The arrival of Lie Zhan Hou at the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect caused quite a stir throughout the kingdom. Lie Zhan Hou's title was bestowed by the Mortal King himself, so, to a certain extent, he represented the will of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom and the Heavenly God Sect.
Since Lie Zhan Hou was personally leading the troops, could it mean that the Heavenly God Sect had finally decided to make a move against the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect?
An elder from a different sect said: “It could be that the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect has fallen completely with no hope for revival, so the Heavenly God Sect finally turned the butcher knife against them.”
There was an old monster that had some knowledge regarding the war that year and said: “It seems like Liu San Jian is truly dead; the Heavenly God Sect finally wants to make a move.”
Liu San Jian, that year, was of illustrious prestige. In the legends, Liu San Jian was not an ordinary genius. Some people said that he was the disciple of Mu Shaodi, but some also said that he was the grand disciple of Mu Shaodi. Rumors had it that in the last war thirty thousand years ago, Liu San Jian personally commanded and fought against the Heavenly God Sect ancestor. Even though the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect lost disastrously, the Heavenly God Sect was still in fear of Liu San Jian, and they did not want to attack the lair of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect!
Lie Zhan Hou personally leading troops against the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect made other heritages and sects think about many things. The Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was of Immortal Emperor heritage and contained Immortal Emperor Min Ren's merit laws and Emperor Treasures. Only one Emperor merit law or an Emperor Treasure stranded in the human world was enough for people's eyes to become reddened with greed.
Even though there were early rumors that many of the Emperor merit laws of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect were lost, it still had some Emperor merit laws and Virtuous Paragon merit laws; this was still enough for countless sects to be overwhelmed with avarice.
At this moment, many sects were privately discussing that the personal expedition of Lie Zhan Hou was for the Emperor merit laws, or even the Heaven's Will Secret Law of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
The warship stopping right outside of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect caused both the upper and lower ranks of the sect to be extremely alarmed. At this moment, the sect's atmosphere was extremely tense, and the disciples mentally prepared themselves for war!
At this time, in the warship, a person stood up. This was a middle-aged man with a tall and majestic figure. He was adorned with battle armor like a general on an expedition.
This man wore a leopard and tiger ornamented headband, and his eyes beamed with ominous ferocity, full of threatening momentum. Once he stood up, he was like a golden mountain and jade pillar. He was filled with uncontrolled blood energy, like a gigantic tsunami soaring through the entire sky. Frightening blood energy floated around his body. Standing there, he was like a leopard covered in blood, wanting to devour humans; this caused others to smell the bloodthirst from afar.
Lie Zhan Hou, general of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom, vicious underling of the Mortal Emperor. He was not only a powerful Royal Noble, but he was also a bloodthirsty warrior.
“Haha, Brother Gu, I heard that your sect was of an Immortal Emperor heritage. This general has always looked up to Emperor merit laws; hearing that your great sect has a peerless Emperor merit law, my curiosity couldn't help but become tingly. So, today I came to learn, wanting to see the invincible style of Immortal Emperor Min Ren's merit laws!”
Lie Zhan Hou stood on top of the warship, and he laughed with an arrogant and overbearing attitude.
Lie Zhan Hou cut straight to the point and bluntly called it “wanting to learn”, causing the entire Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect's expressions to become ugly. This presumptuous attitude was as if the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect didn't have anyone of worth.
As for the majority of the cultivators from the other sects watching from outside, they glanced at each other. It was as they thought; Lie Zhan Hou indeed came for the Emperor merit laws of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
Against the provocation of Lie Zhan Hou, First Elder Gu Tieshou had not yet accepted, but Second Elder Cao Xiong had jumped forward and fiercely shouted: “Little Boy Lie, don't be arrogant, our Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect isn't a place that will tolerate your impudence. Today, this seat will teach you a lesson!”
Finished speaking, Cao Xiong's Fate Palace floated in the air along with true energy on top of his head, and he stepped on top of the warship.
Cao Xiong was the first one to accept the challenge, causing the elders of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect to glance at each other's eyes.
Against Cao Xiong's challenge, Lie Zhan Hou coldly glared at him once, and then presumptuously said: “Only Cao Xiong, yet you still dare to talk big in front of this seat; roll away!”
After the words came out, a banner of blood on top of Lie Zhan Hou's head cut straight down.
Once the blood banner appeared, it immediately cut across ten thousand miles. The blood banner up in the sky was like a curtain of oceanic blood hiding the sun. Within the blood banner, countless skulls floated up and down while their anguished wailings reaching a thousand miles away. It was unknown how many lives were taken and devoured by this blood banner.
“Blood banner; the true energy of Lie Zhan Hou!” Seeing the blood banner cutting straight down, many people's expressions greatly changed, and they lost their voice.
“Open…” Cao Xiong loudly screamed, and his true energy pierced the heaven and met the blood banner. A “Boom” loudly rang. Even when Cao Xiong was borrowing the world's pure energy, he still couldn't block one attack from Lie Zhan Hou.
Cao Xiong was knocked away by the blood banner, and he sprayed out a mouthful of blood; he immediately retreated. Even though Cao Xiong's cultivation was not shallow and could be considered the second strongest in the sect, but compared to a Royal Noble, the difference was too great.
Lie Zhan Hou coldly glanced around, and he said with disdain: “Little Named Hero, your talent is not enough to reach the apex; you are but an insect running his big mouth, wanting to die…”
Cao Xiong reddened from anger, and he shouted: “Little Boy Lie, I will fight against you to the death…”
However, at this moment, First Elder Gu Tieshou stopped Cao Xiong, and he told the other elders: “Escort Brother Cao back and heal his wounds. Brother Cao, you are not his match; let Older Brother go.”
Cao Xiong still wanted to fight, but the other elders consoled and stopped him, so he had to unwillingly go back to heal.
At this moment, First Elder Gu Tieshou coldly stared at Lie Zhan Hou with fierce eyes. A loud “boom” occurred, and the first elder's blood energy was like the ocean, continuous without pauses. Each of his Dao incantations traveled around his body. The more frightening part was that on top of his head was a hovering Kun Peng. The moment the Kun Peng let out a loud roar, it flew to the sky's dome, and the gigantic Kun Peng immediately crushed the dome.
At this moment, the Kun Peng looked down on the eight directions, encompassing all living beings, and the peerless frightening pressure crushed all its enemies. The Kun Peng was considered the strongest existence in this world; each strand of its energies was capable of suffocating the heavens and earths!
Against such a strong enemy, First Elder did not hold back anything, and he directly revealed his Royal Noble power.
“Kun Peng's Six Variants…” Seeing the Kun Peng collapsing the sky, many powerful cultivators' hearts were shaken. Emperor merit laws were indeed worthy of their name, peerless in all generations. No matter how powerful a Virtuous Paragon merit law was, it could not compare to an Emperor merit law!
At this moment, the Kun Peng bullied the heavens, causing others to be unable to breathe. A complete Emperor merit law in the hands of a Royal Noble's power was monstrous. At the same rank of Royal Noble, if the opponent did not also practice an Emperor merit law, he would want to avoid them and retreat!
“If you want to fight, this old man will fight you!” At this moment, First Elder Gu Tieshou was dominating the heavens. As a descendant of an Immortal Emperor heritage, even though his talents were not good, he definitely was not a coward.
Finished speaking, he took one step forward, and he invaded the space in front of Lie Zhan Hou. Lie Zhan Hou changed his expression, and he roared. The blood banner came crashing down – one banner to strike down and tear apart the fabric of space. The boundless sea of blood wanted to submerge Gu Tieshou and dissolve him.
The Kun Peng jumped in the sky and flipped its tail, like a giant fish wanting to jump freely out of the vast sea. A loud “Thump” occurred. This giant tail easily shattered the sea of blood of Lie Zhan Hou. On top of the blood banner, Lie Zhan Hou immediately took a few steps back!
“Die…” Lie Zhan Hou's expression became ugly. He crazily yelled and activated his blood banner. Suddenly, eighteen blood images came out from the blood banner. Each towered at ten thousand zhang; their loud and ferocious roars shook the heavens and earths.
“Bloody Giants Diagram!” Once the Bloody Giants came out, they trampled the world. The expressions of everyone greatly changed; this was the true energy of Lie Zhan Hou! Absolutely powerful, who knew how many Royal Nobles had been killed by this technique.
“Open…” Each of the giants trampled the heavens and rushed forward. Gu Tieshou was not deterred, and continue to activate the Kun Peng's Six Variants. The Kun Peng let out a long roar and dived downward. The tail of the Kun Peng could not be mitigated, and each Blood Giant immediately collapsed. The moment of the impact, the giants were just like pieces of paper.
“Bang…” The Kun Peng easily destroyed the true energy diagram of Lie Zhan Hou. When the tail of the Kun Peng struck down, Lie Zhan Hou couldn't stop it and was knocked one thousand miles away while spraying out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help but to breath in cold air. The entire Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was ecstatic, and they started cheering.
“Emperor merit laws are so dreadful. Gu Tieshou didn't even let out his true energy; he only used the Emperor merit law to defeat the true energy of Lie Zhan Hou. This matter, this matter is simply frightful!” The cultivators observing the fight, no matter if it was a tyrant of one domain or the head of one sect, their faces couldn't help but greatly change.
“The Kun Peng's Six Variants! According to the legends, it is the strongest core Emperor merit law of Immortal Emperor Min Ren; this ability is unbelievable!” Many people lost their colors seeing this scene.
Today, they finally had the chance to witness the power of an Emperor merit law. Their hearts started beating faster. Emperor merit law, eh? This was too heaven-defying!
“You are not enough!” At this moment, Gu Tieshou's domination pierced the heavens. In a flash, he was able to catch up to Lie Zhan Hou, and the Kun Peng manifesting into reality stomped down on him.
“Return…” Lie Zhan Hou loudly roared and summoned a Godly Diagram. Once this godly diagram appeared, it instantly became endless mountains and rivers and sucked Gu Tieshou inside.
The godly diagram manifested into mountains and rivers; others could only see the faint shadows. Next were rumbling noises. One could barely see Gue Tieshou jumping into the sky inside the endless mountains and rivers formation. His Kun Peng moved unhindered in the heaven and earth, and his mysterious true energy swept the eight directions. He wanted to escape from this diagram several times, but the formation kept on suppressing him.
“Inside my Yang Shou Mountains and Rivers Diagram, let see if you can cause any waves!” Lie Zhan Hou coldly scowled, and in a flash, he also went inside the diagram; he took control of the formation, and the fight with Gu Tieshou continued on inside the Godly Diagram.
“Yang Shou Mountains and Rivers Diagram…” Seeing this formation trapping Gu Tieshou, many people were secretly shocked. A sect master who was watching the fight exclaimed: “I heard that the Lie family has an unfathomable Ancient Saint who was well versed in formation techniques and was researching ancient formations. He created a Godly Diagram named the Yang Shou Mountains and Rivers Diagram. I heard that if this formation was at full strength, not mentioning Ancient Saints, it could even defeat Heavenly Monarchs.”