Chapter 1024: Welcome, Welcome

Until the Seventh Prince died, Fang Yue never so much as glanced at him.

It was as if crushing an ant by the roadside—utterly inconsequential.

The Imperial Palace's array shattered, and the influence of the Ink Immortal Array once again enveloped the palace, placing You Sisi's life in renewed danger.

Under these circumstances, Fang Yue had no interest in anything else; there was only one thing he wanted to do.

Fang Yue gazed at the distant emerald-green glow, his eyes turning cold as he spoke slowly.

"Captain Wu, can you control the Guardian Stone Lions?"

"I don't know. It seems connected to me, but I have no idea how to control it…"

"Figure something out. Our only hope of victory may rest entirely on you. I'll hold off the Night Rain tribe's strange forces and the First Prince—even… An Dong'er! I'll buy you enough time!"

"Wait…"

Captain Wu's expression changed; he opened his mouth to speak, but Fang Yue had already leapt upward, charging toward the surging emerald-green glow, leaving behind only one phrase.

"Protect You Sisi and the others!"

After Fang Yue left, Captain Wu turned to the remnants of the Seventh Prince's faction kneeling before him, his face filled with confusion—but soon, someone in the crowd began speaking to him, and Captain Wu's eyes suddenly lit up…

…

Fang Yue's figure moved swiftly through the vast Imperial Palace.

The blood-red night rain had not yet touched him; his surging internal force repelled it entirely.

Ahead of him, the surging emerald-green glow and the blood-red rain falling from the night sky gradually swallowed the Imperial Palace.

Although the palace's construction materials were of the finest quality, they were rapidly corroded by the blood-red night rain.

As the emerald-green glow spread, the palace structures immediately showed signs of decay, as if ravaged by centuries of time—crumbling, broken—then, as the blood rain fell, they visibly dissolved at an alarming rate.

Those sheltering within the palace buildings, under the dual assault of the emerald-green aura and the night rain, soon realized the structures were about to collapse, riddled with massive holes from corrosion. Terrified, they fled through the rain—only to be swiftly corroded and killed by the falling drops.

Fang Yue did not expend even a fraction of his power to protect them.

Because even he, to shield others with his power, required them to be within close proximity.

And once he acted, it meant he would have to carry them along—severely slowing his own pace.

Not to mention… Fang Yue had come here to find that man. Bringing others along would be no different from leading them to their deaths.

In battles between Rain-level cultivators, any bystanders caught in the crossfire faced catastrophic odds—nine out of ten would die.

Suddenly, Fang Yue sensed something and halted abruptly, landing atop the pinnacle of a palace pavilion, his gaze fixed on the distance.

There, a tiny black dot was rapidly approaching him.

Without concealing their aura, the immense Rain-level auras of both men blazed like lighthouses in the night—bright, glaring, impossible to ignore.

The black dot moved with terrifying speed, arriving before the emerald-green aura reached this pavilion, landing directly before Fang Yue.

Boom!!

His feet struck the rooftop as the newcomer sneered at Fang Yue.

"Human, do you think hiding inside the Imperial Palace makes you safe from me?"

Fang Yue paid no attention to what the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe said; he asked directly: "How did you break the Imperial Palace's array? Has An Dong'er already died?"

"Hmph! Of course she's dead!"

Yet even as he spoke, the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe gnawed his thumb, as if recalling something, his face twisting with hatred toward Fang Yue.

Father has descended.

After Fang Yue left, the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe tried every method he could, but as An Dong'er's aura grew stronger, he had no choice but to summon his father.

His father arrived in person, ordered him to attend to other matters, and told him not to bother with this anymore.

Humiliation… he had been humiliated before his father! Failed in his duty, watched his brother die, saw his tribe's youths perish en masse!

The First Prince of the Night Rain tribe knew he had utterly botched this mission.

So now, all he could do was launch a full assault on the Imperial Palace and slaughter every human within.

As if anticipating his arrival at the palace, his father had given him a black-enshrouded, cross-shaped key.

"Given by Black Green. It can break the Imperial Palace's array."

"Thank you, Father, for this gift!"

He took the key and departed—this was how the Imperial Palace came to its current state.

The key seemed to have a special effect on the palace array; merely touching it caused the array to collapse instantly—as if Black Green had an intimate, deep understanding of Qing Guo's Imperial Palace.

Of course, the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe had no intention of telling Fang Yue any of this.

He merely sneered coldly—and struck.

A black energy blade materialized out of thin air and slashed toward Fang Yue's face—but Fang Yue raised his sword and shattered it with a single strike.

"You're lying. The Ink Immortal Array still stands—An Dong'er cannot be dead. Since you won't speak, I'll force the truth out of you—by crushing your skull."

Fang Yue never expected the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe to answer willingly.

In an instant, he closed the distance and launched his attack.

He unleashed the Empty Ice Sword Art in rapid succession; sword qi piled up like afterimages, overwhelming the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe.

But the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe was no pushover—he parried every strike.

Their battle was fierce yet restrained.

Even so, violent black ripples erupted around them, radiating outward from their clash; the palace structures beneath them cracked wildly, trembling on the verge of collapse. As the Ink Immortal Array's emerald-green aura swept over them, the decay accelerated further.

Their exchange was lightning-fast; soon, the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe fell into disadvantage.

His sword techniques were far inferior to Fang Yue's, and soon, a gap opened—his defense failed.

Hss—

Fang Yue's sword qi was razor-sharp, slicing through the First Prince of the Night Rain tribe's black bone armor as if it were paper—cutting deep into his flesh and bone.

The First Prince of the Night Rain tribe's face twisted; his power surged violently, attempting to overpower with brute force—but behind Fang Yue, two shadowy forms suddenly emerged. Before the First Prince could make out their shapes, hundreds of black threads erupted out of nowhere, interwoven with the sword strikes, instantly cutting him into hundreds of bloody chunks.

It seemed that because he had struck too fiercely, Fang Yue's body had frozen in place, slowly recovering his breath.

Yet the shattered remains of the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe that fell to the ground rapidly fused back together, piecing themselves together haphazardly, coalescing into a human form.

"He didn't even die from that. As expected, the princes of the Wuyu Tribe are all monster-level."

By now Fang Yue had recovered his strength, his sword pointed at the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe.

In the foresight shown by the parchment before, it was only by borrowing the parchment's power that he had instantly finished off the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe.

And without the parchment's power, with his own strength alone, he would have been unable to achieve an instant kill — it would probably have taken some time.

But judging from the exchange just now, the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe was nothing to fear.

Just as Fang Yue was thinking this, he saw the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe — who had recongealed into a human form with flesh and blood chaotically assembled and facial features scattered across various parts of his body — now letting out a strange, eerie laugh.

"Gah ha gah gah gah gah gah! It's been so long, so very long, since I've met an enemy who could damage my body to such an extent. But it ends here, human — from this moment on, you will regret forcing out my true strength!"

The royalty of the Wuyu Tribe typically possessed no small measure of bizarre abilities.

And the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe's bizarre ability was… Fusion!

Not fusion with other living beings, but fusion with non-living objects.

For instance, the pavilion beneath their feet right now.

This pavilion, eroded by the aura of the Ink Immortal Formation, carried within it the aura of the Ink Immortal Formation.

If the fusion succeeded, the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe would gain a portion of the power unique to the Ink Immortal Formation.

Perhaps his body's durability would be less than that of a pure fusion with a building, but his strength would certainly rise another level.

The moment Fang Yue's expression changed and he hurriedly slashed out black lines, the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe had already rapidly dissolved his body, seeping through the cracks of the pavilion and merging into it.

BOOM—!!

The next instant, the entire pavilion shook violently, as if possessed of its own consciousness. Sharp spikes abruptly erupted beneath Fang Yue's feet, and after being severed by him, recongealed into the form of a cage, sweeping down to envelop Fang Yue.

Fang Yue keenly sensed that the aura of this cage was actually similar to that of the Ink Immortal Formation — even that point-concentrated conversion ability made Fang Yue somewhat reluctant to take it head-on.

After a brief moment of thought, Fang Yue leapt down from the pavilion, landing on the ground.

When he looked up again, the entire pavilion was completing its final transformation —suddenly changing from a dilapidated building into a giant humanoid form.

Naturally, the head perched atop it was the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe's head.

But at this moment, the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe was not looking at Fang Yue — he was raising his head, savoring the bath of Night Rain.

The blood-colored Night Rain fell upon the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe, actually charging him like a battery, strengthening his power with every passing second. The originally battered pavilion-body was also rapidly repairing its wounds.

"Could it be… you can even absorb Night Rain?!"

"The closeness between the Wuyu Tribe and Night Rain is beyond anything the human race can imagine. All of us high-ranking Wuyu Tribe can move freely beneath Night Rain, even those below Rain-class. But the only one who can absorb Night Rain is me alone! Only my bizarre power can accomplish this!

Father Emperor listed me as the first in line of succession precisely because he appreciated my ability. Bathed in Night Rain, I am invincible!"

Even Fang Yue, within the Night Rain, had to expend power to safeguard himself and prevent the Night Rain from eroding him.

But the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe bathed in Night Rain, absorbed Night Rain, and grew ever stronger the more he fought!

No wonder the King of the Wuyu Tribe had long refrained from personally entering the fray — with a monster like this around, on days when His Majesty was absent, there was virtually no one in Qing Guo who could be his match.

"Swift battle, swift resolution!"

Fang Yue's heart sank, and he struck immediately!

Springing up, dozens of black lines materialized out of thin air, slicing straight through the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe's stone body.

Were it an ordinary building, cut like this, it would have long since collapsed with a roar.

But the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe merely looked as if a few chunks of flesh had been removed from his body — the wounds rapidly "fused," and there was no further issue.

"If that's all you've got, then I'm disappointed."

Sneering, he spread his great hand wide. The binding force and the Refining force of the Ink Immortal Formation both enveloped his palm, pressing down toward Fang Yue like the Five Fingers Mountain!

It was foreseeable that beneath this palm, Fang Yue would have his breath cut off, his power sealed, and never again be able to turn the tables!

The First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe seemed to already see the scene of himself destroying the Imperial Palace and claiming credit before Father Emperor.

But the next moment, he saw Fang Yue's eyes.

Those icy eyes, as if drained of color and highlight.

At the same time, behind Fang Yue, the two shadows that had originally been somewhat blurry were gradually becoming clear.

The Taiji Grinding Disc shadow, the Bianhua Leiying.

In the instant those two great shadows became exceptionally clear, Fang Yue drew his sword.

A plain, unadorned sword.

A sword stroke from below to above.

But after this single sword stroke, heaven and earth changed color!

This sword stroke of his drew up a black curtain.

The black curtain blocked out the light, and also blocked the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe's line of sight.

Everything within sight congealed into a black curtain!

He seemed to be enveloped within a barrier of black curtain, but in truth, this was merely a black sword-curtain targeted at him alone.

Starting from Fang Yue, centered on the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe, it had only created a black curtain over this one area.

Within the black sword-curtain, the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe saw swords.

Swords, swords, swords, swords, swords, swords!

Everywhere the eye could reach was black swords!

Like the stars strewn across a sea of stars, as numerous as the Milky Way, countless beyond counting.

And while the First Prince of the Wuyu Tribe was in a panic…

SHWIIK—!!

A sword burst forth from within his body.

"This is—?!"

The First Prince of the Black Rain Tribe panicked in his heart, struggling desperately, aiming for one direction to flee, yet no matter how he tried, he could not escape the black curtain's shroud.

At the same time, more swords burst forth from within his body.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle!!

In no time at all, his body was covered in black swords.

A feeling of panic surged up in his heart.

He suddenly seemed to realize something, and sharply looked toward the sword curtain ahead!

Among that skyful of black swords, there seemed to be one sword that was extremely special, its aura the densest of all.

"That is the key to breaking the formation!"

That's right, in the First Prince of the Black Rain Tribe's heart, this was no longer some sword curtain, but a sword formation!

To break the formation, one must find where the flaw lies.

He had found it, so he moved.

But in the very instant he moved.

The black swords piercing his entire body transformed from swords into threads.

Black threads—nothing they cannot pierce!

In an instant, they sliced his body into fragments.

The First Prince of the Black Rain Tribe screamed as he rapidly reformed his body, even wanting to absorb the black-curtain sword formation.

He succeeded.

But only succeeded a little.

He absorbed part of the black-curtain sword qi, able to produce a sword from within his body.

This was a useless absorption, but the process of condensing out a longsword let the First Prince of the Black Rain Tribe understand the truth of the black-curtain sword formation.

It was Bizarre Power.

The black qi was Bizarre Power, the black threads were Bizarre Power, the sword curtain was also Bizarre Power!

This was not some sleight of hand, nor some human sword technique.

But pure Bizarre Power, so vast it overflowed, mimicking human sword techniques to recreate the sword curtain and sword formation!

Every single black sword was Bizarre Power, every one a link in Fang Yue's power!

The thousands upon tens of thousands of black swords were all manifestations of Fang Yue's power!

And the process of the black swords transforming into black threads was a process of compressing and condensing Bizarre Power to its utmost extreme, the ultimate result of sublimating the purity of power—no wonder its might was so astonishing!

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(End of this chapter)