Chapter 768: The New Sword Immortal

Hearing the words of the Gaoyuan Marquis, the Emperor suddenly calmed down.

In truth, he was not someone who could not handle matters or easily lose his composure; on the contrary, he was quite shrewd and had trained himself to keep his emotions hidden. It was just that he had previously only faced the turbulent undercurrents of political struggle, where disputes were fought with words, and he had never seen such a grand scene in a physical sense, nor did he have experience in wielding great power. He had been stunned for a moment, but once the Gaoyuan Marquis reminded him, he felt grounded. He immediately increased his input, and the Thunder Light suddenly doubled in thickness, piercing straight into the mouth of that enormous monster insect.

The monster insect gulped, as if its mouth contained a universe, yet the Thunder Light was endless, showing no sign of an end.

The column of Thunder Light was like a rope in a tug-of-war, with the supreme ruler of the Human World on one side and an unprecedented Great Heavenly Demon on the other. Both sides were locked in a consumption of power where retreat was impossible, waiting to see who could unleash superior force to overwhelm the other like a flood. There was no marker in the middle of this rope, and it was unknown which way the Balance tilted; only total victory could reveal the answer.

At this moment, the Emperor's body was illuminated by the Thunder Light, his yellow robe almost reflected into a pure white. He looked brighter and more powerful than before, as if he were a heavenly god.

Seeing his appearance, none of the officials were not secretly shocked. Even if some had seen grand scenes before, the person wielding this scene was the Emperor, which was ultimately different.

Someone suddenly thought of the State Preceptor.

Although it was absurd, in the past, the deterrent power of the State Preceptor in everyone's hearts far surpassed that of the Emperor. That was an absolute deterrence born of absolute power. Previously, the Emperor lacked this deterrence; he was more like a chair, an incarnation of the Imperial Jade Seal, with a blurred personal image—the Jade Seal itself had even been used by the Empress Dowager before.

Of course, no one had actually seen the true State Preceptor; their image of the State Preceptor was merely derived from a certain imagination of power.

But at this moment, the Emperor fighting with Thunder gradually merged with the imagined image of the State Preceptor, and the highest authority of Great Jin and the strongest power gradually fused within him...

Forming a qualitative change.

Finally, under the continuous bombardment of the Thunder Light, the outcome began to show signs; the giant insect began to struggle and twist, seemingly wanting to escape, but the Thunder Light increased its output again, pinning it in the Void like a nail.

"Boom!"

The next moment, the huge monster insect suddenly split into several segments. Some of these segments were instantly submerged by the Thunder Light, while other parts scattered in all directions. In the vast Void, those fragments were extremely tiny, almost invisible to the eye.

Won?

The Emperor felt a surge of joy in his heart, his first reaction being to turn and look at the Gaoyuan Marquis, when he heard the Gaoyuan Marquis say: "To the left."

He was startled, his elbow was nudged by someone, and the Thunder Light, which had not yet dissipated, immediately tilted and rushed toward another direction.

Just as the Thunder Light grazed past, a phantom image appeared—it was indeed that giant insect. At this time, it seemed a bit shorter and its form thinner, but its terrifying appearance had not changed much. After being swept by the Thunder Light, it tilted again and lost another section of its body.

The Emperor said angrily: "This monster is like an earthworm, it can still live after being broken? It really is a Heavenly Demon monster! Still trying to run? Where are you running to?"

The Gaoyuan Marquis said calmly: "One monster is nothing. Your Majesty's Thunder Light actually restrains all Heavenly Demons, but I fear..."

Just then, a great clamor was heard outside. The Emperor lowered his head slightly and saw the Yin energy permeating the low altitude gathering about three feet above the ground, forming small whirlpools one after another. They were like miniature versions of the place where the monster insect came from, and crawling out of those small whirlpools were monsters of all colors.

These small whirlpools were not only under Zijin Mountain but spread throughout Jingcheng. The Jindinglou was on high ground, allowing a view of the city; a rough scan revealed no fewer than a hundred!

In a short moment, hundreds of Heavenly Demons would appear in Jingcheng, at least at the level of Sword Guests, and perhaps many were Great Heavenly Demons at the level of Sword Heroes!

Only then did the Emperor realize that the so-called "Ghost Territory" was not alarmist talk, but a fact, and that the Heavenly Demon forces combined would never give him a chance to regret, immediately seeking to settle the score with interest.

At this moment, he thought again of the Gaoyuan Marquis's words: "Your Majesty, do you regret it?"

He still did not regret it, but he could not remain indifferent.

He asked: "What should be done now?"

At the same time, the Gaoyuan Marquis spoke directly behind him: "Does Your Majesty remember the thunderclouds condensed by the State Preceptor before? That should be an application of Sword Momentum. Using great momentum to suppress Yin energy will certainly be useful; at the very least, it can provide rapid, large-scale lightning attacks, which is faster than attacking with lightning one by one."

Reminded by him, the Emperor hurriedly pressed his consciousness into the Heaven-Walking Seal. Having mastered the Heaven-Walking Seal, some things came to him naturally. Before long, he saw clouds permeating the sky, dark clouds spreading outward from Jindinglou, and the speed was not slow at all. Thunder rolled within the clouds, and wherever the thunderclouds passed, the dense Yin energy was indeed dispersed quite a bit.

The Emperor felt slightly relieved, looked back at the Gaoyuan Marquis, and said: "I thought you would ask..."

The Gaoyuan Marquis had a stern expression and said: "Is this the time for such talk? Get the trouble handled!"

The Emperor was speechless for a moment and turned his attention to Jingcheng.

As an Emperor, he had never fought before, possessing at most a store of knowledge. At this moment, mastering the Heaven-Walking Seal, he slowly figured out how to use the power. His comprehension was not bad; having just learned "Heart Aiming," he tried to project himself into the thunderclouds, overlooking these whirlpools to confirm his targets.

"Whoosh—"

With almost a single, synchronized sound of thunder, dozens of lightning bolts struck simultaneously from the thunderclouds toward the whirlpools that were taking shape!

More than half of them hit their targets!

These small whirlpools were not comparable in scale to the giant insect; most of them, upon being struck by lightning, were like ice and snow splashed with a pot of hot oil, dissolving in an instant. Some others seemed to have gained intelligence, dissipating their Yin energy in time to avoid the attack, only to re-condense not far away.

"Truly impressive!"

This exclamation did not come from the encouragement of the Gaoyuan Marquis, but was an exclamation that slipped out of Wang Fei's mouth.

The newly condensed thunderclouds, over a hundred lightning bolts at once, dozens hitting their marks, eliminating dozens of targets—this success rate was truly not bad!

If the State Preceptor were here, such a success rate would of course count as a failure, but this was the Emperor's first time launching a group attack. He had only mastered the Heaven-Walking Seal for half an hour, didn't understand what Sword Momentum was at all, and had just learned how to aim! Even the group attack was something he had figured out himself.

To have such a success rate under these circumstances could simply be considered stunning! Could it be that the Emperor was a genius?

Wang Fei exclaimed and then shut his mouth; he was not yet qualified to praise the Emperor, and the Emperor did not need his praise.

One more time should do it, right?

The State Preceptor only needed to wield power once, while the Emperor needed two or three times; anyway, he could destroy the enemy in the end, so it really didn't make much difference, right?

At this time, the Emperor was also excitedly planning to launch a second attack. This feeling of playing whack-a-mole was actually quite good. As an Emperor, having the power of life and death was nothing strange, but with a single thought, Heavenly Thunder descended, instantly bringing destruction—the results were fast, and it was a straightforward, satisfying pleasure.

A powerful person holding a lethal weapon might not be as good as the Emperor in the Jinluandian when it came to "those who follow me prosper," but when it came to "those who oppose me perish," it was greatly enhanced.

Feeling he had grasped the knack, he did not ask for the Gaoyuan Marquis's opinion and proceeded with the next attack on his own.

However, he did not know that the Gaoyuan Marquis was currently feeling uneasy.

The reason for the unease was very metaphysical:

Could it be... too smooth?

Whether it was this monster insect or the Yin energy whirlpools blooming everywhere, one could only say they were rather tricky, but definitely not unsolvable.

If the State Preceptor were still here, such power would be almost not worth mentioning, and even with the State Preceptor's absence, it would be hard for it to have a massive impact. The Emperor mastering the power of the State Preceptor's lineage—was this not a foreseeable event? How could they not have prepared to deliver a more effective blow?

Perhaps they already had?

The Heavenly Demon King, who was nearly a Sword Immortal, was just an appetizer; was the real trump card coming later?

What was it?

Logically, even if the opponent had a trump card, she was not afraid; she had also prepared a trump card, and it was a trump card that could be called a "King Bomb" once revealed, sufficient to deal with any situation.

But... not being able to see through the opponent's hidden hand always made one feel uneasy.

Think carefully, if it were her, to achieve a decisive victory, what would she need to do?

Send down even stronger power to suppress them forcefully?

If that could be done, of course it would be for the best; how could one lose with strong soldiers and sturdy horses?

However, the manpower of this group of Heavenly Demons should not be limitless. The simplest logic is: if they had long possessed the power to crush the Imperial Preceptor, why would they need to fear the Imperial Preceptor at all? Spending so much effort to go through circuitous means to get rid of the Imperial Preceptor would be worse than just attacking whenever they wanted to attack.

One must know that the decisive force that ultimately took down the Imperial Preceptor was provided by the Emperor himself. It is not necessarily true that the Imperial Preceptor was truly suppressed; there is also a sense that the Imperial Preceptor voluntarily withdrew out of despondency after being backstabbed by the object of their protection. This suggests that the opponent's absolute power was insufficient to confront the Imperial Preceptor head-on. Therefore, that Heavenly Demon King, who approached the level of a Sword Immortal, was already approaching their main force. Even if there are other experts, they should not exceed that level by much.

With such strength, yet so actively pushing the Emperor to reclaim the Imperial Preceptor's power, what assurance do they have that they can deal with the Imperial Preceptor after the Emperor reclaims that power?

According to conventional thinking, they should have launched their attack the moment the Emperor finished restricting the Imperial Preceptor but had not yet reclaimed the power, causing the previous Sword Immortal's Disappearance and leaving no time for the next Sword Immortal to be born, as the gap in between would be sufficient. Yet they did not do that; they waited until the Emperor had completely reclaimed the power before launching, is this not adding trouble for themselves?

Unless there is another purpose.

That would be...

Suddenly, Gaoyuan Marquis opened his eyes wide again and began to look the Emperor up and down.

The Emperor felt himself being scrutinized. He was enjoying his powerful strength and felt omnipotent, but suddenly felt as if he were being spied upon, which made him feel displeased. He frowned, though he did not directly rebuke him, only saying, "Marquis Xun!"

Suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared before his eyes, and he heard her shout, "Watch out!"

Gaoyuan Marquis transformed into a streak of golden light and tackled the Emperor to the ground.

This speed was too fast, reaching an extreme speed that no ancestral spiritual light or lightning could possibly achieve—

That was the fastest speed in the world!

Clearly, Prince Chun, who was responsible for protecting the Emperor, had not reacted in time, but someone reacted for him; a massive force swept over, kicking this Sword Hero who dominated his region far away—

Just at this moment, with a boom, a Shadow broke through the floorboards and tore through space!

It was a curved giant blade, shaped like a sickle!

In an instant, Jindinglou was cleaved into two pieces from bottom to top by a giant sickle!