Ancient Imperial City stood tall and mighty.
This place was the king of all cities found outside of Crimson Dragon City. The reason for this was simple—a Holiness of Nirvana ranked in the Regional King Rankings lived within the city. It was none other than the Ninth Servant.
However, the battle that had been fought two years prior had threatened Ancient Imperial City’s place, meaning that its status was vulnerable to being taken by some other city.
Furthermore, the Ninth Servant had returned from that battle in Qianye City severely injured. He spent most of his time training in isolation, not picking another fight with Qianye City.
It was apparent that the Ninth Servant was unsure of his chances of taking down Qianye City.
Those from Ancient Imperial City definitely wanted to probe into Qianye City’s movements. He knew that the Holiness of Nirvanas had never left the city since then. He also knew that they had put down Sword Matrixes of the Void. If he were to attack them again, the sword matrixes would be activated once more. He knew that if he were to sustain such a massive attack from the sword matrix again, he would be severely injured.
He had no certainty of being able to take those matrixes down.
At the grand, magnificent ancient hall of Ancient Imperial City, Xing Qiu stood on top of its steps. He had only emerged from yet another period of training in isolation recently, but the results were not apparent.
That battle fought over two years ago had affected him greatly, especially when it came to his elder brother’s death.
He hated himself for being incapable, yet there was little he could do about it. It was the first time Ancient Imperial City had ever felt helpless.
They were unable to take down even that puny Qianye City.
Yet at that moment, someone emanating a terrifying aura arrived, causing dazzling lights of space to appear in the air. A tall, imposing figure was standing in the air. It was none other than Gai Huang.
Terrifying will of the great path of space appeared before him, turning into a screen of light of space, shrouding the space. He shouted, “Sir, there is a sword coming.”
Yet another terrifying aura was sensed as he spoke. The Ninth Servant, who was dressed in a gray robe, appeared. He extended his arms, a cold glare in his eyes.
It was apparent that he had regrown the arm he’d lost two years ago. Nothing looked out of place at all.
A screen of swords appeared in the sky. A sword matrix designed to tear the sky down had enveloped the entire place. Countless people in Ancient Imperial City looked up at the sky. Terrifying storms of the sword whipped up around them all of a sudden. Everyone was thoroughly frightened and all of them looked terrified.
If that sword matrix hit them, there was no doubt it would kill them all instantly.
That sword matrix shrouded the sky as millions of sword auras rained down from above. Blinding flashes of the swords pulsed at the center of the sword matrix, tearing through the sky and heading for the ground.
Boom.
Gai Huang’s defense crumbled right away. The Ninth Servant took to the air and said to Gai Huang, “Stand down.”
The offensive powers of the Sword Matrix of the Void were not something that even Gai Huang could stand against.
The Ninth Servant lifted his hand, shrouding the sky as the towering will of the great path engulfed the air around them. An extremely huge palm print appeared in the sky.
The Ninth Servant thrust his hand, causing the palm print in the sky to shake the entire space. The palm print stacked further until it seemed as if thousands of prints were there, rumbling high up in the air. The sky seemed ready to shatter.
The swords rained down as the space crumbled like a scene from doomsday.
Countless sword auras rained down and deafening rumbles were heard. The city lord’s office of Ancient Imperial City was being destroyed in a frenzy. Under the bombardment of the boundless sword wills, the place was quickly reduced to rubble.
Tall, magnificent ancient halls were razed in the blink of an eye.
Boom… a rumble was heard and the Ninth Servant was sent reeling back, coming to stand on a broken pillar with a grunt. However, that sword matrix had been more than half-destroyed. The might of the sword gradually dissipated.
Those in Ancient Imperial City who saw the rubble before them from afar shuddered, their minds reeling from what they had just seen.
That’s the might of the Sword Matrix of the Void?
The City Lord was injured by something like in the past?
What had happened moments before was incredibly terrifying. The force from that attack could have destroyed a city, yet the Ninth Servant had stood at the forefront and ton it down with sheer brute force. However, the city lord’s office was reduced to rubble.
It did not seem that the sword matrix was out to kill them.
It had served more as a warning.
The Ninth Servant had arrived at Qianye City two years ago and razed the city lord’s office.
On this day, the Sword Matrix of the Void had torn through the sky, proving its formidable powers and destroying the city lord’s office of Ancient Imperial City at the same time.
It had served to remind him that the Sword Matrix of the Void was capable of killing remotely.
If anyone were to anger the person wielding such powers, they would be able to destroy their city without being present.
Was this considered a threat?
Everyone was puzzled as to why those at Qianye City would have sent such a sword matrix all the way to Ancient Imperial City, as doing so wasted a very well laid down supermatrix for killing. Furthermore, the results did not seem to be proportionate to the effort. From a practical perspective, the attack seemed rather pointless.
It was obvious that the move had not been worthwhile.
Many wondered what Qianye City was up to.
The Ninth Servant lifted his head and gazed in the direction of Qianye City. His eyes remained cold.
This was the first time he’d been threatened by someone else.
Gai Huang, Xing Qiu, and some other people appeared behind the Ninth Servant. All of them still reeling from what had just happened. That attack, which was capable of being launched remotely, indeed represented a huge threat.
If the Ninth Servant were to attack Qianye City and they retaliated by throwing one such sword matrix at Ancient Imperial City, things would turn disastrous very quickly.
Someone else flashed in after a while, looking at the scene and shuddering deep down. That person then bowed to the Ninth Servant and said, “Everyone at Qianye City left their city lord’s office not long ago.”
“All of them?” The Ninth Servant raised his brow slightly.
“Indeed. Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan also emerged from the Regional Palace. What happened took place after they returned to the city lord’s office of Qianye City. They probably headed back to Emperor Xia’s Realm,” the person elaborated.
The Ninth Servant realized something. So, they were sending a warning before they left?
Ye Futian was indeed an insolent pr*ck.
…
After what had happened all those years ago, the relationship between Emperor Xia’s Realm and Emperor Li’s Realm continued to worsen. Conflicts commonly broke out between those of the two realms.
Emperor Li’s Realm had been very aggressive at the start of the conflict, gathering their troops at the border. After Xia Qingyuan brought several Holiness of Nirvanas from Emperor Xia’s Realm to Crimson Dragon Realm for a bit, another three mighty figures were brought back to Emperor Xia’s Realm to serve the realm.
The tide turned quickly after that. The top-notch powers of Emperor Xia’s Realm became stronger than Emperor Li’s Realm, which had lost the people of the Imperial Advisor’s Residence.
However, the Dali Dynasty was a dynastic force, meaning that they were able to command the forces found throughout the realm, something which Emperor Xia’s Realm was unable to do. As such, despite the turning of the tide, neither realm crashed head-on afterward, only fighting small scale skirmishes here and there.
At that moment, the lieutenant of the Army of Tian in Emperor Xia’s Palace, who was also Xia Rong, the eldest prince of the realm, was about to meet his father.
He was dressed in martial regalia and was brimming. He then said to his father, “Father, our Holiness of Nirvanas are the ones with the edge now. Why not just order the forces found throughout the realm to lead their people to join the battle against Dali right away?”
Emperor Xia naturally knew that his eldest son, who’d grown up in the army, was a war hawk. From his perspective, that decisive move he’d pulled back in the Crimson Dragon Realm had made him realize his ideals, yet it also made him seem cold and unfeeling.
“Except for the top-notch forces, the overall strength of Dali remains higher than that of Emperor Xia’s Realm. If we fight a realm war now, many will perish on the battlefield if we do not have a decisive edge against our enemy,” Emperor Xia said.
“That is the nature of war. The Dali Dynasty has always been eyeing us, wanting to hit us. If not for the Imperial Advisor of Dali not seeing eye-to-eye with King Tiandao in terms of political ideals, they would have long ago sent their armies surging through our borders. There is no need for you to show that much consideration, father.” Xia Rong continued, “Wars make people change and evolve. Those from Emperor Xia’s Realm who have experienced war had to grow stronger to survive. If there are massive incidents in the future, we of Emperor Xia’s Realm will have enough power to deal with them.”
Emperor Xia knew what Xia Rong was getting at.
However, the emperor did not wish to ever see something like that happen again if possible.
At that moment, Emperor Xia lifted his head and looked far away. A warm, brimming smile crossed his face, puzzling Xia Rong.
“Your little sister has returned,” Emperor Xia said.
Xia Rong turned around and looked far away as well, adding, “I’ll go out and get Qingyuan.” He then turned around and headed out right away, waiting outside the royal palace.
Some time passed and a group of people was seen in the sky, heading toward the royal palace.
Emperor Xia had a teleportation matrix that was linked to the Crimson Dragon Realm. There was also a space matrix there linking to all realms of the region. However, the toll was prohibitively high and most people would bot be able to use them.
When Ye Futian and the rest returned, they dropped many of their own from various top-notch forces off along the way. All of them had been training for years outside. Now, it was time for them to check how things were going back home.
The others were not idling by while Ye Futian was training in isolation in the Regional Palace. All of them had been making progress in their training in various places found in Crimson Dragon Realm.
Xia Rong stood outside the royal palace and cast his gaze on Ye Futian, whose bearing became even more exceptional. Xia Rong found that he had become a Saint of True Self.
What surprised him more was that few at Ye Futian’s side emanated immeasurable auras. They were all more powerful than him.
That meant that they were all Holiness of Nirvanas.
They were probably mighty ones of the nine tribes that Ye Futian had subjugated in Crimson Dragon Realm.
They were people like Zhu Kong and the rest.
A large group of mighty ones were behind them, which made it look like Ye Futian had brought an army with him. All of them were mighty ones whose training was above that of Saint of True Self.
Xia Rong turned his eyes toward Xia Qingyuan. He then flashed a warm smile and called out, “Qingyuan.”
Xia Qingyuan took a look at him and her expression turned rather cold. She was unable to forgive him for what he had done in the past.
Xia Rong was exasperated after seeing Xia Qingyuan’s expression. She was still bitter despite that all of that had happened years before.
An elder brother could never compare to her beloved.
“Ye Futian…” Xia Rong turned his eyes toward Ye Futian again. Xia Rong was just about to say something before seeing the other man continue on his way, walking past the prince and heading to the royal palace, leaving Xia Rong where he stood.
Ye Futian was expressionless. He did not even bother looking at Xia Rong.
Regardless of what Xia Rong’s stance had been, regardless if it had been the right thing or the wrong thing to do to the prince, that was Xia Rong’s own opinion.
Ye Futian was unable to forgive what he’d done back then.
Xia Rong’s decision back in Crimson Dragon Realm had destroyed the Imperial Advisor’s Residence, causing his teacher to be reduced to a weakened and imprisoned state.
If the Imperial Advisor had not chosen to take on the consequences of what had happened all on his own, there was no way Ye Futian would have been able to stand where he was in the present day.
Xia Rong was very clear about what his actions would result in, yet the prince never hesitated. He had been decisive and brutal, which had considerably weakened Dali’s powers.
But at the same time, that had completely offended Ye Futian. Xia Rong probably would not have minded it back then.
In that case, Ye Futian saw no need to pay any attention to Xia Rong either.
They were both from the same background in that they all served Emperor Xia. Ye Futian held immense respect and gratitude for Emperor Xia for what the emperor had done for him, but that had nothing to do with Xia Rong.
Xia Rong stood frozen. He did not turn around to look at Ye Futian. There was nothing to be seen in those deep eyes of his.
It seemed that there was no chance of reconciliation between the two of them.
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