51: Sword Slaying Saint

A bloody head rolled across the purple-gold floor of the great hall, leaving a shocking red trail behind it.

The head stopped at the foot of the steps of the purple-gold phoenix throne.

Those eyes, refusing to close even in death, stared straight at the woman sitting on the high throne.

The Purple Moon Empress's fingers gripped the armrest tightly, her knuckles turning pale from the excessive force; she had actually left finger imprints in the hard purple-gold armrest.

"Purple Moon, can you see clearly now?"

Below the hall, a young man wearing a blood-colored python robe stepped on the corpse of the Zichen Dynasty's Prime Minister, a cruel smile on his face.

Blood Sword King.

He toyed with the longsword in his hand, which was still dripping with blood, and pointed the tip at the head on the ground.

"This is that Saint Old Ancestor of your Zichen Imperial Family."

"Tsk tsk, his bones were quite hard; it took this King three strikes to chop off his head."

"This is the consequence of your refusal to marry into the Blood Fiend Dynasty."

Inside the hall, there was a deathly silence.

The once-glorious Zichen court was now a field of corpses.

Most of the ministers and generals loyal to the Empress had already become cold corpses.

All that remained was a group of trembling traitors who had long since defected to the Blood Sword King.

The Purple Moon Empress slowly raised her head.

There was not a trace of color on that peerless face, only endless coldness and despair.

The Old Ancestor... is dead.

The Zichen Dynasty's last trump card is gone.

"Blood Sword King."

Her voice was hoarse, yet it still carried a regal dignity.

"You collude with external enemies and slaughter your colleagues. Are you not afraid of heavenly retribution?"

"Heavenly retribution?"

The Blood Sword King laughed wildly toward the sky as if he had heard a joke.

"In this world, strength is heaven!"

"Purple Moon, this King will give you one last chance."

"Either strip off your clothes now and kneel down to beg me—perhaps I will be merciful and send you to the Blood Sword Emperor as a foot-washing maid."

"Or..."

His eyes sharpened, and the Black-robed Figure who had been standing in the shadows behind him slowly stepped out.

Boom!

A suffocating and terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the entire hall.

A Saint!

And a powerhouse of the Saint Fifth Layer!

The Black-robed Figure wore a pale mask and held two pitch-black daggers, his entire body surrounded by a thick aura of blood fiend.

A Saint of the Heavenly Kingdom Killing Dao.

"Or, the Zichen Dynasty will be annihilated today, leaving not even a chicken or a dog alive."

The black-robed Saint's voice was raspy, like two pieces of raw iron rubbing together.

The Purple Moon Empress closed her eyes in despair.

It was over.

She thought of that man.

The man who had taken half of her territory as a betrothal gift and promised to protect her.

Su Xuanchen.

"Liar..."

She smiled bitterly in her heart.

It made sense.

Facing behemoths like the Blood Fiend Dynasty and the Heavenly Kingdom Killing Dao, who would gamble their entire Family's fate for a woman who hadn't even married in yet?

"Do it."

The Blood Sword King lost his patience and waved his hand.

The black-robed Saint's figure flickered and vanished instantly.

In the next instant.

A pitch-black cold gleam appeared directly at the Purple Moon Empress's throat.

Fast!

So fast that even thought could not keep up!

The Purple Moon Empress didn't even have time to self-detonate; she could only watch helplessly as the edge of death approached.

At this critical moment.

"Buzz!"

Space froze.

The dagger, capable of slicing through a Saint's Protective Aura, stopped just 0.01 centimeters from the Purple Moon Empress's throat.

It didn't just stop.

It was caught between two fingers.

Two slender, fair fingers that looked like works of art.

"Who gave you the courage?"

A lazy, magnetic voice that carried a bone-chilling coldness sounded in the Purple Moon Empress's ear.

"To touch my woman?"

The Purple Moon Empress snapped her eyes open.

A familiar figure had appeared in front of her at some unknown moment.

Clad in a starry robe, he stood with his hands behind his back.

That broad back was like an insurmountable divine mountain, blocking out all killing intent and despair.

Su Xuanchen!

He really came!

"Crack!"

Su Xuanchen applied a slight amount of force with his fingers.

The extraordinary Saint Weapon dagger instantly shattered into iron filings that filled the air.

"Pfft!"

The black-robed Saint was struck as if by lightning, flying backward and crashing heavily into a pillar in the hall.

"Who is it?!"

The smile on the Blood Sword King's face froze, and he retreated two steps in terror.

Su Xuanchen ignored him.

He turned around and looked at the woman slumped on the phoenix throne, her eyes full of tears.

He reached out and gently wiped away the tear stains at the corners of her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"I wiped out a country on the way, which delayed me a bit."

Wiped out a country?

The Purple Moon Empress was stunned, her mind going blank.

"You... You are Su Xuanchen?!"

In the distance, the black-robed Saint struggled to crawl up, his eyes full of wariness.

"Su Family Ancestor... this matter has nothing to do with you. I am from the Heavenly Kingdom..."

"Heavenly Kingdom?"

Su Xuanchen turned his head, his gaze instantly becoming as indifferent as ice.

"Even Hell has no place for you."

He raised his hand and pressed down lightly toward the Void Realm.

"Kneel."

Rumble!

A terrifying Saint Might, as vast as a galaxy, erupted without reservation.

The entire imperial palace was trembling.

The black-robed Saint felt as if the sky had collapsed.

His kneecaps made a tooth-grinding cracking sound, and he fell to his knees uncontrollably, smashing two deep pits into the hard ground.

"Saint... Peak?!"

The black-robed Saint cried out in horror.

The intelligence was wrong!

This was no newly ascended Saint; this was clearly a monster only half a step away from the Saint King Realm!

"Just now, which hand did you use to hold the blade?"

Su Xuanchen walked down the steps one step at a time.

With every step he took, another bone in the black-robed Saint's body shattered.

"This one?"

Su Xuanchen stepped on his right arm.

"Crack!"

The arm was crushed, turning into meat paste.

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream echoed through the hall.

The Blood Sword King had long since collapsed to the ground in fear, his crotch soaked.

"Saint Su... Saint Su, have mercy!"

"I was instructed by someone! It was the Blood Fiend Dynasty..."

"Blood Fiend Dynasty?"

Su Xuanchen stopped in his tracks, a cruel smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"You mean those pieces of trash whose cities are currently being slaughtered by my Su Family Army?"

"Don't worry."

"On the road to the Yellow Springs, they aren't traveling fast; you can still catch up."

Having said that.

He gave a wide sweep of his sleeve.

A burst of star power transformed into sharp blades, instantly sweeping across the necks of the Blood Sword King and the group of traitors.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Dozens of heads soared into the air, and blood dyed the hall red like a fountain.

Finally.

Su Xuanchen walked up to the still-wailing black-robed Saint.

"In your next life, keep your eyes open."

"There are some people you cannot afford to provoke."

Bang!

He stepped down.

The Saint's head burst like a watermelon.

His Divine Soul was completely annihilated.

Within the hall, silence returned.

Only a thick smell of blood permeated the air.

Su Xuanchen turned around and looked at the Purple Moon Empress on the phoenix throne.

"Will you clean up the remaining mess yourself?"

"Or should I help you?"

The Purple Moon Empress stared blankly at the scene.

The powerful enemies were beheaded, and the traitors were executed.

The dead-end that had troubled her for countless days and nights and driven her to despair was actually so vulnerable before this man.

She stood up.

Her imperial robe was stained with blood, yet it could not hide her peerless elegance.

She walked down the steps one by one until she reached Su Xuanchen.

Then.

Beside the countless corpses that refused to close their eyes, this proud Empress slowly knelt down.

She wrapped her arms around Su Xuanchen's legs.

Her cheek pressed against his cold robe.

"Husband Su..."

This call lacked the dignity of an Empress, leaving only the weakness and dependence of a small woman.

"Take me away."

"Now."

Su Xuanchen looked down at her.

In those purple eyes, there burned the relief of surviving a disaster, as well as... a lust capable of starting a prairie fire.

He smiled.

He scooped her up in a horizontal carry.

"As you wish."

...Zichen Imperial Palace, Empress's bedchamber.

There was no blood here, only the faint scent of Ambergris.

Layers of purple curtains fell, shielding them from the chaotic world outside.

Su Xuanchen placed the Purple Moon Empress on the massive Phoenix Bed.

At this moment, she had long since lost her coldness from the court.

Her imperial robe was half-undone, revealing a bellyband embroidered with a Golden Phoenix inside; her snowy skin glowed with an alluring blush under the candlelight.

"Husband Su..."

The Purple Moon Empress took the initiative to wrap herself around him, her arms hooking around Su Xuanchen's neck, her red lips burning hot.

She needed comfort.

She needed to use some intense methods to confirm she was still alive and that the man before her was real.

Su Xuanchen naturally wouldn't be polite.

Purple Moon Divine Physique.

The number one beauty of the Sacred Ruins Continent.

He had been craving this "spoil of war" for a long time.

"Rip!"

The complicated imperial robe was reduced to fragments.

On this Phoenix Bed that symbolized power, the two became entangled.

"..."

The Purple Moon Empress let out a low moan, her fingernails digging deep into Su Xuanchen's back.

This night.

The Zichen Dynasty was undergoing a transition.

But in this bedchamber, there was a different scene.

The Empress's pride was shattered on this night.

She was no longer that Emperor who ruled over ten thousand people... After a long time.

Su Xuanchen leaned against the headboard, his fingers playing with the Purple Moon Empress's waterfall-like purple hair.

The woman in his arms was so tired she didn't even want to move a finger.

On her exquisite face, there was still a lingering flush, and her eyes were misty, like a cat that had eaten its fill.

"Husband Su..."

The Purple Moon Empress's voice was hoarse and carried a bit of laziness.

"Will you marry me?"

Although they already shared the reality of being husband and wife, she was still feeling insecure.

After all, the Su Family was too strong now.

And the Zichen Dynasty existed only in name.

Su Xuanchen lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead.

"Don't worry."

"A woman I, Su Xuanchen, have slept with can't even dream of running away in this lifetime."

"In a while, once I've handled the matters at hand, I will come to marry you."

"When that time comes, the Zichen Dynasty will be your dowry and merge into the Su Family; you will still be the mistress of this land."

Hearing this, the heavy stone in the Purple Moon Empress's heart fell.

She snuggled further into Su Xuanchen's arms, a happy smile appearing on her face.

"I'll do as you say."

Feeling the incredible warmth in his arms, Su Xuanchen couldn't help but feel a bit restless again.

"Tsk."

"I must say."

"Your Majesty..."

He leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words with a wicked smile:

"You are truly-moist."

The Purple Moon Empress's face instantly turned red with shame; she buried her head in the quilt and gave him a muffled punch.

"Bad man..."

...A few days later.

Su Xuanchen left the Zichen Imperial Palace.

The Purple Moon Empress stood on the city wall, watching that figure disappear into the horizon, her eyes filled with reluctance and determination.

She knew.

From now on, she was no longer fighting alone, because

behind her stood a man capable of holding up the entire sky for her.