29: Chapter 29 The End

To tell the truth, there were truly very few among the generals of the Zhennan Army who feared death.

You must know, the enemies they faced were vicious Yao Beasts. Every one of them who managed to climb to their current positions had experienced countless brushes with death.

In the army, without strength or achievements, it is very difficult to command respect.

However, at this moment, these battle-hardened generals were truly afraid.

Because they all knew in their hearts that what they had done was essentially enough to warrant the extermination of their nine generations. Now that people from the Imperial Dynasty had arrived, they had certainly brought punishment with them.

And this punishment was very likely the extermination of their nine generations; could they not be afraid?

Just as everyone was in terror and despair, a cold, emotionless voice resounded directly in their ears.

"Marquis of Zhennan, Chu Yannian, where are you?"

"Why haven't you scrambled out to receive the imperial decree yet? What are you waiting for?"

Ji Gang's voice was arrogant to the extreme, showing no Face to the other party at all.

In Ji Gang's eyes, the other party was nothing but a rebel; it was already a mercy that he hadn't slapped them to death...

"An… an imperial decree? He actually brought an imperial decree?"

"Is this… to convict us directly? Without even giving us a chance to argue or defend ourselves?"

"Marquis… what should we do…"

"Marquis, no… don't go…"

At this moment, everyone's gaze turned in terror toward Chu Yannian.

At this moment, the last trace of color had drained from Chu Yannian's Face. He knew that this imperial decree was merely a final ultimatum, a formal delivery of a death sentence.

If he went out, he might immediately Face the executioner's blade. Yet, if he didn't go out… would the other party not just kill their way in?

The several auras of the Celestial Realm outside were enough to grind the entire Zhennan Marquis Mansion into powder!

He trembled, struggling to stand up, but felt his legs as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

The pride and majesty of commanding a million troops in the past had vanished entirely in the Face of this absolute power and the pronouncement of death.

"Marquis!" An old trusted general stepped forward to support him, his eyes red and his voice choked with sobs.

"This subordinate… this subordinate will protect you as we fight our way out! We still have a million troops…"

"Shut up!" Chu Yannian violently shook off the other man's hand, his voice hoarse and shrill, carrying the sorrow of a desperate situation.

"A million troops? In front of the Celestial Realm, a million troops are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs! Do you want to drag the entire Zhennan Army down with us?"

After saying this, he casually straightened his slightly disheveled Marquis attire, then staggered, step by step, towards the outside of the council hall.

His back was hunched; there was no longer any trace of the aura of a regional lord. All that remained was the despair and sorrow of someone walking toward the execution ground.

Others in the hall looked at each other. Someone instinctively wanted to follow, but was stopped by a glance from Chu Yannian as he turned his head.

That gaze was hollow and lifeless, yet it seemed to carry an unquestionable command. It was as if he were saying: "Do not follow me; perhaps there is still a chance to survive!"

When Chu Yannian pushed open the doors of the council hall and walked to the vast parade ground outside, the scene before him caused his pupils to constrict sharply. His already cold heart sank into an bottomless abyss.

He saw that the sky had somehow become dim. It was not a change in the weather, but rather it had been obscured by figures standing in the air, each exuding terrifying auras!

At the very front was a middle-aged man wearing a flying fish uniform and carrying a Xiuchun Blade at his waist!

He simply stood there, like a peerless, drawn blade of slaughter. His sharp edge was exposed, his Killing Intent was chilling, and the strength of his aura was enough to make one despair!

Behind him, there were three other figures with aged Faces, but they also radiated the vast pressure of the Celestial Realm as they stood side by side. The three Celestial Realm powerhouses had their Qi connected, faintly sealing off the space in all directions.

Further back were hundreds of powerhouses, all at least in the Grandmaster Realm, their Evil Qi solidified like iron! They were silent, yet they possessed more oppressive power than any clamor.

Four Celestial Realm experts, hundreds of elite Grandmaster Realm and above! Such a force was simply too strong… so strong that it made one doubt their own existence!

Chu Yannian stood alone in the center of the parade ground, looking up at the figures in the sky who were looking down at him like gods. He wanted to speak, but found the words blocked in his chest; he couldn't utter a single syllable.

Ji Gang looked down from above, his gaze falling on Chu Yannian. He slowly raised his right hand, and a scroll of imperial decree emitting a faint golden light appeared out of thin air in his palm.

"Marquis of Zhennan, Chu Yannian!" Ji Gang's voice had no fluctuation, yet it carried the coldness of a judge deciding life and death.

"Your Majesty has a decree. Kneel—and listen to the proclamation!"

The last word sounded like a thunderclap, carrying the terrifying pressure of the Celestial Realm, and it ruthlessly bore down on Chu Yannian!

"Thump!" Chu Yannian's spirit had already collapsed. Under this pressure specifically targeted at him, his knees went weak, and he could no longer support himself, falling directly onto the cold ground.

He knew that once the imperial decree was read, it would be the end for him and the entire Chu family.

Ji Gang slowly unfurled the imperial decree. His voice, like a great bell, resounded through the entire Zhennan Marquis Mansion and even spread for dozens of miles around.

"By the grace of the Heavens, the Emperor decrees:"

"The Marquis of Zhennan, Chu Yannian, having received imperial favor for generations, should have been loyal to the sovereign and patriotic to the country, guarding the southern frontier and protecting the people. However, he has betrayed the imperial grace, harbored sinister intentions, and for many years, relied on his troops to act with arrogance, feigning compliance while acting in opposition. Furthermore, he has secretly colluded with the treacherous Xuantian Holy Land, plotting rebellion. His heart is worthy of execution, and his actions deserve annihilation!"

As each charge was read, Chu Yannian's body trembled more violently, and his Face turned even more ashen.

"Now, the Xuantian rebels have been executed, and the southern frontier shall be pacified. I order Ji Gang of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to hold my imperial decree, confiscate the Zhennan Marquis Mansion, and arrest all the guilty officials!"

"Chu Yannian, your crimes are heinous and unforgivable! You are hereby stripped of your title and military power immediately, and thrown into the celestial prison. Your direct relatives shall all be implicated in the same crime! The generals and officials who followed in rebellion shall be strictly punished according to the law; there will be no leniency!"

"All property of the Marquis Mansion shall be confiscated and returned to the national treasury! The Zhennan Army under his command shall be temporarily led by the Imperial Old Ancestor Wang Xuan. Any who show signs of unrest shall be treated as rebels and executed without mercy!"

"Thus it is decreed—!"

The reading of the imperial decree was finished, but that cold verdict was branded into the heart of everyone who heard it.

Chu Yannian collapsed on the ground, his Face deathly pale, lacking even the strength to struggle one last time.

He knew that everything was over. The new Emperor of the Imperial Dynasty had never intended to give him any chance, nor did he intend to go through a normal trial process. His fate had long been sealed.

A public execution to intimidate all the regional lords in the world who harbored seditious thoughts!

"Take him." Ji Gang closed the imperial decree and uttered these two words indifferently.

"As you command!"

Several powerful Embroidered Uniform Guard thousand-man commanders responded and lunged down like falcons, easily subduing the unresisting Chu Yannian, using special shackles to lock his Meridians and Dantian.

At the same time, other Embroidered Uniform Guard, like a black tide, split into several groups and rushed into every part of the Marquis Mansion.

"No! Let go of the Marquis!"

"I'll fight you to the death!"

At the edge of the parade ground, a few generals who were loyal to Chu Yannian had their eyes split with rage and attempted to resist.

"Hmph! Obstinate and unyielding!"

In the air, Old Ancestor Wang Xuan snorted coldly. With a casual wave of his hand, an invisible force of heaven and earth swept past. Those generals were struck as if by a giant hammer, vomiting blood and flying backward. After falling to the ground heavily injured, they made no more sound.

Under absolute military suppression, any resistance was like a praying mantis trying to block a chariot…