353: Chapter 353 The Imperial Clan Sets Off on an Expedition! Are They Going to Their Deaths or Going to Buy Goods?

Pushing open the door, a biting morning wind rushed in.

Xu Chen took a deep breath of the cold air tinged with morning dew and strode down the white jade steps toward the assembly square in front of the Xu Family's main hall.

The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the morning mist had not yet fully dispersed, but the vast square was already filled with a suffocating, iron-blooded Evil Qi.

A full thirty thousand Pojun Imperial Guards, clad in heavy armor and wielding sharp weapons, stood like black iron towers, silently arrayed on the square.

Heavy armor forged from black gold glinted with a cold light in the dawn, and the war halberds held tightly in their hands pointed straight at the heavens.

With thirty thousand people gathered, not a single stray sound could be heard except for the steady, powerful heartbeats and the flapping of battle banners in the wind.

This was one of the most elite foundations of the Xu Family.

A burly middle-aged general with a face as sharp and cold as if carved by a knife and axe stepped forward quickly. He wore dragon-scale heavy armor, and ripples of Law faintly surged around him; he was remarkably a top expert who had stepped into the Saint King Realm.

“Pojun Commander Commander Xu Zhan greets the Young Lord!”

Commander Xu Zhan knelt heavily on one knee, his armor plates clashing with the crisp sound of metal on stone. He looked up, his eyes burning with fanatical Battle Intent: “Thirty thousand Pojun Imperial Guards have finished assembling, and the Starry Sky Ancient Ships have all been preheated. Please give the order, Young Lord!”

Xu Chen’s gaze swept over the black, dense iron torrent below, and he nodded with satisfaction.

“Board the ships. Target: the Forbidden Zone of Life at the edge of the Eastern Wasteland.”

Xu Chen's voice was not loud, yet it instantly reached every corner.

Accompanied by an earth-shattering dragon roar, nine massive ancient flood dragons pulled a main ship as huge as a mountain, slowly sailing out from the Void Realm of the Xu Family's back mountain.

The battleship was forged entirely from star meteor iron tempered by divine lightning, its hull inscribed with dense Extreme Dao Formation patterns, emitting a terrifying pressure that suppressed the ages.

Xu Chen leaped up and landed steadily on the wide keel deck of the main ship. His crimson cloak fluttered wildly in the wind, making his posture as upright as a pine tree.

The thirty thousand Pojun Imperial Guards turned into streaks of black light, boarding the various auxiliary ships in an orderly fashion.

“Boom!”

A massive roar tore through the morning silence. The Xu Family fleet spat out dazzling light of Law of Space, shattering the void barriers and speeding majestically toward the edge of the Eastern Wasteland.

...

At this moment, the edge of the Eastern Wasteland had already become a desolate land of death.

The originally lush mountain ranges and prosperous cities were shrouded in a thick, ink-like black mist.

The mist seemed to have a life of its own, constantly rolling outward and devouring everything. Any bird or beast, as long as it touched a sliver of the black mist, would instantly turn into a pool of foul-smelling blood, with even their Divine Soul being corroded away.

On a safe high ground hundreds of miles away from the edge of the spreading black mist, dense crowds of people were currently gathered.

These people were, without exception, famous experts of the Eastern Wasteland. Holy Lords of various Holy Lands, family heads of Ancient Clans, and some reclusive old monsters all floated in mid-air with pale faces.

The Holy Lord of Ziyang stroked the beard on his chin with a trembling hand, looking at the approaching wall of death in the distance, his voice laced with unconcealable fear.

“What on earth is this ghostly thing! Two cities guarded by my Ziyang Holy Land at the edge were swallowed by this black mist before a transmission talisman could even be sent. Even the Half-Saint Elders who went in to investigate have disappeared without a trace.”

An old man in star robes beside him was the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Star Pavilion. He swallowed hard and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead in agreement.

“It is recorded in the ancient scrolls that this is definitely a Forbidden Zone of Life where a Great Emperor was once buried. I don't know which mighty being drained the core of the foreign Realm, causing such a terrifyingly ominous place to appear. This Death Qi contains Great Dao Laws that decay all things; if we touch even a bit of it, I'm afraid thousands of years of bitter cultivation will go to waste.”

“Then what should we do now? If we let this black mist spread, the entire Eastern Wasteland will become a living hell within half a month. Should we open the teleportation Formations and migrate the entire sect to the Central Province for refuge?”

Someone in the crowd made a desperate suggestion.

These Holy Lords, who were usually high and mighty and revered by thousands, were now more flustered than Mortals before this heavenly power, acting like a disorganized mess only concerned with saving their own lives.

Just as everyone was arguing about which direction to flee, the void above the firmament suddenly distorted violently.

A Soul-shuddering Extreme Dao Imperial Might, like the starlight of the Nine Heavens pouring down, instantly enveloped this world. Those Elders with weaker cultivation felt their knees go weak, nearly falling out of the sky.

“Look up!”

The Heavenly Star Pavilion Master cried out in alarm, his trembling finger pointing at the cracking sky.

Accompanied by a deafening dragon roar, nine ancient flood dragons pulled a Starry Sky Ancient Ship that blotted out the sun as it broke through the void.

A huge battle flag embroidered with the character 'Xu' flapped loudly in the wind, exuding an overbearing Aura that looked down upon the world. Behind the main ship, dozens of warships loaded with Pojun Imperial Guards followed closely, their murderous Aura piercing the clouds.

“It’s the Imperial Xu Family!”

“The Xu Family army has moved!”

The various Holy Lords, who had been looking as if they were at a funeral, now looked like drowning men grasping at a life-saving straw, their eyes suddenly bursting with rays of hope.

In their view, if there was anyone left in the Eastern Wasteland who could stop the spread of this Forbidden Zone of Life, it was only the unfathomably deep Ancient Xu Family.

The Holy Lord of Ziyang was the first to react. He quickly straightened his disheveled clothes, put on a fawning smile, and led a group of Holy Lords to fly up and meet the battleship.

“Young Master Xu's personal arrival is truly a blessing for the millions of people in my Eastern Wasteland!”

The Holy Lord of Ziyang cupped his hands in greeting from afar, his voice shouting like thunder.

“The Forbidden Zone of Life is rampaging, and the people are suffering. The Xu Family is truly a model for Imperial Clans. This time, you must have come to suppress the chaos and save the people of the Eastern Wasteland! We are willing to follow Young Master Xu's lead and cheer for the army from the periphery!”

These words were high-sounding, but in reality, they were just stating a position: we are only responsible for cheering, and your Xu Family can do the job of going in to die.

On the deck of the main ship.

Xu Chen stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at this group of weakling cheerleaders blocking the way of the battleship.

He looked at the forced expressions of compassion on those Holy Lords' faces, a mocking curve hooking the corner of his mouth. These old fellows were each like wolves and tigers when snatching resources normally, but when they encountered a disaster that endangered their lives, they ran faster than anyone else, not forgetting to find a moral high ground for themselves.

“Save the people?” Xu Chen sneered, “This Young Master doesn't have that kind of leisure. When my Xu Family sends troops, it is naturally for the Xu Family's own business. As for you...”

Xu Chen's gaze suddenly turned cold, and the terrifying Aura of the Late Stage Saint King was released without reservation, pressing down on those Holy Lords until they could hardly breathe.

“A good dog doesn't block the way. Take your people and get out of This Young Master's army's flight path immediately. If you delay This Young Master's schedule, the Xu Family's battleships won't turn.”

These merciless words were like a loud slap across the faces of the Holy Lord of Ziyang and the others. Their faces turned various shades of blue and white, yet they didn't dare say even half a 'no,' only able to retreat submissively to the sides, clearing a wide passage.

Having dismissed those eyesores, Xu Chen turned to look at Commander Xu Zhan standing behind him.

The arrogance on his face subsided slightly, replaced by calmness and caution. Facing a Forbidden Zone of Life, one could despise it strategically, but must respect it tactically.

“Commander Xu Zhan, pass down the order. The entire fleet is to activate Extreme Dao shields and push energy output to the maximum. No one is allowed to leave the battleship deck even a step without authorization; violators will be executed!”

Xu Chen had the Hongmeng Creation Origin Body to protect himself, so he naturally did not fear this Death Qi. But the soldiers under him were the elite of the Xu Family, and he did not want to suffer losses here due to carelessness.

“This general obeys!”

Commander Xu Zhan answered loudly and quickly struck out series of Formation seals.

In an instant, dazzling runes lit up above the massive Xu Family fleet.

A translucent light shield flowing with dark gold luster firmly enveloped all the warships. On the surface of the shield, True Dragon phantoms faintly circled, emitting a powerful defensive force enough to withstand a full-strength strike from a Quasi-Emperor.

Xu Chen walked to the bow, his hands gripping the cold keel railing, his eyes fixed on the black death mist ahead that looked like a giant abyss-like mouth.

“Full speed ahead, crash in for me!”

At Xu Chen's command, the main ship emitted a roar that shook the Nine Heavens.

Under the dumbfounded gaze of the various Holy Lords of the Eastern Wasteland behind them, the Xu Family's iron fleet did not pause or hesitate for a moment. Carrying an indomitable and violent momentum, they crashed straight into that patch of black death mist that struck fear into the hearts of everyone in the world.

“Crazy... Could Young Master Xu be crazy? That is a Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone where a single touch means death!” The Heavenly Star Pavilion Master tugged at his beard, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.