this subordinate arrived, I saw with my own eyes that the Empress had been defeated at His Majesty's hands, and Ardashir City had also been captured." The messenger replied solemnly.

"Then His Majesty didn't hit you?"

"No, but I estimate he wanted to hit you."

Guo Guo Po Yun: "..."

You brat, are you looking for a beating!

Guo Guo Po Yun was so angry he drew his sword; if it weren't for the generals nearby stopping him quickly and letting the messenger roll out, this brat would likely have lost a layer of skin.

After calming down, Guo Guo Po Yun also had a headache.

Damn, while His Majesty was capturing cities and seizing land, I actually asked His Majesty to withdraw his troops.

This indeed deserved a beating.

But I also didn't expect His Majesty to be able to capture Ardashir City.

If I had known His Majesty had this kind of ability, why would I bother with tactics? I should have just let him go and fight.

The headquarters of both sides had been playing a battle of wits for the past few days, and everyone hadn't dared to sleep all night, just to deal with the opponent's tactical arrangements.

As it turned out, Li Chen went up and directly broke both sides' tactics.

It seemed that in the face of absolute strength, everything turned to nothingness.

At this moment, Guo Guo Po Yun had a feeling that Li Chen had shown off; this guy had really shown off in a big way.

Your Majesty, by playing like this, doesn't it make me look a bit stupid?

Actually, this was him misunderstanding Li Chen; Li Chen himself didn't know at the time whether this move could pierce through Ardashir City's defensive array.

If he couldn't pierce through, and he had said it in advance, wouldn't it be very embarrassing?

So he just followed the normal process; if he could pierce through, he would attack the city, and if he couldn't, he would withdraw.

In the central command tent, the generals asked Guo Guo Po Yun what to do, and Guo Guo Po Yun said: "What else can we do? Let's go to Ardashir City and see first."

Ardashir City was captured, the Empress was captured, and the Sassanid Dynasty's war situation was simply collapsing across the board.

The one who received the news latest should be the vanguard general where Xu Zifeng was located, who was charging at the very front.

Xu Zifeng's vanguard army was surrounded by the Earth Dragon Legion. This time, Xu Zifeng did not rely purely on luck; he judged that the appearance of the Earth Dragon Legion must have been an ambush, deliberately driving him toward a trap.

He just happened not to go that way, changing to walk in some more dangerous places.

If it were someone else walking in such a place, they would likely have died.

But Xu Zifeng was lucky, and all his fortune was blessed in such places.

The further in he went, the more peculiar the rainforest miasma became, to the point that even Ma Hei didn't know how to solve it.

But the problem was, in areas near poisonous things, there was usually an antidote.

And Xu Zifeng really found the antidote, and along with it, this army was also constantly improving its drug resistance.

They were almost about to kill their way to the Sassanid Dynasty's capital, when the messenger finally found Xu Zifeng and informed him that the Sassanid Dynasty had already surrendered.

The messenger also said: It really wasn't easy to find General Xu.

Xu Zifeng was always like this; his army was always unpredictable, and no one knew what he would do next. He didn't even report, just kept fighting according to his own ideas.

But still, that same saying: as long as Xu Zifeng didn't make a major mistake, there was no problem with him doing this; after all, in a great army, there would certainly be some legions acting as surprise troops.

The battlefield changed in an instant, and it depended on how the commanding general judged; Guo Guo Po Yun couldn't notify Xu Zifeng in real-time.

Looking at the Sassanid Dynasty's capital before him, Ma Hei said: "Then are we fighting or not?"

Xu Zifeng sighed and replied: "Then what's the point of fighting? Wait for Li Chen... His Majesty to come, and we will just follow into the city."

He was used to calling him Li Chen and almost forgot to add the honorific.

Fortunately, he saw Ma Hei's gaze and added it.

After all, there was a messenger nearby; if he poked this to Li Chen, he might be punished.

Ardashir City.

It wasn't just the Empress who was captured, but also Duke Azman.

The soldiers of Ardashir City saw the Empress and the Giant Elephant Legion surrender, so they certainly didn't fight anymore.

Apart from the resistance during the initial charge, the subsequent events were direct occupations.

Duke Ibn of the Earth Dragon Legion and Duke Hassan of the Green Bull Legion were not in Ardashir City, so they received the intelligence relatively late.

Duke Ibn of the Earth Dragon Legion was preparing to raid Xu Zifeng's vanguard army near the capital, but after receiving the notification, he could only watch Xu Zifeng's vanguard army pass by in front of him.

If it were in the past, with Xu Zifeng's personality, he would have gone up to mock them a couple of times.

But his mind was completely not here now; he was just thinking about his father in the south of the Tian Ce Dynasty, as well as his mother and aunt in the capital.

Many soldiers felt Xu Zifeng had become steady, but it wasn't so; he just wasn't in the mood.

Duke Hassan of the Green Bull Legion was the most confused.

According to the tactics, Ardashir City should have been able to hold out for at least a day, right?

Wasn't it agreed that he would be the savior protagonist, leading the great army at dawn to save the country from danger?

How did the script end halfway through? Where was my part?

Mo Lei of the Lionheart Legion couldn't understand even more; he was sparing no cost, risking his life to raid the Tian Ce Dynasty's supply lines, so how could the front line not hold up?

And his opponent was the Tian Ce Dynasty's Prince Anxi, Li Ji. In the past few days, with Li Ran's help, Li Ji had perfectly figured out the Lionheart Legion's attack routes and attack locations.

Li Ran's guesses were accurate to the point where, let's put it this way, Li Ji suspected whether he had opened a perspective heavenly eye.

Li Ji was also confused in his heart: Old Five isn't blind, so how does it feel like he sees more accurately than me?

The supply lines didn't suffer much loss this time; actually, it was all Li Ran's credit.

The reason Li Chen only had seven Sage Realm experts by his side was because there were two others over here.

At this moment, inside the palace of Ardashir City.

Originally this palace was Alisha's bedroom, but now it was occupied by Li Chen, and Alisha could only stand obediently before him.

Li Chen looked at the captured Empress Alisha and said: "I know you are still not convinced; let's change places and fight another round!"

The simple Alisha thought they were going to fight, excitedly preparing for battle, even thinking about how to break Li Chen's move; if Li Chen used that move again, she would definitely be able to defeat Li Chen.

As a result, she was dragged into the room by Li Chen.

This battle was fought very fiercely, with collision sounds one after another.

No matter what Empress Alisha said, Li Chen remained silent, blindly launching attacks.

This time Alisha really softened her stance.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 229 =====