242: The entire audience was shocked! He actually dared to call the quasi-emperor "old man"?!

Xiao Tiance's roar was no longer a cry for help.

It was the wail of a dying beast, squeezed from the deepest depths of his Soul after all dignity and pride had been crushed into dust.

That black orb of light, condensed with extreme destruction, had already come to a halt right before his forehead.

There were no world-shaking airwaves, no blinding brilliance.

It simply hovered there quietly, yet the space around it was silently collapsing and annihilating inward, layer by layer.

Xiao Tiance's protective saint power melted away like ice and snow under the sun.

Inside the Qiankun Hall, time was stretched to infinity.

Everyone became lifeless sculptures, their pupils reflecting only that pitch-blackness capable of swallowing everything; their hearts were gripped tightly by an invisible hand, making it impossible to breathe.

The Marquis of Champion, the Qilin Son of Great Xia, was he to fall here today?

In the most humiliating way possible—backlashed by his own trump card.

At the very last instant before that destructive orb of light could touch Xiao Tiance's forehead...

"Brat, you dare!"

A voice rang out.

It was neither aged nor booming, yet it did not travel through the air; instead, it directly branded a mark of 'Majesty' into everyone's Divine Soul Origin.

Before the voice even faded, the space deep within the Qiankun Hall was torn open like a scroll by invisible hands, revealing a pitch-black rift.

That was no spatial rift.

It was a wound in the world.

A hand reached out from the wound.

That hand could not be described as withered or plump; it was composed of starlight and Law itself. The moment it appeared, the Laws of the entire Qiankun Hall were forcibly rewritten.

Ignoring distance, it appeared directly in front of that destructive orb of light.

"Extinguish."

That voice rang out again, devoid of any emotion.

Boom!

A silent roar exploded in the depths of everyone's Souls!

That destructive orb, capable of heavily wounding a Great Saint, was forcibly detonated within the palm of that hand of Law!

Billions of pitch-black destructive arcs of electricity burst outward, only to shatter one by one like bubbles when they touched the boundary of the palm's world.

All energy and all Laws were completely obliterated by that hand, with not a single trace leaking out.

The storm subsided.

The hand slowly withdrew.

A figure stepped slowly out from the wound in the world.

He wore an ancient python robe, his hair and beard were entirely white, and his face was haggard, looking as if he were at death's door.

But as he stood there, he became a world unto himself.

The might of a Quasi-Emperor was no longer just the pressure of an Aura, but an absolute suppression of life's very level.

"Greetings, Old Ancestor Daoyan!"

The entire court of civil and military officials instinctively bowed; it was the reverence of life toward a higher-level existence.

The newcomer was none other than the leader of the Imperial Clan Faction, a living fossil at the Fifth Heaven of the Quasi-Emperor Realm—Ji Daoyan!

Ji Daoyan remained indifferent to the salutations around him.

The moment his clouded old eyes appeared, they pierced through the Void Realm and locked firmly onto Su Chen.

It was a scrutiny that stripped away all disguises and looked directly into the Soul Origin—cold, deep, and carrying undisguised killing intent.

Xiao Tiance, having escaped death, acted as if he had grasped his final saving straw.

He struggled to crawl up, his face devoid of any color, leaving only the madness and malice of a survivor.

He stumbled to Ji Daoyan's feet and pointed at Su Chen, his voice as sharp as torn silk.

"Old Ancestor! Kill him! It's him! He wants to murder the Imperial Clan in open court! He wants to subvert our Great Xia Empire!"

He was no longer wailing; instead, he used the most vicious language to nail Su Chen to the cross of treason.

Ji Daoyan's gaze grew even colder.

He looked at Su Chen, and his Quasi-Emperor pressure surged like an invisible tide, precisely and silently drowning Su Chen alone.

Wherever that pressure passed, the air condensed into glass and light was frozen.

However...

Su Chen remained standing there.

He even sized up this newly appeared 'old monster' with interest, his internal monologue already flooding with comments.

[Oh, the classic 'calling for backup'? After beating the small one, the old one comes out; the process is quite standard.]

[A Quasi-Emperor? His rank seems high enough. Too bad this pressure blowing over is like the cold air from an air conditioner—quite refreshing, actually.]

[But... is being a Quasi-Emperor a big deal? He's disturbing my sleep; even if a Great Emperor came, he'd have to wait in line for me.]

[Should I... try taking out the yellow springs demonic sword in a bit? I wonder how much power sacrificing this Devil Emperor's Imperial Weapon would have...]

Far from being afraid, Su Chen's eyes even brightened slightly because of this crazy thought.

Ji Daoyan's brow furrowed tightly.

His pressure was like a clay ox entering the sea, vanishing without a trace.

This kid is strange!

Just as he was about to speak...

Su Chen impatiently picked his ear and beat him to it.

His voice was lazy, carrying the annoyance of having his peaceful dreams disturbed.

"Old man, who are you?"

Su Chen sized Ji Daoyan up and down, curled his lip, and his eyes showed disdain.

"Can't you see we're 'sparring'?"

"When juniors are playing a game, why are you, an elder, meddling blindly on the side? It's very rude, do you understand?"

As the words fell...

Hiss—!

The sound of the entire audience gasping for air merged into a cold current capable of freezing someone solid.

Everyone's gaze focused on Su Chen in utter disbelief.

This was no longer just being bold.

This was dancing a disco in front of the King of Hell, or picking a fight with the God of the Year—he must think his life is too long and wants to find a new way to end it!