12: The sky over the Northern Wilderness has completely changed.

The Divine Thought of a Saint descended like a celestial net, instantly enveloping the entire Gu Family estate.

The chaotic battlefield, collapsing palaces, and desperate roars all flooded into Su Xuanchen's mind.

His Divine Thought poured out like quicksilver, penetrating every nook and cranny, and soon he found his target in a remote courtyard.

Gu Lingshuang.

The young woman stood under a dilapidated eave, dressed in plain clothes, the Spiritual Qi fluctuations around her only at the Spirit Sea Realm.

Yet her expression was exceptionally calm.

On that exquisitely beautiful face, there was not a trace of panic or fear, only a bottomless pool of ice-cold detachment.

"Interesting."

Su Xuanchen mused inwardly.

As expected of the Heavenly Mandate Empress. Even reborn in humble circumstances, her Heart-Nature far surpassed that of ordinary people.

He was looking forward to the sight when this proud young Phoenix would have her wings completely broken and be taken into his palm.

At this moment, the Gu Family's experts had already descended into madness.

The sudden, devastating attack had completely thrown them into disarray.

However, the ferocity bred over tens of thousands of years of heritage prevented them from surrendering without a fight.

"Fight them to the death!"

"There are no cowards in the Gu Family!"

Countless Divine Abilities and Spells shot into the sky, the radiance of Magic Treasures tore through the heavens, shattering entire swathes of palaces and pavilions.

The Gu Family's once-divine foundation trembled and tottered under the final frenzy of its own people.

On the other side of the battlefield, those various forces that had previously fawned upon and attached themselves to the Gu Family were already scared out of their wits.

The Sect Master of the Northern Sword Sect, the Elder of the Myriad Spirits Sect, the Valley Master of the Heavenly Wind Valley... these mighty figures who usually commanded respect in their respective domains, now huddled together, their faces pale and dripping with cold sweat as they gazed at the god-like figure in the sky.

"What do we do? The Gu Family is finished! We... we've been dragged down with them!"

"Th-that... that's a Saint! A true Saint!"

"It's all the Gu Family's fault! If not for them, how could we have provoked such a terrifying existence!"

A flicker of ruthlessness flashed in the eyes of an Elder from the Myriad Spirits Sect.

"At this point, there's only one way out!"

He suddenly turned and bowed deeply towards the Su Family Legion in the distance, shouting with all his might.

"We have no connection to the Gu Family! We were forcibly coerced into coming here!"

"My Myriad Spirits Sect is willing to lend you a hand, Senior, to exterminate the Gu Family rebels!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the other faction leaders quickly caught on and followed suit.

"My Northern Sword Sect too!"

"My Heavenly Wind Valley is willing to be your vanguard, Senior!"

For a time, voices proclaiming innocence, switching sides, and pledging loyalty rose one after another.

They thought this would buy them a path to survival.

However.

High in the sky, Su Xuanchen's eyes held not a single ripple of emotion.

His icy voice slowly descended.

"Noisy."

"All who allied with the Gu Family, kill them all."

"Kill!"

Within the Su Family Legion, several commanders at the Void Breaking Realm received the order. Without the slightest hesitation, they transformed into streams of light and charged towards those opportunistic turncoats still proclaiming their loyalty.

"No!"

"Senior, spare us! We sincerely wish to submit!"

Seeing this, the Myriad Spirits Sect Elder's face changed dramatically. He never imagined the other party would be so decisively ruthless, not even giving them a chance to surrender.

Driven by fear, he roared with a facade of fierceness.

"You dare kill me?!"

"The Old Ancestor of my Myriad Spirits Sect is an established Saint! How can a newly ascended Saint like you hope to match him?"

He wanted to use his background to barter for a sliver of life.

The reply was a massive palm descending from the heavens.

The palm was crystalline like jade, appearing light and ethereal, devoid of any worldly aura.

The Myriad Spirits Sect Elder didn't even have time to react.

*Pfft.*

A soft sound.

He, along with his Divine Soul, Magic Treasure, and that unfinished threat, were instantly smacked into a mist of blood.

A gentle breeze blew, dispersing the blood mist as if nothing had ever happened.

The entire scene fell deathly silent in an instant.

All the turncoat faction leaders seemed to have their necks grabbed, their expressions completely frozen, their eyes filled with nothing but boundless terror.

*Thud!*

The Northern Sword Sect Master was the first to react. His legs gave way, and without a second thought, he prostrated himself completely, kowtowing heavily towards Su Xuanchen's direction.

"Senior, spare me! Senior, spare my life!"

Tears and snot streamed down his face; not a shred of the dignity of a Sect Master remained.

"This lowly one is willing to be your slave! To be your ox or horse! I only beg you to spare this dog's life!"

Su Xuanchen's gaze fell upon him.

The next second, an almost imperceptible strand of Divine Thought shot from his eyes, instantly piercing between the Northern Sword Sect Master's brows.

The Northern Sword Sect Master shuddered violently, feeling an irresistible mark branded deep within his Primordial Spirit.

From then on, his life and death rested solely on the other's whim.

"Atone for your crimes with merit."

Su Xuanchen's icy voice echoed in his mind.

"Go, kill them."

The "them" he referred to were, naturally, the Gu Family experts.

As if granted a great pardon, the Northern Sword Sect Master sprang up from the ground, his face filled with the savage joy of having narrowly escaped death and a twisted ferocity.

"I obey, my Master!"

He roared, transforming all his fear and humiliation into overwhelming killing intent. Wielding his longsword, he threw himself like a madman towards the nearby Gu Family forces.

With someone taking the lead, the remaining faction leaders didn't dare hesitate in the slightest.

Dignity?

Face?

Before death, they were worthless!

"We are willing to die for you, Senior!"

"Kill all the Gu Family dogs!"

They knelt one after another, submitting, receiving their brands, then turning their weapons to attack their former "allies" even more fiercely than the Su Family Legion.

With just one palm strike, Su Xuanchen had subdued nearly half of the first-rate forces in the Northern Wastelands.

With the addition of this fresh force, the already precarious situation instantly reversed.

The Gu Family's resistance became a desperate last stand of a cornered beast.

It was a slaughter without any suspense.

Several hours later.

As the final scream faded, the Gu Family estate had truly become a hellish sea of blood.

Corpses littered the ground, rivers of blood flowed.

The Gu Family's top-tier combat power was completely annihilated.

Thousands of core experts at the Void Breaking and Pill Mansion Realms—not a single survivor.

All direct lineage members were completely exterminated.

As for those of the collateral branches, they were all branded with slave marks, reduced to the lowest-level mining slaves of the Su Family.

Countless Cultivators watching the battle from inside and outside Beiming City were already shaken to their Divine Souls by this bloody scene, unable to utter a word.

They understood deeply.

From this day forth, the sky of the Northern Wastelands had changed completely.

A supreme overlord, towering above all other forces, had been born.

Su Xuanchen stood with his hands behind his back high in the Nine Heavens, coldly overlooking everything below.

Yet, his gaze did not linger on this newly conquered land for even a moment.

The Northern Wastelands were too small.

His gaze pierced through the endless Void, turning towards the far more distant east.

There, lay the Eastern Region, where Sects stood like forests and Holy Lands gathered like clouds.

There, was the true starting point of his hegemonic enterprise.

"Sacred Ruins Continent..."

"Wait for me."