Chapter 2652: The Death of the First Man in Armoring
Kneel!
How could someone with the status of the City Lord of Tianyan kneel before him?
Wang Zhan raised his head to look at Ye Futian, who was in the void, and there was anger in his eyes. He said coldly, "I am in charge of the premier armoring principality in the Divine Prefecture. Ye Futian, you are too bold."
Ye Futian didn't bother to respond. He merely glanced at the Tianyan City Lord's Office below as a mighty figure, like a deity, appeared while raising the Sky Tremoring in his hand.
The expression on the City Lord of Tianyan changed in a flash. A random roar came out, and the hammer blasted down, right inside the bounds of City Lord's Office, located behind the City Lord of Tianyan.
Bang...
In an instant, many ancient halls inside the vast complex were razed to the ground. Many cultivators in the City Lord's Office screamed most piteously; some even wailed. Under the terrifying shockwaves, an unknown number of people were cut down on the spot as they were being slaughtered.
Boom! A monstrous rage erupted from the City Lord of Tianyan. Beside him, many other top figures released the aura of their Great Path as well. Their eyes, too, were full of anger, glowing with a bloody light.
"Do you remember that when you left the Heavenly Mandate Realm, you razed the Heavenly Mandate Academy to the ground with one palm strike before you left?" Ye Futian surveyed the City Lord of Tianyan City below as he remarked coldly, "Everything you have 'given' to the Heavenly Mandate Academy, I am returning to you."
The City Lord of Tianyan City turned his head to glance back. Other than anger and desperation, there was visible pain in his eyes.
He remembered the time when he had gone to Heavenly Mandate Academy and asked Ye Futian to use the divine body. Because his request was rejected, he smashed Heavenly Mandate Academy with a strike of his hand. At the time, he would have never imagined that Ye Futian would stand above Tianyan City one day, doing the same thing to the City Lord's Office in Tianyan.
At that time, he saw Ye Futian as no more than an insect, and he gave the matter no further thought whatsoever. The destruction of Heavenly Mandate Academy was such a miniscule distraction, and it was barely a thing in the eye of someone who was in charge of the foremost holy land of armoring in the Divine Prefecture.
Did he have regrets?
What use did he have of regrets? If he knew what would happen today and that everything he did on that day would lead to the annihilation of Tianyan City, he would have never done it.
"Kneel." Ye Futian lowered his head to look down. He continued to press the City Lord of Tianyan.
Crunch! The City Lord of Tianyan clenched his fists, and a horrific aura permeated from him. But even if he was angry, what could he do?
Today, they were truly heading towards an untenable situation.
It's finished! those watching from afar thought to themselves. Everything felt a little unreal to them at this moment. Once, Tianyan City was so prosperous and powerful that everyone thought it would be an eternal holy land that would never perish. After all, It was the premier armoring principality in the Divine Prefecture. How could it ever be destroyed?
However, right now, Tianyan City Lord's Office was about to meet its end.
At this moment, a divine light descended from the sky above, as terrifying auras effused from it. Many people raised their heads to look up there.
Who was coming?
Could reinforcements be forthcoming?
The City Lord of Tianyan also looked yonder and saw that many cultivators had appeared in the sky above, along with those descending divine lights.
"Someone from the Imperial Palace of the Divine Prefecture."
"Chief from Domain Chief's Manor."
Among those cultivators who had just arrived, there were cultivators from Donghuang Imperial Palace and the cultivators from Domain Chief's Manor of Tianyan Domain. The Chief of Domain Chief's Manor was also among the new arrivals.
The City Lord of Tianyan had asked them for help before this.
If it weren't because he was out of options, the City Lord of Tianyan would not have done any of this. He knew that it was dangerous this time, so he had done everything he could do in advance.
The question was: could Donghuang Imperial Palace and the Domain Chief's Manor save the City Lord's Office from the brink of destruction?
"Ye Futian," a voice called out. Above the firmament, a cultivator came forth, his body dazzled with divine light and a sharp aura; it was none other than Du You, the Spear Emperor.
"This is none of your business!" Before Du You could say anything more, he was forcibly cut off by Ye Futian. Ye Futian didn't even bother to look at him. He merely continued, "This is a private matter between the Ziwei Segmentum and Tianyan City."
Du You did not look happy about it, but even he had to admit that this man, once his junior, had grown in leaps and bounds, to a point where he could no longer catch up. Ye Futian had made such impressive improvements, with even more terrifying combat effectiveness. Every time he saw him, Ye Futian had made a great leap in cultivation.
"Tianyan City is a principality of the Divine Prefecture, after all. Ye Futian, while in the Divine Prefecture, leave a way out for yourself." The Chief of Tianyan Domain Chief's Manor felt compelled to remind him of this. Not too long ago, Tianyan City had participated in the battle with the Devil World, and Wang Xiao was their star combatant.
Therefore, Tianyan City had asked them for help. And they could not justify not lending a helping hand in return.
"Very well!" Ye Futian glanced at the Chief of Tianyan Domain Chief's Manor and replied. The Sky Tremoring in his hand was dazzled with divine light as traces of horrific shockwaves pervaded. He said, "If anyone thinks they can save Tianyan City Lord's Office, you may freely make your move."
Having said that, he continued to stare at the City Lord of Tianyan, who was below, and said, "People of Ziwei Imperial Palace, here is your order—kill at will!"
"Yes, Palace Lord!" All of them took the order and moved at the same time towards the City Lord's Office of Tianyan. Every cultivator was filled with the terrifying aura of the Tribulation Plane.
Inside the City Lord's Office in Tianyan City, traces of powerful aura erupted. They had no choice now but to fight.
The terrifying aura of the Great Path exploded successively as the top cultivators from Tianyan City marched towards the sky toward the oncoming battle.
"Humph!" Lord Chen gave a cold snort and pointed the starry scepter in his hand forward. Suddenly, extremely heavy coercion fell upon the entire City Lord's Office. A dull sound came from the space, and many felt that they had encountered a power of suppression that simply wouldn't budge.
Chen Yi's body turned into a ray of light, and it was gone in a flash. That ray of light passed through one body after another. In an instant, several cultivators were pierced by the light as their bodies gradually turned into light and disappeared.
Hua Jieyu moved her mind slightly, and suddenly many felt their bodies were becoming still. Her eyes were cold, infused with murderous intent. Everything that Tianyan City had done to Ye Futian was unforgivable.
Blind Tie, Fang Cun, and other cultivators went down one after another like tigers that had torn into a flock of sheep. With such an absolute gap in strength, there was no way the cultivators from the City Lord's Office could stop them. The fight was completely one-sided.
More frightening was that soon, cultivators in the first Tribulation Plane began falling.
Ye Futian stood there without moving as if he was just observing the situation. He stood there like a deity, holding the Imperial arms, the Sky Tremoring. Wang Zhan, the City Lord of Tianyan, clearly did not dare to move, as the coercion was hovering right above him.
As soon as he made a move, it was possible that Ye Futian would retaliate.
The cultivators from Donghuang Imperial Palace and Tianyan Domain Chief's Manor, likewise, were watching all that was happening in front of them, and they were not pleased. Ye Futian had ignored them and had gone ahead to clean up Tianyan City Lord's Office.
If someone could save the City Lord's Office, all they needed to do was take direct action. This meant that as soon as they attacked, Ye Futian would join the fight. It didn't matter to him one way or the other.
Today, in Tianyan City, the destruction of Tianyan City Lord's Office seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
All the cultivators in the area below the City Lord's Office were feeling quite desperate. They couldn't see a way out in front of them, only a dead end.
"Lord," someone called out to him as if still pinning their hopes on the City Lord of Tianyan.
But what could Wang Zhan do at this moment? He hated the fact that there was nothing he could do.
Even emissaries from the Imperial Palace of the Divine Prefecture hadn't been such effective deterrents.
"Do you have to exterminate us all?!" the City Lord of Tianyan looked up at Ye Futian and asked. Although he did not turn his head, everyone's death surfaced in his mind. Those top cultivators who were the hopes of Tianyan were being finished off one by one.
"Kneel!" Ye Futian lowered his head and looked at the City Lord of Tianyan below. He still had just that one word. That cold and ruthless voice made the City Lord of Tianyan feel cold all over.
He couldn't get the answer he wanted; Ye Futian wanted him to submit.
A feeling of grief and anger surged in his heart, but the people in Tianyan City were still dying, being cut down. It was as if the longer he resisted kneeling, the slaughter would not stop.
However, what if he did kneel?
Would Ye Futian then, spare Tianyan City Lord's Office?
"Everything that had happened over the years was my doing. If I kneel, can you let them go?" the City Lord of Tianyan asked. After all, he did not want the Wang Clan of Tianyan City to end on his watch.
As for him, he did not think he would come out of this ordeal alive. Judging from Ye Futian's action, it was impossible that he would be spared.
Still, Ye Futian continued to stare him down and made no response. He couldn't get a response from Ye Futian, let alone any promises.
Wang Zhan realized that he was not in any position to negotiate terms.
The fate of the entire Tianyan City Lord's Office was in Ye Futian's hands. What conditions could they talk about? What could he use to bargain?
Boom! An astonishing aura erupted from the City Lord of Tianyan, but in the next moment, he knelt on the ground.
"Lord!" For a time, many voices called out to him, and their eyes were fixed on Wang Zhan.
Inside and outside the City Lord's Office, countless eyes were fastened on him.
The Ancient God Clans clan leader, the first man of armoring in all of Divine Prefecture, the City Lord of Tianyan, Wang Zhan, had bent his knees!
High above the sky, the Chief of Tianyan Domain Chief's Manor was shocked to his core when he saw what was happening before him. Even though his relationship with Wang Zhan was not particularly chummy, Wang Zhan was a remarkable giant of his generation—a pillar of the Divine Prefecture. Now he was forced to prostrate on the ground against his will, in total and complete humiliation.
"That is enough," the Chief of Tianyan Domain Chief's Manor looked at Ye Futian and said.
"Let it go," Du You also said.
Ye Futian looked up at them with indifferent eyes. They were still tinged with an undeniable iciness.
"Where were you when the Heavenly Mandate Academy was being destroyed? Where were you when Ziwei Segmentum was invaded, and its continents were being broken apart?" Ye Futian looked at them and said nonchalantly, "Now, in front of me, you want to act like you are some compassionate being? The City Lord's Office of Tianyan City is the number one armoring principality in the Divine Prefecture, so the lives of their cultivators are more precious than the others?"
"Don't forget, I, Ye Futian, am the former College Chief of Heavenly Mandate Academy, the overseer of Ziwei Segmentum. Those who had fallen were the ones under my protection."
He spoke coldly to the representatives from the Imperial Palace and the Chief of the Tianyan Domain Chief's Manor. He raised the Sky Tremoring in his hand as his figure flashed and disappeared directly.
Boom! A loud bang was heard as the Sky Tremoring blasted on top of the City Lord of Tianyan City. Wang Zhan, kneeling, looked up and saw the incoming attack with indescribable despair in his eyes. Then, his body burst into pieces. He knelt there and was crushed to death.
Wang Zhan, the City Lord of Tianyan, the first man in Armoring in all of the Divine Prefecture, had met his end!