The other Corpse Progenitors couldn't help but freeze.
Hou Qing's sliding kneel had given them a fright.
The thick-skinned Hanba, who was just about to smash the Weapon God Altar in front of him into smithereens with a single punch, halted his massive fist in mid-air. His brain simply couldn't process the situation.
He couldn't figure it out, but based on his past experiences, it was actually quite reasonable for Hou Qing to do something like this.
On the other side, Jiangchen, who was locked in a fierce battle with the Prince of Qi, dodged and retreated from the fray.
The smile on her face faded, replaced by a mixture of astonishment and solemnity.
'Is this man the new master Hou Qing mentioned before? Is he really as strong as Hou Qing claims?'
Even Yinggou, who currently had control of the body and wanted to send Ian flying with a single slap, stopped in her tracks.
Intense curiosity caused the A'jie personality to come back online. She blinked her large eyes, sizing Ian up with intrigue.
'Is this kid the great expert my little brother talked about? He doesn't look like much, does he?'
'But he sure is handsome.'
Elsewhere, the moment the fake Li Xingyun got a clear look at Ian, his pupils violently contracted.
That face, those white clothes, that wine gourd hanging from his waist.
Nightmare-like memories instantly crushed the confidence he had just built up.
That day, outside the bamboo tower in Miaojiang.
The sky had been blotted out by a Kunpeng formed from billions of sword lights. That phrase, "The Great Peng takes flight to shake the eight boundaries," was like the voice of a heavenly god, dictating the laws of reality with a single utterance.
Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin, draining the color from heaven and earth.
That absolute power, capable of leveling mountains and destroying everything, had long left an indelible brand on his heart.
His body began to tremble violently and uncontrollably, his teeth chattering and emitting faint clicking sounds.
'I really lost my mind earlier, actually thinking I could take him down relying on these Great Heavenly Position experts and a numbers advantage.'
The terror he felt at this moment was even more intense than when he faced Yuan Tiangang just now.
"So what if it's Li Chunfeng! So what if it's Li Bai!"
A fierce but inwardly cowardly clamor broke the eerie silence.
The Prince of Jin, Li Siyuan, snapped out of his initial shock. His face was flushed red, and his eyes were bloodshot with madness.
"Nothing but cheap tricks!"
"My Tongwen Manor, combined with Mobei's hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry, and the Witch King's endless Weapon God Altars, have already surrounded this place so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak out!"
"Today, no one should even think about leaving here alive!"
"Let this Ten Thousand Poisons Sect be the grave for all of you!"
However, just as his voice faded.
"Pfft—"
The Witch King standing beside him spat out a large mouthful of dark green blood without any warning.
The blood splattered onto the ground, emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound as bursts of foul-smelling toxic smoke rose into the air.
An expression of sheer disbelief appeared on the Witch King's face, which was covered in painted patterns and shamanic scripts.
He could clearly feel that the connections between himself and those Weapon God Altars were being wiped out in massive numbers.
A severe backlash continuously assaulted his body. The sensation was as if a part of his own flesh was being forcefully torn away by someone.
"My... my Weapon God Altars... they're all dead!"
His voice was hoarse, filled with unbelievable panic.
Immediately after, outside the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, the sounds of battle cries soared into the sky like a landslide or a tsunami.
The clashing of metal weapons, the neighing of warhorses, and the agonizing screams of dying soldiers intertwined.
However, these sounds came fast and faded even faster.
In just a few short breaths, the earth-shattering clamor outside eerily subsided.
It was replaced by a dead silence.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Suddenly, several defeated remnants of the Tongwen Manor and Mobei forces were thrown in from outside the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect.
Before their bodies even hit the ground, they had already breathed their last.
Li Siyuan and Shuliduo looked at the corpses on the ground, their pupils abruptly shrinking.
These were the generals they had ambushed outside. Now, without even knowing who the enemy was, they had all been wiped out.
Just as their minds were in chaos, a group of soldiers wearing Mingguang Armor slowly marched in from outside the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect with uniform steps. Their vitality was as vigorous as dragons, and their gazes were as resolute as iron.
Every step they took felt as if it trampled directly upon the heartbeats of Li Siyuan and the others.
That iron-blooded, murderous aura, honed through countless battles and mountains of corpses and seas of blood, actually made all the experts present, including the Commander of the Buliangren, feel a trace of unbelievable oppression.
For the first time, Yuan Tiangang's gaze, hidden behind his mask, fluctuated violently.
He stared fixedly at the leading figures.
That burly man carrying two giant axes, with a face full of curly whiskers and a booming presence.
That dark-skinned general holding twin whips, exuding an imposing aura without being angry.
And those two middle-aged scholars dressed in civil official robes, one with a gentle gaze and the other with sharp eyes.
Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling.
He would never forget the faces of these people; he had always kept their portraits.
He had long memorized their life stories backward and forward.
It was absolutely impossible for him to be mistaken.
Before Yuan Tiangang could voice his question, the incoming soldiers parted to the sides on their own, clearing a path.
Then, a figure wearing a black dragon robe and a twelve-tasseled crown, with a majestic face and steady steps, slowly walked out from among them.
The firelight inside the cave illuminated his sharply contoured face.
In the interplay of light and shadow, it was as if a dragon's head was looking down upon the crowd.
Li Xingyun and the others realized that this face was extremely similar to the portraits of Emperor Taizong of Tang that had been passed down in history books for hundreds of years.
To the side, Cheng Yaojin and the others ignored the tense atmosphere in the hall and disregarded those terrified, rebellious traitors.
They slowly approached Yuan Tiangang.
"Clang—"
The founding pillars of the Great Tang bowed in unison, the sound of their armor colliding ringing out with a metallic clang.
Then, their voices rang out simultaneously.
"Buliangren Cheng Yaojin, paying respects to the Commander!"
"Buliangren Yuchi Gong, paying respects to the Commander!"
"Buliangren Zhangsun Wuji, paying respects to the Commander!"
"Buliangren Fang Xuanling, paying respects to the Commander!"
Finally, the figure in the black dragon robe walked up to Yuan Tiangang.
His gaze was calm and profound, as if he had seen through three hundred years of worldly vicissitudes.
He put on no airs of an emperor. Instead, like a colleague reuniting after a long separation, he solemnly cupped his fists and bowed to Yuan Tiangang.
His voice clearly reached everyone's ears, stirring up monstrous waves deep within their hearts.
"Buliangren Li Shimin, paying respects to the Commander."
Throughout the entire Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, time seemed to completely stand still at this moment.
Li Siyuan, the fake Li Xingyun, the real Li Xingyun, Shuliduo, the Witch King, and the rest.
Everyone's brains crashed at this moment, temporarily losing the ability to think.
For no other reason than the fact that they were facing the very emperor who single-handedly founded the Zhenguan Era, whose prestige extended across the four seas, and whose name would be passed down through the ages.
Yuan Tiangang's body trembled violently.
Three hundred years of steadfast guarding.
Three hundred years of solitude.
For three hundred years, he had exhausted every scheme and calculation, bearing infamy and misunderstanding as he single-handedly protected this shattered empire. The beginning of it all was precisely the entrustment of the man standing before him.
Upon seeing this monarch, to whom he had once sworn loyalty unto death, crossing hundreds of years of time to reappear in the mortal realm...
...his face, which had been hidden behind a mask for centuries, actually revealed an incredibly complex expression.