196: justice!

The Imperial Palace.

Emperor watched as a large group of Heaven Patrol Guards, led by Duan Dongfeng, knelt to obey the son of heavens edict, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.

"Someone, draft an edict!"

"Heaven Patrol Guard Captain Lei Bao and Vice-Captain Zhao Zhongjun were loyal and patriotic, fulfilling their duties faithfully. I bestow upon them the posthumous titles of Zhongyong and Zhaolie, and posthumously appoint them as Third-Rank Cloud Banner General and Fourth-Rank Loyal Martial General."

"Heaven Patrol Guard Squad Leader Duan Dongfeng, having avoided the enemy and feared the thieves, listened to a false order, and acted in confusion and stupidity. Strip him of his rank and feathers, cast him into the imperial prison, and interrogate him thoroughly."

Two eunuchs hurriedly ran to draft the imperial edict, waiting for the Emperor to review it for accuracy before stamping and issuing it.

Emperor grew angrier the more he thought about it; those one thousand men were sent to be killed by Xu Le, and he had never expected to be able to kill Xu Le with just one thousand men.

His goal was not to kill the person, but to kill his reputation.

Now, half the reputation was killed, but everything fell short due to Duan Dongfeng's "surrender."

A sharp voice sounded from under his feet: "Your Majesty, do not worry."

"Oh?"

The sharp voice was full of smugness: "Your Majesty, the live broadcast equipment malfunctioned, but it still recorded everything. We can play the video of Xu Le brutally killing the loyal and righteous."

"Hmm?"

Emperor's eyes lit up. Videos can be edited and dubbed; furthermore, one could even find a body double to reshoot it.

In an instant, countless ideas flooded his mind, and he could not help but burst into laughter.

"Someone, invite Director Zhang Kaigang over."

...

The First District.

The Fallen Zone.

Xu Le led his contracted beast in a massive slaughter of monsters. Dense piles of monster corpses lay on the ground, waiting to be corroded by the Devilish Qi.

In the Ninth District, his experience points were already on the verge of being maxed out, and after two more hours of slaughter, they had completely reached the maximum.

99th Level Peak is a hurdle; above that is a god.

Because he lacked the experience of challenging strong opponents of the same level, he was currently still at the 95th Level Peak.

[Experience + 0]

[Experience + 0]

...

Seeing that Xu Le was still slaughtering monsters alongside his contracted beast, the Thousand-Year Fish (Kunpeng) finally spoke.

"That old man died, are you very sad?"

Xu Le thought for a moment and shook his head.

Old Man Liu had treated him well and had even gifted him a small sword for self-defense, but he had not treated Old Man Liu poorly either.

Regarding his death, Xu Le felt a bit sad and a bit regretful, but to say he was "very sad," so sad that slaughtering monsters for two hours still couldn't alleviate it, was not quite right.

It was just that his heart felt blocked, which was indeed very uncomfortable.

"Then are you afraid of the Lightning Tribulation to become a god?"

Xu Le still shook his head.

The Lightning Tribulation to become a god was certainly terrifying, and he did not have much confidence in surviving it himself, but that was not the key.

The Thousand-Year Fish thought Xu Le was putting on a brave front and offered comfort: "You and I are one. According to the rules, I can help you withstand half of the Lightning Tribulation to become a god, and the other contracted beasts can help you withstand the other half, so do not worry."

That was not it.

It was not the Lightning Tribulation to become a god.

Xu Le's thoughts began to fly; scenes from before surfaced in his mind, and after a long time, he finally understood.

What he wanted was justice!

...

The third day.

A video "risking death" by a staff member circulated on the internet.

The villain Xu Le successively ambushed the Heaven Patrol Guard Captain and Vice-Captain, and then brazenly murdered the righteous men among the Heaven Patrol Guards. Thousands of Heaven Patrol Guards refused to submit and perished collectively.

A national tragedy!

Especially the many Heaven Patrol Guards who roared in anger, refusing to yield even in death, launching a counter-charge against Xu Le, which brought tears to people's eyes.

They fell one by one into the flames summoned by Xu Le, and after death, not even a complete corpse remained.

Especially the scene where he spat and left with a look of disdain pierced the hearts of those who saw the video.

How could there be such a shameless person in this world!

Emperor watched the video and the dense barrage of comments left behind, his heart filled with joy, and he was even prepared to personally host a banquet to entertain Director Zhang Kaigang.

However, he was stopped by the sharp voice.

A mere director, a commoner, is he worthy of enjoying an imperial banquet?

"Clap, clap, clap..."

Crisp applause rang out in the Golden Throne Hall.

Emperor turned around in shock, seeing a handsome, familiar face that he hated to the bone.

Xu Le!

"How did you get in? Are you trying to defy the world and assassinate me?"

"Something like that! I also have questions I want to ask you."

Xu Le looked calm, as if he were visiting an old friend.

"A commoner, are you worthy? You do not know your place!"

Emperor snorted with disdain, not feeling any fear at all because of Xu Le's sudden appearance.

"So tough? Is it because of the shadow at your feet?"

Xu Le looked at Emperor's shadow, where a Level 99 Shadow Commander resided.

Although he didn't know how the dog Emperor had subdued the other party, it was clearly his trump card.

"Kill him!" Emperor's tone was indifferent and very confident.

He had said before that he could trade one-for-one with Liu Rufeng or Xu Le. Now that Liu Rufeng was gone, trading Xu Le away would keep his rule as stable as a rock.

"I still..." Xu Le had just spat out three words when he felt his whole body out of control, as if his entire body had been nailed to the ground.

No, it was not him who was being nailed, but his shadow.

The shadow was pinned, which in turn made his Physical Body unable to Move.

The only thing he could use was Mental Energy.

Mental Shock!

"Pop!"

The sound of a bubble bursting rang out.

"I have to say, the Banshee's Heart is a good thing; it can block one Skill attack."

"Hehe, I remember you also have an item that can reset cooldowns. Hurry up, do it again, otherwise you won't have a chance."

The Shadow Commander stood up from Xu Le's shadow, looking smug.

Xu Le's eyes were cold. This Move was indeed very strong, but he not only had the traceless ring to refresh cooldowns, but also the nanshan pure land to drag out time for eight days.

After the "guided" purple lightning, he had picked up two wisps of divinity from the remains of the four divine statues. Now he possessed a full 8 wisps of divinity, which could keep the Spiritual Domain open for eight days.

The rest of the spoils were countless, especially the god-protecting spirit jade that could block three attacks; he had obtained as many as five pieces, but they required too much Mental Energy, so he had currently only activated one.

"Leave it to me!"

The Thousand-Year Fish jumped out and swatted the Shadow Commander away with its tail.

"No, impossible! A mere trash fish, is it worthy of fighting me?"

The Shadow Commander felt as if he had suffered a great humiliation. He directly cast the "Shadow Escape" Skill to appear behind the Thousand-Year Fish and fiercely stabbed at it with a blade.

The dagger was too big, bigger than the Thousand-Year Fish itself. This stab looked like it could pierce it into minced meat.

But the Thousand-Year Fish just flicked its tail slightly, without even using a Skill, and directly swatted him to the ground, where he looked like a pool of black slime that slowly gathered back into a human shape.

"I have to say, this floor is not bad; next time I'll add some points."

The Thousand-Year Fish floated in the air. Although it was as small as a finger, it gave Emperor the pressure of Mount Tai.

"You dog thing, stop acting. Kill Xu Le with all your might. If the person dies, the contracted beast will lose its life too!"

A red light flashed in the Shadow Commander's eyes, and he cast the Shadow Escape Skill again, appearing in Xu Le's shadow.

His shadow began to twist and deform, turning into the shape of the shadow.

Xu Le suddenly felt an emptiness in his heart, and his Sea of Consciousness underwent a heaven-turning, earth-shattering change.