82: Chapter 82 Calling for Troops! A single arrow pierces the clouds, and a thousand troops rush to meet.

As the seemingly ordinary jade talisman in Xu Chen's hand shattered, the laws of the entire world seemed to be forcibly altered by some even more terrifying power at that moment.

The sky, which had been shrouded in the oppressive pressure of Du Gu Yi Fang's Saint King aura and appeared gloomy, suddenly split open with a massive crack spanning ten thousand miles.

Inside that crack was not a pitch-black void, but an endless flow of purple-gold divine radiance, as if it connected to another higher, more vast world of gods.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Dull and powerful footsteps echoed from deep within the rift.

Every step felt like it was treading on everyone's hearts, causing their blood to surge. Even a peak Saint King expert like Du Gu Yi Fang turned as pale as paper the moment he heard these footsteps; the Sage laws within his body began to tremble and crumble uncontrollably.

"This... what level of existence is this?!"

Du Gu Yi Fang looked up in horror, his cloudy old eyes filled with disbelief.

He could feel that the descending aura was ancient, vast, and overbearing, carrying an indifference that viewed all living beings as ants. This kind of aura was something he had only felt thousands of years ago when he followed the Tianjian Holy Lord to visit those reclusive old monsters in the Central Province.

That was... a Great Sage!

Or even... a Peak Great Sage!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Du Gu Yi Fang roared hysterically, attempting to dispel the fear in his heart with his shouts.

"This Xu Family is in the Di Prefecture, hundreds of millions of miles away. Even with a teleportation array, it's impossible to cross such a vast distance instantly!"

"Illusion! This must be an illusion!"

"Break for me!"

Du Gu Yi Fang was already somewhat deranged. His hands frantically formed seals as his lifespan burned, forcibly driving the fragments of his nine natal flying swords to reform into a ten-thousand-foot giant sword burning with blood-colored flames.

"Tianjian Blood Sacrifice—God Slaying, Immortal Destroying!"

Boom!

Carrying Du Gu Yi Fang's lifelong cultivation and a desperate killing intent, the blood-colored giant sword transformed into a mournful crimson rainbow, fiercely slashing toward the golden path extending from the void.

He wanted to sever this path! To sever Xu Chen's last hope!

However.

Facing this blow capable of destroying heaven and earth, only a dissatisfied cold snort came from the end of that golden path.

"Hmph!"

This single sound was like the descent of a heavenly decree.

There were no fancy divine techniques, nor any brilliant light and shadow.

Only a visible ripple of sound waves rippled out from the depths of the void.

Crack—

The menacing, ten-thousand-foot blood sword burning with Saint King essence blood shattered instantly into a mist of blood the moment it touched this layer of sound waves, like an egg hitting a copper wall.

Immediately following.

The sound wave's momentum remained unabated, heavily striking Du Gu Yi Fang's chest.

Pfft—!!!

Du Gu Yi Fang didn't even have time to scream. He was sent flying tens of thousands of meters like a mosquito swatted by a fly swatter, crashing violently into the largest main battleship of the Tianjian Holy Land.

Boom!

The black-gold battleship, claimed to be able to withstand the attacks of a Sage, was smashed clean through, triggering a series of violent explosions and soaring flames.

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

Everyone's mouths hung open, their jaws dislocated without them even realizing it.

The power of a single snort, terrifying to such an extent?!

That was a peak Saint King! To be taken out by a cold snort without even seeing the person's face?

"Who is it... that's so blind?"

"I just took a nap and was woken up. Don't you know I have a bad temper when I wake up?"

Accompanied by a grumbling voice.

An old man wearing purple-gold battle armor, with white hair and beard but looking spirited and energetic, strode out of the void.

His build was as burly as an iron tower, his muscles knotted, causing the armor covered in blade scars and sword holes to bulge high.

In his hand, he carried a fangtian painted halberd that was a head taller than himself. A trace of undried chaotic Qi still hung on the tip of the halberd, clearly a peerless weapon that had just tasted blood.

The Eighteenth Ancestor of the Xu Family—Xu Zhan Tian!

A ruthless man who left a profound mark on the history of Central Province, known as the 'Mad Demon War Saint'!

"Eight... Eighteenth Ancestor?!"

Du Gu Yi Fang, who had just crawled out of the battleship ruins covered in blood, was scared out of his wits the moment he saw the old man's face. His previous thought of escaping vanished instantly.

Run?

Run in front of this madman?

That would only lead to a more miserable death!

"Oh, I was wondering who it was."

Xu Zhan Tian glanced at the trembling Du Gu Yi Fang with a look as if he were looking at a stray dog on the side of the road.

"So it's a little brat from the Tianjian Holy Land."

"Haven't seen you in thousands of years, and you've grown quite capable, haven't you? You even dare to touch someone from my Xu Family?"

"No... I wouldn't dare! Senior, have mercy! This junior didn't know..."

Du Gu Yi Fang knelt in the void, kowtowing desperately, no longer possessing even a hint of the demeanor of a Saint King.

But Xu Zhan Tian couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind.

He turned around, his fierce expression instantly vanishing, replaced by a kind smile as he scurried down to the Sword Sect plaza.

"Oh, my dear grandson!"

"How are you? Are you hurt? Were you frightened?"

"Quick, let Ancestor take a look. If even a single hair is missing, I'll go and dig up the ancestral graves of the Tianjian Holy Land right now!"

Xu Zhan Tian circled Xu Chen several times, checking him up and down. His protective manner left the people around them dumbfounded.

"Enough, enough, Ancestor."

Xu Chen pushed away the old face that was leaning in with some disdain.

"I'm fine, it's just that someone stepped on my face and humiliated me. I'm feeling a bit unhappy."

"What?! Stepped on your face?!"

Upon hearing this, the purple-gold battle Qi on Xu Zhan Tian's body erupted instantly, shooting into the clouds and dispersing the cloud layer above.

"Which bastard dares to step on the face of my Xu Family's Qilin Son?!"

"Tired of living, aren't you?!"

"Hand him over! I'm going to chop him up and feed him to the dogs!"

Xu Chen pointed at the unconscious Zhao Wuji at his feet, who was already incontinent from fear.

"There, that's the guy."

"Just now, he said he wanted me to break my own arms and even wanted to snatch my woman to be his concubine."

"Good! Very good!"

Xu Zhan Tian glanced at Zhao Wuji, killing intent flashing in his eyes.

"Tianjian Holy Land, right? A little brat from the Zhao Family, right?"

"Since you want to play so much, then I'll play big with you today!"

After speaking.

Xu Zhan Tian suddenly turned around, raised the fangtian painted halberd in his hand, and let out a roar that shook the heavens toward the unclosed void rift above:

"Boys! Get the hell out here!"

"The Young Master was bullied! Can you swallow this insult?!"

"Kill!!!"

Following his command.

Rumble—

The void rift expanded again, as if a corner of the sky had collapsed.

Immediately after.

One Imperial Clan battleship after another, massive as mountains, slowly sailed out of the rift.

One... two... ten... a hundred!

Exactly one hundred Imperial Clan battleships blotted out the sun, blocking all the sunlight above the Sword Sect and casting massive, suffocating shadows.

Every battleship was filled with cultivators wearing uniform purple-gold battle armor.

They were arranged in neat phalanxes. Despite their numbers, not a single stray sound could be heard. Only the collective iron-blooded killing intent, which seemed capable of piercing the sky, made all living beings within ten thousand miles kneel on the ground, trembling.

"Xu Family Seventh Guard, assembled as ordered! Greetings, Young Master!"

"Xu Family Ninth Guard, assembled as ordered! Greetings, Young Master!"

"Xu Family Shadow Guard, assembled as ordered! Greetings, Young Master!"

Three thousand people!

Exactly three thousand fully armed cultivators!

And the weakest among them were Dao Severing Kings!

The eighteen commanders leading them were all without exception experts of the Sage Realm!

This was the foundation of the Longevity Imperial Clan Xu Family!

"My god..."

The Sword Sect disciples looked at the dense army overhead, their mouths open wide enough to fit an egg, their brains completely short-circuited.

They knew Young Master Xu's background was heavenly.

But they didn't expect... it to be heavenly to this extent!

To deal with a single Tianjian Holy Son, they actually mobilized a Great Sage Ancestor, as well as three thousand Kings and eighteen Sages?

This was too... too much of a bully, wasn't it?

This was simply using a nuclear bomb to swat a mosquito!

"Is this... an Imperial Clan?"

Standing behind Xu Chen, Ye Qingwu watched this scene. Beyond shock, she felt an indescribable sense of pride.

This was her man.

With just a word, he could change the world and make all living beings bow their heads.

Meanwhile.

On the nine battleships of the Tianjian Holy Land, the remaining elders and disciples had long since collapsed to the ground in fear, losing even the courage to flee.

Faced with this level of crushing power, fleeing? That would be an insult to the Imperial Clan's pursuit capabilities.

"Young... Young Master Xu..."

Du Gu Yi Fang knelt in mid-air, his voice trembling as if he were crying.

"A misunderstanding... this is all a misunderstanding..."

"We were blind and didn't recognize your greatness... please... for the sake of both being Holy Land powers, please show mercy..."

"Misunderstanding?"

Xu Chen was still stepping on Zhao Wuji's face. Hearing this, he slowly looked up, a brilliant smile appearing on his face.

"When you wanted to turn my soul into a sky lantern just now, why didn't you say it was a misunderstanding?"

"When you wanted to snatch my wife just now, why didn't you say it was a misunderstanding?"

Xu Chen removed his foot, kicking Zhao Wuji aside like a piece of trash, then adjusted his robes and walked directly beneath Du Gu Yi Fang.

He extended a hand and lightly snapped his fingers toward the three-thousand-strong army in the sky.

"Ancestor."

"Since they say this is a misunderstanding."

"Then let's use the Xu Family's way to help them... 'resolve' this misunderstanding."

Hearing this, Xu Zhan Tian grinned, revealing a row of snowy white teeth.

"You got it, grandson!"

"Boys! Did you hear that?"

"Kill! Leave no one alive!"

"Let these blind dogs know that if they provoke my Xu Family, even if it's the Heavenly King himself, he'll have to die on his knees!"

"Kill!!!"

Three thousand gods and demons roared in unison, the sound waves shattering the sky.

In the next moment.

Countless beams of divine light poured down like a torrential rain, instantly submerging the nine battleships of the Tianjian Holy Land.