Chapter 1172, Eighth step of the Quasi-emperor realm
There was a strange flow of ice energy around the wound, that even if [Moon Swallower] possessed a Quasi-emperor's strength and had activated the power of law to its peak, it was still difficult to regenerate a new arm.
This both shocked and infuriated [Moon Swallower].
He had moved unhindered in the Dark Realm for so many years. Had he ever suffered such a loss before? Even during a battle of life and death on the battlefield, he also had never broken an arm. In the last hundreds of years, he had never felt so embarrassed before. Having his arm severed off in public was simply a humiliation that can never be erased.
Thick strands of silver rippled like a swamp in the void. [Moon Swallower’s] body began to grow pieces of fine scales, and his figure began to transform. It was unknown how many times more tyrannical his aura was than before. Within his eyes there seemed to be blood overflowing.
Ye Qingyu shook his head, saying, “I told you, there will not be a second time. If you continue to force me, then after the second move, there will no longer be a General [Moon Swallower] on this world anymore. There will only be three pillars left of the four battle pillars of the Zhenyuan army,” he said in an indifferent voice.
But anyone can feel that, in this indifferent tone, contained a terrifying killing intent.
It was not a joke or a threat.
It was a warning and an explanation.
But when it reached the ears of [Moon Swallower], it was a kind of humiliation. A low roar emitted from his throat, like a beast about to go berserk. His most powerful strength and means were about to explode.
“Retreat.”
King Zhenyuan suddenly spoke.
[Moon Swallower] turned his head back in disbelief, “Commander, I can still...”
“Retreat and heal.”
King Zhenyuan's expression was calm with a rare hint of solemnity.
He could already tell that [Moon Swallower] was indeed no match for this [Military Judge of the Nine Swords] Zhang Longcheng——not only [Moon Swallower] but even the other three pillars [Shooting Sun], [Wave Suppressor] and [Fractured Land] were also inferior to Zhang Longcheng. He must admit that he had misjudged Zhang Longcheng in the beginning and failed to see that he had reached this realm.
King Zhenyuan was fully aware that, among the subordinates under his command, there really was no one can that could do anything to this Zhang Longcheng.
[Moon Swallower] was extremely unwilling, but military order must not be disobeyed.
He had no choice but to slowly retreat. He shot a hard fierce look at Ye Qingyu before he eventually returned to stand behind King Zhenyuan and the other three pillars.
“Old Four, the King is protecting you.” One of the four pillars [Shooting Sun] said, “We all misjudged him. This Zhang Longcheng is not that simple. He seems to have reached the eighth step of the Quasi-emperor realm. You are definitely no match for him.”
“What?” [Moon Swallower’s] eyes flashed a strange light. “That’s impossible, an expert of this level would not be unknown. That Zhang Longcheng is a nobody, how can he...”
Here, he suddenly shut up.
Because he suddenly realized that at the moment he broke his arm he was not aware of it at all and did not even know how he was defeated. Adding to this, the broken arm could not be restored. All these signs were suggestive of the eighth step of the Quasi-emperor realm.
“This Zhang Longcheng is most likely just an alias,” [Wave Suppressor] said thoughtfully. She was a slender and graceful woman, with long blue hair and blue brows. Her skin was fair like sea pearls, and a blue wave-like armour wrapped around her body, radiating an enchanting feminine charm. Around her there was faintly the distant sound of the ocean. Her beautiful blue brows were slightly knitted together as she said, “Nie Tiankong thought he had picked up a treasure, but in fact, he does not know he had been used. It's normal for a Quasi-emperor to emerge from a remote and desolate place like the Luoshen Ridge, but how could there be an eighth step Quasi-emperor. If I have not guessed wrong, this Zhang Longcheng must be a famous old monster in disguise, trying to stir up a storm in Royal City. If so, this situation is a little worse than we thought at first.”
“For the past thousands of years, the structure of power in the Dark Realm has been fixed. The undisclosed strength or information of the major factional forces is basically more or less understood by each other. There are only a few people who have reached the eighth step Quasi-emperor realm. It is impossible for one to suddenly come out of nowhere. If we were to investigate, it can certainly be found easily. Once we find out which old monster this Zhang Longcheng really is, the power behind him will also be revealed.” [Fractured Land], a tall and huge figure of almost three meters in height, was a Quasi-emperor expert of the Giant Race. The Giant Race was said to be born from the essence of heaven and earth, and therefore, possessed the most primitive and pure power of the five elements of heaven and earth, and born with the power to control the land. Their strength was endless as long as they were on land. He then added, “However, a force of an expert with the strength of the eighth-step Quasi-emperor realm is absolutely terrifying, and a force with someone who possessed the strength of the eighth-step Quasi-emperor realm and dares to harm our Zhenyuan army is even more terrifying. In the entire Dark Realm there are less than ten of such forces.”
All three of them were high-ranking military officers who had been following King Zhenyuan for over hundreds of years, and thus have extraordinary experience and knowledge. From just the exchange of move between [Moon Swallower] and Ye Qingyu they could already gather a lot of information.
[Moon Swallower], who was involved in the matter, could not see as clear as the spectators. At this moment, the more he listened to what the other three people said, the more afraid he became, cold sweat began forming on his back.
And the clues that the high-ranking military officers could see, as the commander in chief, King Zhenyuan naturally had realized long ago.
This world is going to turn messy?
Whether it was the Expansion Way of the Universe, the chaos of the Fire Province or this Zhang Longcheng before him, all made him vaguely grasp some clues. These were the signs that the world was going to fall into chaos. It was the signal before the storm.
If possible, he did not want to let the Yuan clan of the King of Zhenyuan’s residence become the center of unrest, but at this time there was no way to avoid it.
Since he can't avoid it, then...
The corners of King Zhenyuan's mouth drew back in a faint and cold arc.
“In this world, it has been a long time since an eighth-step Quasi-emperor has descended.” His eyes locked on Ye Qingyu. “No matter who you are, no matter why you try to infiltrate into the Royal City, no matter what your ultimate goal is, I want to tell you that you should not have provoked my King of Zhenyuan’s residence. Today, I will send you on the road.”
King Zhenyuan took a step forward, and had already traveled thousands of meters from his flagship, standing in front of Ye Qingyu. His fair jade-like palm stretched out from the sleeve, slowly thrusting towards Ye Qingyu's chest.
His speed was extremely slow, and there was not the slightest spark or firework, nor any flow of yuan qi or power of law.
It was soft and gentle.
Like the spring breeze caressing a willow tree.
But seeing this palm strike, Ye Qingyu unexpectedly took an abrupt change of expression.
“Well, it's no wonder that he’s King Zhenyuan.”
He drew a deep breath, as if inhaling the white clouds and sunlight into his body. All of a sudden, Ye Qingyu's bones, muscles, and organs seemed to have turned transparent. He was situated in a bizarre state, and then similarly launched out a palm strike.
These days, although Ye Qingyu did not deliberately cultivate martial arts, he has still made great harvest in the pursuit of the understanding of the mind. His strength has been rising dramatically, and even he did not know what kind of realm he was in now. Although not quite at the Martial Emperor realm, he knew that he has entered a kind of mysterious realm.
It was no exaggeration to say that Ye Qingyu's strength at this time had reached the point where even he could not tell exactly how strong he was.
In the face of any opponent, Ye Qingyu could almost right away determine his chance of victory. When he faced [Moon Swallower] he had absolute confidence so he launched out a full strength attack to defeat him.
But facing King Zhenyuan's palm, Ye Qingyu felt a sense of crisis, a hint of pressure, and a kind of trouble.
This King Zhenyuan really was a peerless master.
An existence that was rumoured to be infinitely close to the Martial Emperor realm indeed lives up to his name.
But even so, Ye Qingyu still chose to fight back head-on.
He just wanted to know how strong he had become and what kind of realm he was in——It was clear that his understanding of the small realms of the Quasi-emperor realm was incomplete. This was because in the Vast Thousand Domains, a Quasi-emperor existence was rarely seen, thus there were no further classes of strength among Quasi-emperors.
At the east main gate, everyone looked up with bated breath.
Under the watchful eyes of countless people, finally, after a long but short period of time, King Zhenyuan's jade palm and Ye Qingyu's almost transparent palm collided.
Pop!
It was like the sound of a bubble bursting.
Everyone felt that the world in their field of vision was gently shaking——It was not the sky swaying, nor the ground quaking, and even more not the fluctuation of the laws of heaven and earth. It was an incredibly strange feeling, as if the whole world was a painting and they were the people in the painting. The painting frame was violently shaking all of a sudden, and there seemed to be something about to break.
Then, the figures of Ye Qingyu and King Zhenyuan were both tottering.
Boom!
Ye Qingyu's airship suddenly exploded into fine powder and dissipated between heaven and earth.
And his body was swaying side to side like he was drunk, constantly reeling back. With every step, there was a resounding boom emitted from between heaven and earth. Cracks were visibly spreading across the void wall barrier like flowers blooming, and then instantly vanished.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Qingyu had stumbled back seven steps in the void.
Every step seemed to be crushing the entire sky.
After seven steps, Ye Qingyu's body was suddenly producing crackling noises, as little cracks appeared on the surface of his body, like broken porcelain, blood seeping out the cracks. He opened his mouth and a jet of blood spurted out.
Defeated?
Zhang Longcheng was defeated?
At the sight of this scene, the crowd at the east city gate burst into uncontrollable cheers—