Creak.
Qin Yutong opened the door and walked out with Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing this, Yan Kaixuan, who was standing outside, grew even more frustrated. "Because of your Crown Prince Edict," he said in a low voice, "so many old officials have hurried to the Royal Capital. Now, blood flows through the city like a river, but you're still mesmerized by beauty. Today, I will kill her!"
Qin Yutong had extremely mesmerizing looks and aura. Even Saints would be obsessed with her.
It was natural that Yan Kaixuan had this misunderstanding.
He took out a saint broadsword with beast patterns, dragging out a brilliant sword tidal wave. Then a terrible destructive force swept toward Qin Yutong to kill her.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes hardened. He extended a right hand and Holy Qi poured out wildly. It condensed into the huge shadow of a divine elephant.
His palm spun and the divine elephant rushed down.
Boom!
Yan Kaixuan was forced to lower himself onto one knee under the elephant. He couldn't even move. He shared at Zhang Ruochen in shock. "How is this…possible…"
An early-stage True Saint was actually restrained by Zhang Ruochen with one strike.
A few days ago, Zhang Ruochen had used the time-sword technique and Abyss Ancient Sword to injure Yan Kaixuan with one hit.
If he didn't have the help of time, Yan Kaixuan believed that he could counter Zhang Ruochen for a while. Even if he lost, he could still protect himself and leave safely.
In a few short days, Zhang Ruochen's abilities had more than doubled. Even if Zhang Ruochen didn't use the time sword technique, Yan Kaixuan was still unable to counter him.
Granny Bai Su ran over to plead forgiveness for Yan Kaixuan. "Your Highness, he doesn't know about your plan to attack the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion. Please forgive him this once."
Even though Yan Kaixuan had offended Zhang Ruochen, he was still a loyal person who had reached the True Saint Realm. Zhang Ruochen could tolerate someone like that.
He retracted his saintly power and scoffed. "There won't be a third time."
Just yesterday, Zhang Ruochen had successfully reached the Absolute Land Realm. Naturally, it wasn't hard if he wanted to restrain an early-stage True Saint.
Yan Kaixuan gazed over at Granny Bai Su. "What plan to attack the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion?" he asked.
Granny Bai Su rolled her eyes at him. "You think everyone is as impulsive as you? If one wishes to attack the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion, one must first damage the Royal Capital's city defensive formation. Otherwise, once the formation is activated, our men will die no matter how many strong cultivators we send."
Yan Kaixuan's eyes widened. He finally realized that this Crown Prince really did want to attack the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion. "When are you attacking?" he asked. "I wish to join."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed slightly. He gazed to the northwest and saw that the fake mountain beside Lord Mingjiang was shining with golden light.
"Twelfth Royal Uncle, are you interested in visiting the palace tonight and praying to the ancestors in the shrine?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Tonight," Lord Mingjiang said. "If you can destroy the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion, I will vow before all of our ancestors to be loyal to you and rebuild the Sacred Central Empire. If you wish to fight, then overturn the world."
The people of the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion naturally knew that Zhang Ruochen wouldn't keep holing up. He was definitely brewing a storm.
Thus, there were soldiers stationed everywhere in the city, in waiting. As long as Zhang Ruochen acted, they would immediately be dispatched to suppress him.
Dusk at the Royal Capital that day was extremely repressive and depressing.
Close to 30,000 cultivators were gathered in the Phoenix Dance Palace, all elites under Lord Mingjiang. They all had the words "The Sacred" on their armor. They'd come from all over and had all at least completed the Heavenly Realm.
In addition, with Granny Bai Su and Yan Kaixuan as the leaders, a total of ten Saints formed a line. Battle intent radiated off of them.
Zhang Ruochen brought out the dozen Saints of the Sacred Sect from the Universe World. This included Ghost King Bloodmoon, Princess White Li, Guoguo, the Demon Ape, and Le, who'd woken up. They were all strong figures among the Saints.
Granny Bai Su clutched a foot-long metal casket. Standing on a platform on a spiritual mountain, she called out, "The battle flag from 800 years ago will finally flutter in the wind again. Who will carry it?"
The flag carrier would definitely rush to the front and guide the army.
"I shall carry it personally."
Zhang Ruochen strode forward and took the battle flag out of the box. Shaking his arm, the flag with the words "The Sacred" on it opened with a thud.
He activated his Holy Qi and poured it into the flag.
Crackle, pop.
There was a string of explosions within the flag. The flag pole grew longer and thicker. Finally, it was a hundred feet long and as thick as a pole. It rushed out of the Phoenix Dance Palace's invisibility formation and fluttered.
Roar!
In the distance, the Demon Ape roared. It grew to 300 feet tall. Even though it wasn't at the biggest state, it was still impressive. The strong demonic Qi that rolled off of it shrouded the entire city, alarming countless cultivators.
Zhang Ruochen grasped the battle flag. He flew to the Demon Ape's right shoulder and pointed to the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion. "Fight!"
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The cultivators of the Phoenix Dance Palace flooded out with the fastest speed under the guidance of the 20 Saints. They charged toward the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion.
The ground shook and thundered. Black clouds covered the setting sun in the sky.
In an instant, strong battle intent spread to more than half of the Royal Capital.
"Unrest. Great unrest has occurred. The Canglong Army will go suppress it immediately."
An army dressed in white armor was the closest to the Phoenix Dance Palace. There were 80,000 soldiers. Some charged on the ground on savage beasts; others flew in the sky, riding demon birds. They charged toward the Sacred army.
The two huge armies clashed.
The Canglong Army was crushed. In an instant, the 20 Saints cleared out a large patch.
The remaining Canglong soldiers on the ground were killed by the Sacred army soon after. They left behind a large mass of corpses and bloodied streets.
In the sky, Guoguo turned into a Sky-swallowing Demonic Dragon. Its body was miles long. It swallowed one-third of the Canglong soldiers flying in the sky merely by opening its mouth.
The remaining Canglong soldiers rode their demon birds and fled back toward the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion in fright.
A Saint of the Canglong Army actually ran while yelling, "Zhang Ruochen is rebelling! He's leading an army to attack the Royal Capital! Hurry and ring the Indefinite Bell… Ah…"
Zhang Ruochen stood on the Demon Ape's shoulder. He took out the Clear Sky Bow and Shining Sun Arrow and fired a shot.
With a boom, the Saint's body exploded into a cloud of bloody mist. A large amount of saintly blood fell to the ground.
Boom, boom, boom.
The Indefinite Bells in every region rang out. This announced that, after 800 years, the Royal Capital would once again have a battle that could overturn the world.
"Even a Saint's battle wouldn't sound the Indefinite Bell. What exactly is happening? Why are hundreds of bells ringing?"
All the cultivators in the city were alarmed. After learning the truth, they were all shocked.
In one short hour, the Sacred army was only a dozen miles from the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion. The armies from all regions hurried over for reinforcement.
The Canglong Army, Chilong Army, Heilong Army, Qinglong Army, and Bailong Army had more than two million soldiers in total. They protected the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion like a swarm of insects.
Both the sky and ground were densely covered in black dots.
"Today, the Crown Prince will return to the palace. Anyone who blocks him will die. Anyone who greets him with a bow will live."
Granny Bai Su's cultivation had reached the Absolute Saint Realm. She was part of the group that was the strongest under the Saint King Realm.
She took out a Thousand-pattern Saint Weapon with 8,000 patterns. All the patterns were activated in an instant. A red sea of fire rushed out, charging at the five imperial court armies.
After the sea of fire flooded out, the imperial court soldiers were burned to ashes in patches like stalks of grass.
"Such big guts. Is the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion somewhere you can break into?"
The leader of the Chilong Army led three Saints to strike with a weapon with close to ten thousand patterns. They attacked Granny Bai Su together, wanting to stop her.
Kaboom.
Granny Bai Su's cultivation was extremely robust. She attacked 16 times in a row, tearing apart the three Saints of the Chilong Army. Not even a bone was left.
Only the leader of the Chilong Army escaped death. He fled back into the army.
He was badly hurt. Blood trickled out of his mouth and his saintly armor was tattered. He stared at Granny Bai Su with some terror while yelling, "It's an Absolute Saint! An Absolute Saint! Hurry and activate the ten-thousand-soldier formation to kill her."
Whoosh!
Zhang Ruochen shot another Shining Sun Arrow, hitting the Chilong Army general's chest. The power from the arrow sent the injured body flying back. With a boom, it crashed against the city gates of the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion.
The general's cultivation was extremely high. He'd reached the pinnacle of the True Saint Realm. He actually withstood the Shining Sun Arrow and didn't die.
Roar!
The Demon Ape felt no fear. Like a huge mountain, it charged forward wildly and crushed into the army. Two large hands containing the power of the Demonic Way swatted in all directions.
Like swatting flies, the Demon Ape's every hit could crush a large mass of soldiers.
Princess White Li, Guougo, and Ghost King Bloodmoon hurried forward. They forged on with the Demon Ape and Zhang Ruochen.
Princess White Li wielded the Yinkong Tower. Every activation could clear a large patch. She took abstruse steps, leaving behind a trail of afterimages, and charged at the Chilong Army general. She wanted to kill him completely while he was still hurt.
Ghost King Bloodmoon was even more terrifying. With her ghostly body as the center, thousands upon thousands of ghost shadows appeared. They transformed into eerie wind and swept forward.
The soldiers of the imperial court fell down like rain.
True Saints and Absolute Saints were all able to be the leaders of a middle-age clan. They were definitely big figures of the top level.
Today, many of these figures appeared one after another. Within 15 minutes, 100,000 soldiers were crushed into ground flesh. They piled thickly on the ground. Their blood formed a small creek.
The scene was extremely ghastly. The imperial court soldiers who'd experienced hundreds of battles blanched in fear. Thankfully, other armies streamed in to reinforce them. Otherwise, they probably would've started fleeing.
"Zhang Ruochen really dared to start a war. He actually dared to attack the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion. That's crazy!"
In the Royal Capital, many cultivators paled in fear. They all started escaping from the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion, afraid that they would be affected.
"The Crown Prince has already put up the Sacred battle flag. What are you waiting for? Hurry and fight alongside His Highness. Kill Heavenly King Lingxiao, kill the soldiers of the imperial court. Take revenge for your family and friends."
"Today, we must take down the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion and reestablish the Sacred Central Empire. Go, kill them all…"
…
When the descendants of the old followers and officials in the Royal Capital saw the Sacred battle flag, they all rushed out, going toward the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion.
The night that the war began was destined to create mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.