Chapter 603: At Worst, It

"Stop reporting, I have already arrived."

Yu Liancheng, dressed in black, drifted into the pavilion.

As for the ninja who had been reporting earlier, the moment Yu Liancheng brushed past him, he did not even have time to let out a scream before he collapsed limply, as if every bone in his body had been extracted.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, I will protect you, flee quickly!" Heart of the Profound Monk was indeed a loyal man who had guarded the Emperor's bloodline for generations; he leaped up and lunged toward Yu Liancheng.

In the instant he lunged, he struck out with both palms. His normally flesh-and-blood hands instantly became immensely large and radiated a scorching, intense heat. At the same time, his body continuously split into phantoms, one becoming dozens, turning into dozens of identical Heart of the Profound Monks that filled the entire room as they lunged to kill Yu Liancheng.

These phantom clones were merely a trick of the eye, intended only to conceal his true form.

This was also the strike into which Heart of the Profound Monk had poured his life's cultivation; even if he could escape with his life afterward, his vitality would be severely damaged, and he would never be able to return to his peak.

All of this was merely to buy a sliver of time for the Emperor to escape.

Facing Heart of the Profound Monk's full-force strike.

Yu Liancheng's expression remained indifferent as he continued to walk forward, as if he had not taken it to heart at all.

Bang!

A muffled sound.

The phantoms filling the sky were shattered like bubbles.

Heart of the Profound Monk's true form spat blood, flew horizontally, and slammed heavily against the wall.

What was even more terrifying was that the previous strike carried the intent of "shattering," as if it wanted to pulverize his entire person, tearing him limb from limb until he turned into a puddle of meat paste.

Even though Heart of the Profound Monk possessed decades of profound Zen cultivation, after taking this blow, he was left hanging by a single breath.

Most importantly, Yu Liancheng had not moved a single finger from beginning to end. The part that had been struck was his back, and the person who had delivered this heavy blow was none other than—the Emperor.

"Your Majesty... you... you..." Heart of the Profound Monk's face turned deathly pale, his breath grew weak, and he looked at the Emperor in disbelief.

To have such loyalty rewarded with this outcome—no one would be able to accept it.

The Emperor let out a cold snort, then unleashed a Soul-Shattering strike with his Heaven-Shattering Absolute Hand, directly shattering Heart of the Profound Monk's head and splattering his brains everywhere. He then bowed ninety degrees without the slightest hesitation, trembling with fear: "As the ruler of the small nation of Dongying, I respectfully welcome the Central Plains' City Lord Yu. This Heart of the Profound Monk attempted rebellion and dared to be disrespectful to the City Lord; he deserves to die ten thousand deaths."

Yu Liancheng glanced at him.

This Emperor was certainly servile.

Moreover, he had pushed all the blame onto the dead Heart of the Profound Monk the moment he arrived, leaving no witnesses to contradict him.

Of course, anyone with a normal brain could see that the Emperor was the mastermind behind the scenes.

Yu Liancheng ignored the Dongying Emperor and walked to a vase, looking at the near-perfect flower arrangement. A trace of a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth. With a wave of his hand, he placed a chrysanthemum into the vase.

The Emperor, watching from the corner of his eye, saw this scene and instantly turned deathly pale, his body trembling slightly, cold sweat streaming down as he revealed a look of shock. Judging by his appearance, he was far more surprised by this than he had been by the death of Quan Dao Shen or the failure of the explosives to detonate.

And indeed, that was the case.

Whether it was Quan Dao Shen or the explosives.

Those were merely external things, and any number of variables could have occurred.

But this vase of flowers contained the perfect Dao he had spent decades of heart's blood to achieve; it was his proudest work. Yet now, Yu Liancheng's casual placement had instantly destroyed the artistic conception of the entire arrangement, and no matter how he tried to salvage it, he could never return to that perfect state.

At this thought, the Emperor's face turned even paler.

So there really is no perfect move in this world?!

"Bring out your Heaven-Shattering Absolute Hand and let me see it." Yu Liancheng turned around and said in a calm tone.

The Emperor said with trepidation: "This humble king dares not."

"Hmm!?"

This sound contained a strange power, like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, leaving the Emperor's mind blank and causing a trace of blood to spill from the corner of his mouth.

"This humble king understands."

The Emperor suppressed the fear in his heart. A tyrannical force suddenly erupted from his withered, aged body, and the joints of his shriveled, thin hands cracked loudly as he struck wildly toward Yu Liancheng.

For this strike, he used his full strength, a flash of ferocity appearing in his eyes.

Since you want to see my Heaven-Shattering Absolute Hand, I will let you see enough of it.

If Yu Liancheng were injured by this, then he would have nothing to say.

But those hands, which claimed to be able to shatter the God and the Juedi, felt as if they had been swept into a thick paste the moment they entered the three-foot space around Yu Liancheng.

Every inch of progress required the expenditure of immense True Qi and physical strength. In the end, the power of the strike was completely exhausted, yet it was still some distance away from Yu Liancheng.

"The City Lord's divine arts are peerless; this humble king is far from a match."

The Emperor withdrew his hands, once again assuming the appearance of a lackey. It was impossible to imagine that if he had had the chance earlier, he would certainly have sought to put Yu Liancheng to death.

"This Heaven-Shattering Absolute Hand is somewhat similar to my Broken." Yu Liancheng pondered to himself, then shifted his gaze back to the Emperor, a mocking smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "Emperor, you first sent people to scuttle the ship, then made me fight to the death with Quan Dao Shen, and then tried to use explosives to blow me and Quan Dao Shen to pieces—you tell me, how should this account be settled?"

The Emperor once again revealed a look of trepidation: "I beg the City Lord to investigate clearly. Ever since the Wushen Jue Palace began running rampant in Dongying, the majesty of the imperial family has declined day by day. Although this humble king's martial arts can be called 'not bad,' I am old and frail, and even less able to control these ambitious subordinates. Their various actions were absolutely not instructed by me. I hope the City Lord will be magnanimous and overlook this."

"Heh, is that so?" Yu Liancheng saw through him but did not expose him, merely saying calmly: "I have crossed the sea this time to take control of Dongying. Regardless of what happened before, three days from now, I want you to lead all of Dongying's imperial family and nobility to surrender to me. If not, heh..."

"Yu Chengzhu, this..." The Emperor raised his head in shock; the ambition of the person before him was even greater than he had imagined.

"What? You are unwilling!?"

"This humble king... this humble king dares not." No matter what, he had to stabilize this person first and save his own life.

"Since you dare not, then hurry back and prepare." Yu Liancheng waved his hand.

"Yes..."

Yu Liancheng watched the Dongying Emperor leave, his gaze somewhat cold.

He knew.

The Dongying Emperor would not be honest.

No one is willing to be subservient to others, especially not to a person from the Central Plains. Moreover, he imagined that the Hidden Sword Stream and the Great Master had also received the news and would assist in secret.

However.

What of it?

At worst, it would just be a single Love of the Fallen City.

This city-toppling move finally has a place to be put to use.

……

PS: Wind and Cloud is coming to an end soon. The next dungeon is Jade Dynasty, but I can't find a lead on how to write it for the moment. Are there any experts who can recommend a few Jade Dynasty fanfics?