Chapter 118 He chickened out

(The previous chapter has been completed, please check it!)

Behind him, Leng Yi, Jin Daoming, Deng Tianlong (wearing a mask to conceal his identity), Wu De, and hundreds of Asura Hall elites exuding a thick aura of blood and killing intent stood in a line, surrounding him like stars surrounding the moon.

Ye Haocheng looked down at the chaotic city below. Suddenly, he channeled his spiritual power to the max, his voice booming like a great bell, spreading majestically for thousands of miles. Through some special sound-transmission formation, it even spread across the entire Eastern Continent:

"Great Chu Dynasty! Feather God Dynasty!"

"Listen up, you two old dogs who only know how to hide in your deep palaces!"

"You want my, Ye Haocheng's, life? Fine!"

"But stop sending these smelly fish, rotten shrimp, and lowly pawns to their deaths! Killing this bunch of trash will only dirty my sword!"

"I am waiting for you right here in the Barren Sand Sea, in this City of Sin!"

"If you have the guts, let Chu Changsheng and that bird-man Emperor personally roll over here! If I don't twist their heads off and kick them around like balls, I'll write my name, Ye Haocheng, backward!!"

These words were arrogant! Domineering! Unrivaled!

The voice rolled like thunder, not only echoing throughout the Barren Sand Sea but also, through the remaining spies and various intelligence channels, instantly igniting the entire Eastern Continent with incredible speed.

...

Once the news spread, the thirteen dynasties of the Eastern Continent, countless sects, noble families, and rogue cultivators were completely thrown into an uproar.

In teahouses, taverns, and on every street corner, everyone was discussing this earth-shattering news.

"He's crazy! This Ye Haocheng is absolutely crazy!"

"My god, killing over thirty sect forces and nearly ten thousand martial artists in a single day! This isn't a human; he's an unparalleled god of slaughter!"

"The most critical part is that he actually teamed up with that mysterious assassin organization, the 'Asura Hall'! Judging by his tone, it seems the Asura Hall is even taking orders from him?"

"Too arrogant! He named the two Emperors and cursed them as old dogs, and even said he'd twist their heads off to kick around like balls... Even the emperors of other dynasties wouldn't dare say such things easily, right?"

"Hehe, now we're in for a good show. The two dynasties have lifted a rock only to drop it on their own feet this time. They originally wanted to use a borrowed knife to kill someone, but the knife broke, the target wasn't killed, and they got slapped hard in the face instead!"

Countless people were gloating.

In this world of cultivation with strict hierarchies, imperial power is supreme. Usually, everyone is crushed until they can barely breathe by the dynasties. Now that a ruthless man has suddenly appeared who dares to confront imperial power head-on, and even rub the imperial family's face into the dirt, many rogue cultivators felt a faint sense of admiration in their hearts.

...

Great Chu Dynasty, Yingdu Imperial Palace.

"Bastard! Bastard!!"

Inside the Imperial Study, various precious porcelains were shattered all over the floor.

Great Chu Dynasty Emperor Chu Changsheng was like an enraged lion at this moment, his eyes bloodshot, his chest heaving violently. The jade slip containing the intelligence in his hand had already been crushed into powder.

"Lowly pawns? He actually dared to say that the people I sent were lowly pawns?!"

"He actually dared to call me an old dog?!"

As the ruler of a nation, governing hundreds of millions of subjects, when had Chu Changsheng ever suffered such a humiliating insult? Even when going to war with other dynasties in the past, the opposing nations' official letters were always polite. How could it be like this, with Ye Haocheng practically pointing a finger at his nose and cursing in the street!

Below, the civil and military officials knelt on the ground, each one silent and trembling with cold sweat streaming down.

The Prime Minister tremblingly raised his head and braced himself to say: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger... This... this provocation by Ye Haocheng is clearly a goading tactic! Your Majesty is of golden stature, you must not fall for that brat's treacherous scheme!"

"A goading tactic? Of course I know this is a goading tactic!"

Chu Changsheng roared, "But now the whole world is watching! If I don't respond, where will the face of the Great Chu Dynasty be? Where will my dignity be? In the future, any stray cat or dog will dare to ride on my head and shit!"

"Issue the decree! Mobilize the Imperial Guards! Mobilize the Offering Hall! I will lead the expedition personally! I will raze that Barren Sand Sea to the ground!"

"Your Majesty, you must not!"

Just then, an old man wearing a gray robe with an aura as deep as an abyss suddenly appeared in the Imperial Study.

He was one of the foundations of the Great Chu Imperial Family, an ancestor who had not appeared in the world for a long time. Although he had not entered the Martial Venerable realm, he was already at the limit of the Martial Saint peak, at the Third Tribulation Lightning Stage, just one step away from the Fourth Tribulation.

"Ancestor!"

Chu Changsheng's anger subsided slightly upon seeing this person. "Why not? That brat is bullying me too much!"

The gray-robed ancestor sighed, a flash of wariness appearing in his eyes: "Your Majesty, you are confused. Why does Ye Haocheng dare to clamor like this? Besides having the trump card to kill Venerable Withered Sword, he now has the Asura Hall."

"According to intelligence, the strength displayed by the Asura Hall this time is extremely terrifying. In that day's slaughter, they demonstrated extremely strict organizational discipline and several top-tier experts. Especially beside that Ye Haocheng, there seems to be a powerhouse suspected of having the bloodline of a Golden Winged Peng."

"If we rashly send our main forces to the Barren Sand Sea, that is their territory. If we fall into an ambush, or if Ye Haocheng still has that kind of terrifying sword talisman in his hand..."

The gray-robed ancestor paused and said in a deep voice: "Once the imperial elite suffers more than half losses, the surrounding dynasties like Great Yue and Great Qi, which are eyeing us like tigers, will definitely take advantage of the weakness to invade! By then, the Great Chu Dynasty will be in danger!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Changsheng felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured over his head, and he instantly calmed down.

That's right. He couldn't afford to gamble.

Sending those sects previously was just to test the waters. As a result, the test failed, and they didn't even manage to stir up a splash.

Now Ye Haocheng has clearly set up his forces and is waiting for him; this is obviously a trap.

If Ye Haocheng really could kill another Martial Venerable, then if he, Chu Changsheng, went, wouldn't that be suicide?

"Then... are we just going to let it go? I can't swallow this anger!"

Chu Changsheng gritted his teeth, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.

The gray-robed ancestor narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "Of course we cannot let it go. But we must not be hasty. He is in the Barren Sand Sea, where resources are barren; I want to see how long he can stay there. We will blockade all exits and continue to increase the bounty. I don't believe he will never come out!"

"Also, contact the Feather God Dynasty. The one over there is probably even more anxious than Your Majesty. After all, the deceased Thirteenth Prince was his most beloved son."

...

Feather God Dynasty, Cloud Palace.

The situation was exactly the same as in the Great Chu Dynasty.

Emperor Cao Chen, after learning the news, immediately revealed his true form and smashed half the palace with one claw, scaring countless palace maids and eunuchs out of their wits.

But when he calmed down, he also fell into the same vicious cycle.

If he went, the risk was too great. The Barren Sand Sea had complex terrain, the Asura Hall was unfathomable, and Ye Haocheng's trump cards were unknown. As an emperor, he could not gamble the fate of the entire imperial family over a fit of anger.

If he didn't go, he would lose all face. Being pointed at and cursed by a young man, yet only being able to act like a tortoise with its head in its shell.

In the end, after a whole night of weighing the pros and cons, and intense arguments with several Supreme Elders in the clan.

The two dynasties surprisingly and tacitly made the same choice—

Silence.

No response. No deployment of troops. No rebuttal.

Apart from symbolically increasing the bounty again, the two dynasties acted as if they had suddenly gone deaf and dumb, turning a blind eye to Ye Haocheng's provocation.

This eerie silence instantly caused the public opinion in the Eastern Continent to shift once again.

"Tsk tsk tsk, they backed down! The two dynasties really backed down!"

"Hahahaha, truly something you don't see in a lifetime! The dignified rulers of dynasties are actually too scared to make a sound because of a young man!"

"This Ye Haocheng is truly a god-like man! After this battle, it is enough to be recorded in the annals of the Eastern Continent!"

"Asura Hall... It seems the layout of the Eastern Continent is going to change in the future. The might of this Asura Hall is probably closing in on those top-tier first-class sects!"

Mockery, disdain, shock, admiration... various voices intertwined, turning into an invisible giant wave, slapping hard against the faces of the two dynasties.