Chapter 56: Fortunately, Finally Arrived

"You vicious old thief, you are not worthy of being my father!"

Ji Yanling let out a cold shout, then stepped through the air and suddenly slashed out with her sword.

In this strike, Ji Yanling held nothing back; it was her strongest attack in her normal state.

This sword technique was named Flame Spirit Slash.

It was the most powerful move among the sword techniques Ji Yanling had created herself.

Under the augmentation of the Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, the Red Lotus Sword, the momentum of the Flame Spirit Slash climbed step by step.

An Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon is called an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon precisely because its properties require an Extreme Realm expert to unleash.

This is a weapon without a grade; in the hands of an ordinary cultivator, it would likely only be equivalent to a standard Lower Grade Saint weapon.

But in the hands of an Extreme Realm expert, an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon possesses infinite growth potential.

Ji Yanling had long since refined the Red Lotus Sword into her life-bound sword; every time she broke through an Extreme Realm, the Red Lotus Sword grew stronger by a notch.

The current Ji Yanling had already broken through five Extreme Realms, and the augmentation the Red Lotus Sword provided her had long since climbed to the Immortal Grade level.

Coupled with the properties of the Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, this sword strike had already undergone a qualitative change.

One could see that wherever the sword light passed, flame red lotuses bloomed one after another, creating a sea of flowers in the high sky.

Those flame red lotuses were extremely bewitching, yet filled with destructive power.

Swish, swish, swish, swish—

Countless flame sword lights tore through the long sky, heading toward Ji Huamao.

Sensing the intensity of those sword lights, Ji Huamao also revealed a look of shock.

"You rebellious daughter, to still have such combat power, this truly surprises this Emperor!"

"It is just a pity, you are merely at the early stage of the Primordial Spirit Realm; even with the blessing of the national fortune, you cannot shake this Emperor!"

"Shatter for me!"

Ji Huamao let out a cold snort, brandishing the Saint-grade great saber in his hand, and countless saber auras billowed out, colliding with those sword lights.

Crack, crack—

The saber auras and sword lights were all shattered, leaving only a sea of red lotus flowers in the high sky.

Ji Yanling and Ji Huamao looked at each other from afar across the sea of red lotus flowers, both of their gazes filled with infinite fighting spirit.

"Alright, rebellious daughter, it is time to end this!"

Ji Huamao sneered, his Emperor Domain rapidly expanding, and the surrounding space was gradually dyed red.

The domain spread toward Ji Yanling, and the latter narrowed her beautiful eyes, saying in a cold voice.

"Indeed, it is time to end this!"

Before the words had even faded, the sea of red lotus flowers began to fly toward Ji Huamao, each petal as sharp as a blade, transforming into countless sword lights.

This was the second stage of the Flame Spirit Slash that Ji Yanling had improved by combining it with the Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, named—Red Lotus Heaven-Severing Slash!

The power of this move was no less than Han Yu's Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin, and in some aspects, it was even superior!

Ji Huamao was also shocked for a moment by this sea of red lotus flowers filling the sky and immediately unleashed his own Spirit arts to resist, but he was still half a beat too slow.

Those red lotus petals slashed over; even when shattered by Ji Huamao's saber aura, they could explode instantly, like individual small bombs.

Countless flame energies dispersed, shaking Ji Huamao's flame battle armor until it shattered into pieces, and his Primordial Spirit Dharma form even showed signs of dissipating.

It was clear that Ji Yanling, having broken through to the Primordial Spirit Realm and possessing the blessing of the national fortune, had seen her combat power climb by more than one level.

Even if Ji Huamao had been careless and underestimated the enemy, not having prepared in advance, the power of that move just now was enough to kill any King!

Even a Battle King expert, while fully focused, would be heavily injured and on the verge of death from this move.

Fortunately, Ji Huamao had already deployed his domain, even if this domain had not reached its peak state.

Yet, relying on the power augmented by the domain, Ji Huamao still withstood this move.

It was just that the Primordial Spirit Dharma form had added quite a few wounds to its body, looking somewhat disheveled.

As a dignified Emperor, being forced to such a state by a King was undoubtedly a humiliation.

"Rebellious daughter, you are courting death!"

Ji Huamao was furious beyond measure, his great saber slashing desperately, and waves of flame tornadoes charged toward Ji Yanling.

This was Ji Huamao's famous saber technique—Flame Wind Tornado Slash!

Being struck by these flame tornadoes, one's entire body would continuously suffer the cutting of saber auras, and one would also be carried by the tornado to spin rapidly, with the power inside the body rampaging; the light consequence would be being knocked unconscious, and the heavy consequence would be self-detonation and death.

These flame tornadoes followed Ji Huamao's domain as it spread, carrying an irresistible momentum; even an ordinary Emperor could not last long within them.

Unfortunately, Ji Yanling had already retreated into the grand formation in advance, the formation's power wrapping around her, and all the flame tornadoes were blocked outside.

This city-protecting grand formation was situated on a dragon vein, its defensive power far exceeding that of an ordinary Royal City grand formation.

Even an Emperor should not think of breaking it easily.

"Rebellious daughter, do you really think that with this formation's protection, this Emperor cannot deal with you? How truly naive and ridiculous!"

Ji Huamao's voice echoed thunderously, his domain having fully expanded, and a sea of fire filled the high sky.

That domain power continuously eroded and squeezed the city-protecting grand formation, and the clearly indestructible formation barrier began to show cracks.

In the three satellite cities, King Chiming and the others saw this, and not daring to have the slightest hesitation, they immediately shouted in unison.

"Use our bodies to press the formation, protect our King!"

"Use our bodies to press the formation, protect our King!"

"Use our bodies to press the formation, protect our King!"

The three people's voices spread throughout the three satellite cities and the one Royal City, and then they all summoned their Primordial Spirit Dharma forms, falling into the three formation base points.

These three base points were both the transmission points for maintaining the formation's energy and the discharge points when the formation was under attack.

If the grand formation were to be broken, the base points would certainly shatter first.

At this moment, the three base points had endured several attacks from Ji Huamao and already showed signs of collapsing.

The three of them immediately stepped into the three base points covered in array patterns, and as endless might pressed down, cracks appeared on the Primordial Spirit manifestations of all three.

However, with the three of them sharing the burden, the city-protecting array quickly stabilized, and the cracks within the protective shield healed immediately.

Seeing this scene, Ji Huamao was furious.

"I would like to see just how many attacks you can withstand!"

Before his voice had even faded, the Saint-grade great blade in his hand was brandished wildly, and countless blade auras slashed down in succession.

The entire array trembled, and even though the attacks from the outside were reduced countless times over, the remaining might still penetrated the array shield, causing the hundreds of millions of citizens in the four cities to tremble with fear.

Countless people looked up in terror; to them, Ji Huamao's Primordial Spirit manifestation was like a god descending to the world, scaring countless people into prostrating on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

"Today, I will slaughter your Chihuo Dynasty until the country is broken and the mountains and rivers are shattered, until your dragon veins are severed, and until your people's hearts are scattered!"

"A mere tiny country dares to defy my decree and promote this rebellious daughter to the throne; you must pay the price!"

Ji Huamao attacked continuously, his voice echoing repeatedly, leaving the hundreds of millions of citizens in a state of panic.

The three kings originally had the blessing of national fortune, which could help them share some of Ji Huamao's attacks.

But now, the people's hearts were not united, and the dragon vein's Qi fortune was difficult to gather, accelerating the defeat of the few.

Not long after, they spat blood one after another, and their Primordial Spirit manifestations shattered completely.

Without the three of them sharing the burden, the city-protecting array split into countless fine cracks during Ji Huamao's next attack.

Seeing this scene, Ji Huamao was instantly overjoyed.

"Good, good, good!"

His gaze passed through the array shield and looked at Ji Yanling above the royal palace, a sense of greed emerging in his heart.

"With the help of this rebellious daughter, my aptitude will surely be able to break through that final shackle and ultimately step into the Venerable Realm!"

He was so excited he could not control himself.

Inside the royal palace, Zhao Hongying looked at the precarious city-protecting array, her heart full of panic, and she shouted to Ji Yanling.

"Your Majesty, quickly use the Ten Thousand Li Instant Teleportation Talisman that Uncle-Master Han gave you; we can hold him off!"

Ji Yanling looked at the city-protecting array that was about to shatter, then looked at Zhao Hongying and the others, and spoke.

"This old thief's target is me; you do not need to stop him!"

As she spoke, she activated the Ten Thousand Li Instant Teleportation Talisman, and the surrounding space fluctuated, creating a vortex gate.

Ji Huamao looked at the spatial vortex gate, his eyes erupting with rage.

"You lowly maid, that is the protective Treasure I bestowed upon my imperial son!"

"Hmph, you colluded with those scumbags from the Youxian Sect to murder my son and steal his Treasure; you deserve to die!"

Ji Yanling sneered and said coldly to Ji Huamao.

"The one who deserves to die is you, old thief. If it weren't for Senior Brother telling me not to risk my life, I would disregard everything today and slay you here!"

Looking at the spatial vortex gate within Ji Yanling's reach, Ji Huamao nearly bit his teeth to pieces, but he still sneered.

"You can escape at most ten thousand li; with my speed, killing you is easy!"

"But you can leave; once I break this array, I will first slaughter all the living beings in these four cities, especially those three old dogs—they have delayed me for so long, they deserve to be sliced into a thousand pieces!"

"They protected you for so long, yet you abandoned them; remember clearly, they all died because of you! Even if you successfully escape, you will never be rid of your Inner Demon!"

These words of psychological warfare indeed made Ji Yanling hesitate.

She knew Ji Huamao was using moral kidnapping, but it was indeed the truth.

If these people truly died because of her, Ji Yanling, it would surely cause her to develop an Inner Demon.

This was also why Ji Yanling did not want to be the Country Lord; having the benefits of national fortune meant also having to bear that karma.

If it weren't for Han Yu asking her to be the Country Lord, Ji Yanling would never have had the slightest intention to do so.

She thought for a moment, then put away the Ten Thousand Li Instant Teleportation Talisman, a look of determination appearing in her eyes.

"Forget it, if I flee without fighting, my Dao path in this life will likely end here."

"Sorry, Senior Brother, this time, Junior Sister will not listen to you!"

Thinking this, Ji Yanling looked up and stared straight at Ji Huamao, the killing intent in her eyes rising.

Seeing her give up on using the Ten Thousand Li Instant Teleportation Talisman, the joy on Ji Huamao's face could no longer be contained.

The city-protecting array shattered abruptly, and his ferocious face was revealed to the eyes of countless people.

"Hahaha, fool, truly a complete fool, just as stupid as your mother!"

"To actually harm yourself for a group of ants, how could a fool like you ever become a powerhouse!"

Ji Huamao sneered incessantly, and he immediately drove his Domain to spread toward the Royal City below.

Ji Yanling had already finished brewing the Red Lotus Heaven-Severing Slash again, preparing to use a forbidden secret technique to make the power of this move climb once more.

This move could even slay an Emperor!

As for the price, it would be for her cultivation to regress by one major realm, and she would be unable to use Lingling for a year or two.

This price was not too high; it was within Ji Yanling's range of endurance.

But just before she was about to execute the forbidden secret technique, she saw a streak of white light fly from the distant horizon, crashing straight into Ji Huamao's Emperor Domain.

The speed was so fast that no one reacted; even Ji Huamao, this Emperor, was merely dazzled.

It was not until that figure entered his Domain that he saw the other person's appearance clearly.

It was a young man in fluttering white clothes, stepping on a flying sword, his eyes full of relief as he muttered to himself.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness, finally made it."