"The Human Emperor, the Second Prince has dispatched Hu Shan of the Tiger Roar Sect, and the Seventh Prince has sent his top general, Cai Cheng. Human Emperor, your minister is worried!"
"There is no need to fret. Let them play. I have many descendants, but aside from the Fourth and Eighth, none are worthy of my attention. Do they resent my favoritism? The Great Han is laid before them. We shall see if they are dragons or snakes!"
The Human Emperor's voice was weak. With one hand, he continuously channeled the vast national destiny to nourish his failing body.
"However, Human Emperor, the Seventh Prince has spared no expense. Cai Cheng has already entered the Heavenly Martial Realm some time ago!" the official whispered. Between the Heavenly Martial Realm and the Spirit Venerable Realm, there was a minor realm: the Half-step Heavenly Martial!
A mere minor realm difference was as vast as heaven and earth. Crossing realms to kill was impossible!
The Heavenly Martial Realm was the pinnacle of combat power within an imperial dynasty. Their strength was formidable. Among the ten great families, save for the Ling family who managed commerce, all had Heavenly Martial experts guarding them.
The Seventh Prince possessing a Heavenly Martial expert proved his foundation was a half-step stronger than the Second Prince's, whose strongest subordinate was a Half-step Heavenly Martial.
...
The South Gate of Great Han's Chang'an.
"Ling Xuan greets the Second Elder!"
"We pay homage to the Young Master!"
Ling Xuan bowed slightly. She was no longer the favored daughter of the Ling family. Her father's power had waned, and she held no status within the family.
"Hahaha, Ling Xuan, I, Bai Yi Fan, have endured untold hardships and suffered greatly for you," the Second Elder said with a stern face, but his eyes were cruel and filled with ruthless killing intent as he gazed at Ling Xuan.
"Alas, what hardship is there? As long as it is for Ling Xuan, I would cross seas and brave volcanic mountains," Bai Yi Fan said, attempting to help Ling Xuan up, his eyes lewd.
"Clang!"
"Young Master Bai, please respect yourself!" Li Shang blocked the unwelcome hand with her sword.
"Insolent!"
A white-haired elder beside Bai Yi Fan suddenly roared. Endless Spirit Venerable might, vast and surging like a tsunamic sea, crashed towards Li Shang.
"Boom!"
Li Shang was blasted into the city wall of Chang'an, piercing through it and shattering a large swathe of houses.
"Li Shang!" Ling Xuan cried out, her face panicked.
"Rest assured, he will not die!"
"Ling Xuan, you have only one path: surrender to me, or else!" Bai Yi Fan's eyes roamed over Ling Xuan's body, growing increasingly greedy.
"Impossible!" Li Shang shot out, but before she could reach them, she was captured by a giant palm of spiritual energy from the elder and pinned to the ground.
"Bai Yi Fan, you dare to threaten my young lady! If I, Li Shang, live another day, I will reduce your Bai family to ruins."
"Hahaha, how amusing!" Bai Yi Fan laughed maniacally, his eyes filled with disdain. "Who do you think you are? Even any one of the ten top families would not have the power to easily reduce the Bai family to ruins. You, a mere ant in the Spirit Sea, are so arrogant!"
"What do you say? I will give you time to consider, but I cannot guarantee my guard will not apply more force in the next moment!"
"Bang!" Bai Yi Fan said maniacally, gesturing with his hand. "Tsk tsk, Li Shang will then be..."
"Young Lady, you cannot agree to him!" Li Shang roared in anger.
"Who dares to be so presumptuous in my Great Han's capital!!" Just then, a cold snort echoed. Li Si, Changsun Wuji, and a group of civil officials stood in the void, looking down.
"Hahaha, what? Since when does Bai Yi Fan need a bunch of ants to tell him what to do!" Bai Yi Fan's eyes flashed with cold light, his ruthless killing intent spreading.
"We respectfully invite the Human King!!" Li Si, Changsun Wuji, and others completely ignored Bai Yi Fan below. They turned towards the royal palace, kneeling in the void.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!!" In an instant, the Nine Tripods of the Ancestral Temple, representing national destiny, erupted with spiritual light, spewing out boundless spiritual energy. A dragon of destiny thousands of feet long coiled above Chang'an City in the blink of an eye. A phantom figure, thousands of feet tall, clad in dragon robes, instantly appeared above the city.
"We greet Your Majesty, may Your Majesty reign eternal!"
"We greet Your Majesty, may Your Majesty reign eternal!"
"We greet Your Majesty, may Your Majesty reign eternal!"
...
The citizens of Chang'an within the city all knelt, their voices a mighty chorus.
"Dong!"
"Dong!"
"Dong!" With each chime of the bell, boundless Human King's might, like rolling waves, relentlessly suppressed Bai Yi Fan and his group.
"Insolent!"
"A mere ruler of a dynasty dares to offend my young master's divine might!"
"You court death!" The white-haired elder took a step forward, his vitality surging. Tremendous spiritual energy condensed in his palm, the power of an eighth-level Spirit Venerable erupting.
"Boom!!" The elder raised his palm, which was condensed with boundless light. Instantly, thunder roared, and the entire Chang'an City trembled.
Yang Hao clenched his fist and extended it forward. In a blink of an eye, from the vast territory of Great Han, including the nearby sea, streams of destiny dragons surged into Yang Hao's palm, and a Xuanyuan Divine Sword was directly formed.
"Ceng!!" Yang Hao's expression turned serious as he directly drew the Xuanyuan Divine Sword!
"Buzz~~"
"Not good, that's a top-tier Spirit Venerable!!" Bai Yi Fan was instantly terrified. How could a mere dynasty possess this? He had thought Great Han could kill unranked Spirit Venerables like Xie Xiao and Zhang Zhou. For this reason, he had brought his eighth-level Spirit Venerable guard. He never expected the Human King of Great Han to be a top-tier Spirit Venerable expert.
The elder stepped forward, straddling the void. He could die, but Bai Yi Fan absolutely could not. He held nothing back, striking palm after palm. Each strike was enough to kill a beginner Spirit Venerable. Vast spiritual energy exploded in the void, as if detonating the very spiritual energy of the heavens, causing intense tremors.
Yang Hao looked coldly at the elder. If one abides by the laws of Great Han, he welcomes them. But if they dare to challenge the majesty of Great Han, they die!
"Boom!!" With a deafening roar, sword energy erupted like a rainbow! A terrifying sword aura suddenly condensed three inches before the Xuanyuan Divine Sword. Instantly, the void cracked, thunder rumbled, and the moment the sword energy formed, it pierced through the elder. The sword energy seemed to split the heavens and earth, suppressing all! Golden sword light blotted out the sun!
"Rumble!!!" This was the strike of a top-tier Spirit Venerable expert who had condensed the entire national destiny of Great Han. Who could resist it!
"Buzz~~" Just then, a blue teleportation array, hundreds of feet wide, slowly rose, covering the sky above the royal palace. This array was identical to the one used by Zhang Zhou and Xie Xiao, but the vast spiritual energy within it was immeasurable, far surpassing the Spirit Venerable realm.