43: Chapter 43 Spatial Passage

At this moment, the Imperial City's Guard Battalion was no longer what it used to be. The original million-strong Guard Battalion now only had one hundred thousand remaining!

Of course, this one hundred thousand did not include General Chu Batian and the other Advanced generals!

You must know, during the Imperial Dynasty's most prosperous times, the Guard Battalion served as the final barrier for the Imperial City, and all soldiers were required to have a minimum cultivation of the Houtian Realm.

However, as time passed, the threshold for joining the Guard Battalion became lower and lower. By now, more than half of the one million soldiers in the Guard Battalion had not reached the Houtian Realm.

Facing this situation, General Chu Batian naturally would not coddle them. After a series of assessments, only one hundred thousand people remained in the million-strong Guard Battalion!

As for the others, they were either killed or driven away!

Although the number of people in the Guard Battalion had decreased, after the reorganization by General Chu Batian and the others over the past few days, the entire Guard Battalion had undergone a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering change, both in terms of Aura and overall appearance.

It finally looked like a mighty army of the Imperial Dynasty...

"Hum..."

Accompanied by a soft sound, the Guard Battalion, which was in the middle of training, was instantly startled.

Everyone subconsciously looked up.

They saw a streak of golden light cutting through the Void Realm.

The golden light suddenly froze above the Guard Battalion, hovering over everyone's heads like a falling star.

As the light slowly dissipated, it revealed an Imperial Edict woven from brilliant golden silk. Faint, ghostly images of a Dragon coiled and moved along the edges of the Edict, and a terrifying Imperial pressure rushed toward them.

The Imperial Edict unfolded on its own under the gaze of everyone.

The soft brocade slowly spread out to both sides, pulled by an invisible force, as if an invisible giant hand were wielding a brush in the Void Realm.

The golden light grew even more magnificent, instantly coating the entire Guard Battalion in a layer of sacred radiance.

In the center of the scroll, characters formed from pure golden light began to emerge. Each character seemed to weigh a thousand jun, containing an irresistible will.

"This is... an Imperial Edict?"

Someone could not help but whisper.

Immediately afterward, like wheat blown by the wind, the one hundred thousand soldiers of the Guard Battalion knelt on one knee in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Even General Chu Batian and the others were no exception; they knelt on one knee immediately.

"Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live! Long live! Long, long live!"

"Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live! Long live! Long, long live!"

The shouts, like a mountain-toppling and sea-draining roar, soared into the sky. The waves of sound rolled, causing the banners around the camp to snap in the wind.

The Qi and will of the one hundred thousand people seemed to resonate with the Imperial Edict at that moment, causing the surrounding Void Realm to tremble slightly.

When the Imperial Edict was fully unfurled, the light became restrained, but the handwriting became increasingly clear and dazzling.

At the same time, a majestic, grand voice, as if coming from above the Nine Heavens, rumbled in everyone's ears.

"I, having received the mandate of Heaven, rule over the eight wildernesses. It has been investigated that in the western borderlands, there are Jianghu scoundrels led by the 'Sword Pavilion' who do not respect the Imperial transformation, do not obey Imperial decrees, gather crowds to resist, and occupy land. They are truly a cancer to the Imperial Dynasty and a hindrance to the peace of the people."

The voice paused, like thunder gathering strength.

The one hundred thousand soldiers below held their breath, their blood and Qi faintly boiling along with the voice of Wang Chen.

"Guard Battalion Commander, General Chu Batian, hear my command!"

"I order you to lead your troops westward and sweep away the disobedient with the force of thunder! Uphold the might of our country and pacify our borders! Anyone who obstructs the Imperial army, whether they are a School or a noble family, shall be treated as rebels and executed without mercy!"

"Go forth like a drawn sword, invincible. My gaze is watching you all!"

Wang Chen's last syllable, like the lingering echo of thunder from the Nine Heavens, reverberated in everyone's hearts.

However, before the one hundred thousand soldiers could fully recover from the majestic and mighty decree of Wang Chen, an even more shocking scene occurred!

The Imperial Edict hovering in mid-air suddenly radiated light in all directions!

The previously restrained Imperial golden light now suddenly erupted into brilliance to the extreme!

In just an instant, the entire Guard Battalion and the sky above them were illuminated in pure gold!

The Imperial pressure permeating the air instantly surged ten times, a hundred times! More than a thousand times!

"Rumble..."

A series of loud noises suddenly came from the Void Realm!

The sound was not thunder, but the space itself wailing, twisting, and tearing!

In the center of that intensely blazing golden light, a "black spot" of extreme depth suddenly was born.

This "black spot" expanded rapidly, like thick ink dripped into clear water, or like a hole poked through the firmament by an invisible giant force!

The golden light receded like a tide, or rather, it was swallowed by the constantly expanding "black hole."

In just a few breaths, the position where the Imperial Edict had originally been was completely replaced by a spatial passage with tiny golden lightning flowing along its edges!

This passage was dozens of zhang in diameter, dark and deep inside, with no end in sight, only tiny starlike glimmers flickering in the depths.

An indescribable fluctuation permeated from the mouth of the passage, carrying a cold and vast majesty.

Silence! A deathly silence!

The one hundred thousand soldiers of the Guard Battalion present could hear a pin drop at this moment.

One hundred thousand pairs of eyes were filled with horror as they stared fixedly at that pitch-black passage floating in mid-air, which defied all their knowledge.

What... is this? A miracle? Space... torn open? A spatial path?

Countless questions grew wildly in the hearts of every soldier like weeds, but more than that was a shock and awe originating from the depths of their Soul.

What they saw before them completely exceeded the scope of martial arts and cultivation; this was simply... a miracle!

Only the legendary Heavenly Gods could possess such great power to change the world and traverse the Void Realm!

Even General Chu Batian, who had seen many storms and whose cultivation had reached the Celestial Realm, and his several Advanced generals on the command platform, were all frozen in place at this moment, their expressions frozen and their pupils contracting sharply.

General Chu Batian, at the Peak of the Celestial Realm, possessed the ability to wantonly leverage the power of Heaven and Earth. Every punch and kick could cause the wind and clouds to change color, and he considered himself to be standing at the heights of the martial arts of this world.

But... breaking space? Opening up a spatial passage? Such a thing, he had never even thought of!

This completely exceeded his understanding and overturned his cognition!

The power of Heaven and Earth could be borrowed or contended with, but space... that was the cornerstone of the world, a part of the rules!

Shattering the Void Realm. That was a Realm that only existed in books and legends!

But now, Your Majesty had done it!

And so effortlessly, simply by using an Imperial Edict containing his will and Luck, he could open a spatial passage at will!

"Is this... the power of Your Majesty?"

A deputy commander at the Early Stage of the Celestial Realm spoke with a dry voice, carrying an undisguised tremor.

"Your Majesty is using the Imperial Destiny Power to control space... This is simply... the means of a Heavenly God!"

"Too strong, such power is unheard of..."

"Your Majesty's strength has long exceeded our imagination!"