"Sigh—"
Inside Mingdu, at a Holy Spirit Cult stronghold. Yang Yuan, the Great Elder, was sighing with a face full of conflict.
Xu Tianhe's unexpected death caused a not-insignificant change to their originally planned situation. He wanted to contact his Master now, but was worried that doing so would disturb Chen Junting.
However, right at this moment, "Yang Yuan—"
A voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
Hearing this familiar voice, Yang Yuan's expression subtly changed, but that burst of joy was quickly suppressed. Settling his mind, he spoke with devotion.
"Master, you've finally contacted me."
Chen Junting didn't waste words and went straight to the point. "Did you contact me for something important?"
"Master, please forgive my incompetence." Suddenly, Yang Yuan's tone became filled with trepidation. Afterward, he told Chen Junting everything about Xu Tianhe's death.
Within their mental connection, Chen Junting fell silent for a long while.
Xu Tianhe... is dead?!
Thinking this was the calm before the storm, Yang Yuan grew increasingly nervous. If this weren't just a spiritual connection, he would probably be drenched in cold sweat by now.
"M..." A single syllable landed, but it felt like a heavy hammer. As if a thud had struck Yang Yuan's heart. But obviously, he was just overthinking things.
"How did he die?" And then, another question followed. "Are you sure the one who died is really him?"
"I don't know what the fatal wound was. But being burned to ash leaves absolutely zero chance of survival." Afterward, Yang Yuan's tone became even more resolute. "As for his identity, this old servant dares to guarantee it was him!"
"Is that so..." Hearing this, Chen Junting remained noncommittal. With this kind of matter, seeing it with his own eyes was ultimately the most reliable way to verify.
Thus... "Go wait for me at Qili Garden of the Common Alliance."
He needed to see Xu Tianhe's ashes with his own eyes. Whether Meng Hongchen was truly this ruthless, or if the two of them had teamed up to stage a deception to fool his eyes.
As Chen Junting unilaterally cut off the connection, Yang Yuan's mind gradually withdrew. The moment the light in his pupils fully converged, he slowly stood up and left the stronghold. He still had to inform Alliance Master Shangguan about this. After all, being responsible for obtaining a corpse but actually ending up with a box of ashes was something that couldn't be separated from their Common Alliance.
Meanwhile, high above Mingdu.
Chen Junting, having retracted his mind, opened his eyes, but they revealed a thoughtful expression.
"Something happened?" Sensing something amiss, Ning Tian asked.
"Sort of." Chen Junting nodded slightly. "But it won't be much of a hindrance."
Then, he suddenly changed the subject. "I need to take a trip into Mingdu City." Saying this, his gaze swept across his surroundings. "Everyone wait for me here. Don't act rashly before I return."
"Okay!" ×N
"No problem." ×N
"..."
Chen Junting looked at Ning Tian and received a nod in response.
Thus, Chen Junting took out a new Heaven-Deceiving Array Disc and, without alerting any guards or defenses in Mingdu City, used his sword-flying technique to rapidly dash toward Qili Garden of the Common Alliance.
At the same time, Yang Yuan also arrived at Qili Garden.
"I want to see your Alliance Master."
Before long, Shangguan Wei'er's confidante led Yang Yuan to her room. Upon learning of Yang Yuan's arrival, Shangguan Wei'er waved away the surrounding maidservants and teased, "Oh~ A rare visitor."
But the very next second, her tone abruptly shifted. "What are you doing here?"
"To see you."
Yang Yuan's tone was much colder, making Shangguan Wei'er realize something was wrong. The words blurted out, "Is it about those ashes?"
"The Master is coming." It sounded like a question, but her tone was full of certainty.
Sure enough... in the very next second, "That's right, I'm here." Looking toward the direction of the voice, they saw a figure in white clothes floating on the void, stepping directly into Shangguan Wei'er's room.
"Master."
"My Lord."
Witnessing such a silent and imperceptible method, Shangguan Wei'er's pupils couldn't help but shrink, while Yang Yuan's face was full of excitement.
So strong (Master is so strong)!
"Tell me, what exactly is the situation." Chen Junting walked straight to the tea table and sat down. He picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, and downed it in one gulp. At the same time, he listened to Shangguan Wei'er lay out everything she knew and what her subordinates had experienced, as she presented the urn containing Xu Tianhe's ashes to Chen Junting.
"...That's how it is."
With a wave of his right hand, the urn floated into Chen Junting's palm. He didn't show the slightest taboo or disgust, directly opening the lid of the urn. Before the ashes inside could scatter in the wind, they were completely gathered and pushed back by his soul power.
Glancing at the ashes, his fingers began sketching in mid-air. Array lines appeared out of nowhere, wrapping the ashes. The next moment, as a golden light flashed, the ashes seemed to come alive, swirling like a dust tornado, neatly gathering together and gradually forming a human shape.
When Chen Junting clearly saw this human shape, "Sigh—" He sighed in pity, and flicked out a sword finger. The next second, the ashes scattered again, turning back into a pile of dust, falling seamlessly into the urn without spilling a single grain.
"My Lord."
"Master."
"It is I who failed him." The two soft calls made Chen Junting zone out. Just this one sentence was enough for Yang Yuan and Shangguan Wei'er to immediately understand that the identity of the ashes belonged to Xu Tianhe, without a doubt!
Pat, pat—
Chen Junting gently patted the lid of the urn twice. "I promised him before that as long as he followed my instructions, I would protect his life, and even grant him wealth and glory in the future. I never expected... that I would be the one to break my word."
He raised his hand and pushed the urn forward. After it fell into Yang Yuan's hands, he said with a highly serious tone, "The dead are to be respected; let him rest in peace in the earth."
"Yes."
Yang Yuan respectfully took the urn, but immediately after, a hint of hesitation flashed across his face. "My Lord, what about Meng Hongchen..."
"It doesn't matter." Chen Junting waved his hand, seemingly entirely unconcerned.
"Actually, whether Xu Tianhe is dead or alive, as long as Meng Hongchen successfully borrows a seed and gives birth to a child of the pure Sun Moon Imperial bloodline, and as long as this identity can be verified and confirmed to cause chaos in the Sun Moon Empire, that is enough. Xu Tianhe... was just my promise."
"I am guilty of this alone. And this sin lies with me. As for everything else..."
"You just continue to act according to plan!" His tone was completely apathetic, without the slightest pity.
"Yes."
"Mm." Chen Junting pondered for a moment, then looked at Shangguan Wei'er. "Also, you can leave now." Facing such an explicit order to leave, Shangguan Wei'er froze for a moment. But facing that unquestionable gaze, she immediately withdrew.
Once only Yang Yuan was left, he stepped forward. After dropping to one knee, he said, "Master." Yang Yuan knew very well that he was definitely being assigned a task.
"Go do something for me," Chen Junting said. "Go to the Sun Moon Imperial Palace and protect Meng Hongchen. You can even temporarily extract her if needed, but no matter what, you must not let anything unexpected happen to her. In one hour, the Sun Moon Imperial Palace will suffer a devastating strike. Do you remember?"
"Yes!"
"Go." As Chen Junting waved his hand, Yang Yuan darted away.
One hour. It seemed like plenty of time, but it really wasn't long at all. Completing this mission would be incredibly tight.
At this moment, when he was the only one left in the room, he picked up the teapot again and poured himself a full cup. The tea reflected his eyes, as if seeing through to his inner thoughts.
Meng Hongchen... Experiences make a person grow, and naturally, one of those things is fueling ambition. Originally, he thought Meng Hongchen just wanted to be like Empress Lu Zhi. But Xu Tianhe's life and death made him see through one thing: her ambition didn't stop there. She wanted to be like Wu Zetian!
"How ambitious." Thinking of this, Chen Junting cut off his thoughts and drank the full cup of tea in one gulp.
His figure flashed, and he completely disappeared.
So what if she wants to be an Empress? In the end, she is just a mortal, destined to become smoke of the past. No need to care, and I really don't care.
A moment later, high above Mingdu.
Without anyone in Mingdu noticing, Chen Junting safely returned from within the city. The first words he spoke upon appearing were—
"In one hour, we bomb the Sun Moon Imperial Palace."
Then, including himself, all the soul masters of the surprise attack squad simultaneously adjusted their conditions. Only Di Tian, the Ten Thousand Demon King, Bear Lord, and Xiaobai remained as usual, ready to strike at any moment.
Time passed very quickly, with just a few brief moments...
Swish—
His eyes snapped open! A sword light flashed through Chen Junting's pupils. Just by opening his eyes, it was like two sharp swords violently unsheathing, flashing with cold radiance.
"The time has come. Move out!"
...
Sun Moon Imperial Palace, Inner Palace.
"You're here." Meng Hongchen lay lazily by the bed, looking at Yang Yuan as he emerged from the shadows, her tone quite bland.
"Are you... not afraid of death?"
"That should be my line to you." Two similar sentences, each pointing to a different meaning.
Hearing this, Meng Hongchen chuckled lightly, entirely unsurprised. "You figured it out? But that's normal. However..." She gently twirled a lock of her wine-red hair, curling and uncurling it as if playing with it. "I am of great use. As a useful person, I don't believe I will die."
"Then it's the same for me." Yang Yuan looked at Meng Hongchen. "Because even if they find out, they soon won't have the ability to hunt me down."
Hearing this, Meng Hongchen's playing fingers paused slightly. "What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." A hint of impatience showed on Yang Yuan's face and in his tone. "We need to go." Saying this, he grabbed Meng Hongchen.
Such an action didn't anger Meng Hongchen; instead, a trace of confusion and bewilderment appeared on her face. But the moment they walked out the door, Meng Hongchen understood!
Her eyes snapped wide open, filled with sheer horror!
In the night sky, an intense silver-white light suddenly blazed. The bright moon on the horizon had turned into a silver moon, giving the illusion of twin moons in the sky. But as the moonlight intertwined, the surrounding air violently distorted and shattered. Around this silver moon, an absolute dark vacuum was formed.
But soon, although the silver moonlight still shone, the original bright moon in the sky was gradually tainted by a bloody glow, turning into a blood moon. In an instant, everyone below felt the aura of a bloody slaughter crashing down from the sky. Yet, along with it, the essence of the moonlight still rained down.
The next second, the twin moons fell!
Following closely behind were other attacks—amidst a meteor shower of fire, a fire dragon and fire phoenix cried out together. Combined with the sweeping blizzard and the freezing winter weather, it formed a world of ice and fire; layers of sword qi fell, overflowing with chilling intent; an angel radiated light, as if a deity had descended to the mortal realm; a giant took a step into the sky, its arm transforming into a giant axe as it chopped down...
Boom, boom, boom—
Outside the Sun Moon Imperial Palace, all defensive soul tool barriers lit up, blocking the sudden barrage of attacks outside.
"Damn it!!!" Inside the Imperial Study, Xu Tianran flew into a rage! People from the Three Empires dared to attack the palace again! "Leave no one alive among the attackers!"
However, just as Xu Tianran's order fell,
Swish—
In the night sky, a dazzling golden light suddenly appeared. These five streaks of light suppressed everything, falling from the heavens. But just with this single descent, it brought terror to everyone in the palace! Because wherever these five streaks of golden light passed, the void was completely annihilated.
When they landed on the soul tool barrier, these five streaks of golden light effortlessly eradicated all the defenses like withering weeds!
The next second, eight streaks of light shot into the sky!
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
Soul tool lights fully illuminated! Eight Class-9 Soul Engineers made their move, blocking these five golden lights and preventing them from successfully landing on the palace.
But before they could even feel a moment of relief, a sense of facing a formidable enemy, a feeling that made one's cold sweat flow, violently flooded the hearts of these eight Class-9 Soul Engineers.
They subconsciously looked up,
Buzz—
"Nine Treasures turn to Glazed—"
"Seventh Soul Skill, Seven Kill True Body!"
"Ninth Soul Skill, Space-Time Tribulation!"
The nine-colored light shone, but in an instant, it was overshadowed by a dark-blue light. The moment that dark-blue light lit up, heaven and earth were enveloped by this ray of light, and a sword light chopped down like the will of heaven!
Space-Time Tribulation, the years as a sword! With one sword falling, time was stripped away!
The eight Class-9 Soul Engineers seemed to be frozen in time, unable to move a muscle. They could only watch helplessly as this divine sword, akin to the will of heaven, land on their bodies, and then... they lost all consciousness. However, in the eyes of outsiders, after these eight Class-9 Soul Engineers were struck by this sword, they didn't have a single wound on their bodies. Instead, their appearances crazily aged, their original bodies gradually turning into rotten wood, before completely turning into dust.
Such a bizarre scene immediately plunged everyone in the Sun Moon Imperial Palace into panic!
"This, this, this is—"
"How is this possible!?"
"..."
The clouds dispersed, and Chen Junting and Ning Tian stood proudly in the firmament. Under the amplification of the evolved Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda martial soul, the power of Chen Junting's ninth soul skill surged, transforming into a divine technique. With the cultivations of these eight soul engineers being inferior to his, and them not even having time to react, there was absolutely no possibility of resistance. Their remaining years were completely stripped away, turning them into dry bones, as if centuries had passed, until they thoroughly turned into a handful of dirt.
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