182: Do you obey the order?

"Impossible!"

"An illusion! It must be an illusion!"

"Even with gear that reduces cooldowns the fastest, it's impossible for you to cast that disgusting Skill three times in a row so quickly."

"The god-stabbing dagger can last for 24 hours. Even if you can cast fire magic, it shouldn't be that powerful!"

Earths Punishment's eyes were bloodshot as he shouted frantically.

It wasn't until the blue flames engulfed him that he finally realized he was wrong.

In less than 0.01 seconds, he crushed a precious Skill Refresh Stone, which could reset all of his Skills.

Shadows were everywhere. His true body even hid within Xu Le's shadow—not to launch a sneak attack, but to escape the blue flames.

The shadows scattered across the ground were all his Clones. As long as one survived, his main body could swap places with it.

The flower bloomed!

Boom!

The blue flames swept through every corner, and countless shadows were twisted and burned into nothingness. The entire battlefield became a sea of fire.

Even Xu Le himself was bathed in the sea of blue fire.

Earths Punishment's body didn't even cause a spark; it vaporized instantly, turning into nothingness without even a fragment of bone remaining.

Swish!

A white light suddenly shone on Xu Le, and his Rank instantly rose to the Peak of level 91.

Killing people didn't grant experience points, but that grey mark was finally lit up.

Xu Le only then understood that the grey mark represented a same-Rank challenge, requiring him to gain enough experience points before it could be lit.

Thinking back to the Void Creatures he had slain in the Void Realm, he suddenly felt like he had lost ten thousand small goals.

Earths Punishment didn't understand why Xu Le's Skill cooled down so quickly, but it was actually very simple.

When he shouted out the non-existent 'Nine Heavens Demon-Slaying Mountain-Splitting Sea-Severing Style,' he was already prepared to activate 'nanshan pure land'.

As it turned out, the other party had unfortunately dodged in a direction away from the god-stabbing dagger.

When Xu Le activated his Divine Domain, he included the god-stabbing dagger within its range.

The first thing he did was run toward the dagger.

Unfortunately, that dagger was a one-time-use Divine Artifact. Once used, the Divine Power within it was triggered, and there was no way to retrieve it.

Only a second had passed in the outside world, but a whole day had passed within the Divine Domain.

All of Xu Le's Skills had cooled down, and the god-stabbing dagger shattered as its energy was exhausted.

In a sense, while the two seemed to have fought for less than two minutes, a day and two minutes had actually passed.

After returning to the battlefield, to avoid his secret being discovered, he once again used 'Destiny Link' to share Nine Phoenix's Skills and attributes.

Upon returning to reality, he immediately cast 'Mental Shock,' followed by the 'Earth Fire Flowing Slurry' and 'Blazing Blue Lotus' Skills.

Having exhausted most of Xu Le's trump cards, it could be said that Earths Punishment's death was well-deserved.

The only pity was that the Skill's power was too great; not only was Earths Punishment burned to ashes, but his space ring was also destroyed.

"Sigh, low-quality rings are really hurtful!"

Xu Le shook his head and looked toward the other side of the battlefield.

Liu Rufeng's swordsmanship had become even sharper. A dense white light completely enveloped the entire sword. What he held no longer looked like a longsword, but a sphere of light.

The sphere of light continued to spread over Liu Rufeng's body. Xu Le guessed that when the light completely enveloped him, it would be the moment he attained Immortal Ascension.

Since the advantage was on his side, there was no rush.

Xu Le took out a bag of melon seeds from his space and started cracking them.

Little Sparrow curiously flew onto Xu Le's arm. Xu Le handed over the entire bag. The bird picked it up, flew to Xu Le's shoulder, poured the whole bag into its mouth, and started spitting out the shells.

Like a heavy machine gun, the shells flew everywhere.

"The taste isn't great. Altogether, it's not as good as a single crucian carp."

Xu Le: "...If the public intellectuals heard you, they'd definitely lecture you. They'd say that after a ten-thousand-person gathering in Japan, there isn't a single piece of trash on the ground."

In the livestream room.

Everyone felt that Earths Punishment was finished when they saw the sea of fire. When some saw the white light of Xu Le's level-up, they started flooding the screen.

"Earths Punishment was a demonic creature. After he died, the Fire God even gained experience points to level up. +99999"

"The Fire God is mighty. +9999999"

"But, he is clearly a Contractor. +6"

...When Xu Le took out the melon seeds and started cracking them, everyone was certain that Earths Punishment was completely gone... In the imperial palace.

Emperor smashed the dragon desk with one palm strike.

"What kind of bullshit demigod assassin can't even kill an 18-year-old kid? Bah!"

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

"Calm my anger? How can I calm my anger? They are stepping on my head, trampling my face again and again. How can I calm my anger?"

"..."

"If you were to take action personally, how much certainty would you have in eliminating those two rebels?"

The shrill voice pondered for a long while before answering, "Those two rebels have already grown their wings. This old servant can only stake my lowly life; I would surely be able to take one of them down with me."

"Useless! If you take down one, what about the other?"

The more Emperor thought about it, the angrier he became, the ferocity in his eyes deepening. "You said that old thief Liu is using the faith of the masses to become a god?"

"Yes! This old servant is ninety-nine percent certain."

"Enough. Notify the Hidden Dragon Guard to cooperate with the Shadow Hall and Sacrifice the Ninth City."

"Yes!"

A hint of faint joy could be heard in the shrill voice. It emerged from Emperor's shadow, still in the form of a shadow, and drifted toward the depths of the inner palace.

A group of special squads was stationed there.

There were only eight hundred people, all of whom were like shadows. Upon receiving the order, everyone merged together, turning into a mass of ink-like shadow, and quickly moved toward the teleportation array.

At the same time, the assassins of the Shadow Hall received the message and simultaneously infiltrated the Ninth District... The Ninth District.

The City Lord's Mansion.

Chen Lingxiao met a strange person draped in a black robe, with not even his eyes showing.

The person was like someone with a pitch-black bedsheet over his head, tied in a knot at the neck; only the shape of a head could be discerned.

"City Lord Chen, will you obey the order?"

The shadow man held the son of heavens edict, as if the Emperor himself were present.

"This official obeys the order!"

Chen Lingxiao did not hesitate in the slightest. He was the Emperor's man; if he did not obey the imperial order, he would lose his very foundation.

"Take all the Energy Stones and head to the Ministry of Justice to report a case."

"Report what case?"

"The case of the stolen Energy Stones from the City Lord's Mansion."

"Ah?" Chen Lingxiao was shocked. As a clever man, he instantly thought of many things.

Regardless of the reason, the theft of Energy Stones required someone to take responsibility. His best-case scenario would be dismissal and investigation.

If Energy Stones were found in his space ring, suggesting he had stolen what he was meant to guard, he would face life imprisonment if not execution.

He tried his best to suppress the anger erupting in his heart. "Why?"

"Will you obey the order?" the black-clothed man's voice was indifferent, offering no explanation.

"Is there an imperial edict?" Chen Lingxiao asked.

"What do you think?" The black-clothed man's tone was full of mockery.

Could an imperial edict be issued for such a matter?

Even a fool would understand this, yet the other party still harbored delusions; it was unreasonable.

Chen Lingxiao's eyes flickered. His gratitude for the Emperor's trust vanished. He would go and seek refuge with the three Great Aristocratic Families. Although the Tang Family was a bit weak, the Aristocratic Families were a single entity. As long as he joined them, he would surely be safe and might even be highly valued.

"I gave you a chance."

The black-clothed man's voice grew even colder.

Chen Lingxiao felt a surge of fear and went on full alert. Then he saw the black-clothed man disperse into over a hundred figures, each swinging a blade at him.

[Life -26,850]

[Life -25,460]

...