30: Chapter 30 Forging an Emperor in the Furnace, Reaching the Pinnacle

Human Emperor Edict.

The dark gold scroll unfurled.

A thousand-foot phantom, wearing an imperial crown and draped in imperial robes, filled the sky.

The world fell into a deathly silence.

This pressure surpassed all Laws.

The light of Zi Wuji's Four Symbols Battle Array was crushed into a speck of dust.

Li Xuan's Nine Dragons Heaven-Locking Grand Array saw its nine Golden Dragons of Fortune wailing, and the light barrier was covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

"Ha... Hahahaha!"

Zi Wuji covered his face, emitting a shrill laugh, his expression manic.

He had gone mad.

"Did you see that! You rat hiding your head and showing your tail! Did you see it?"

He pointed tremblingly toward the Zhaoyang Hall below, his voice hoarse.

"This is the true foundation of my Ziyang Holy Land, passed down for ten thousand years!"

"In front of our sect's Human Emperor Old Ancestor, your little bit of Marquis prestige is nothing but a fart! That tortoise shell of yours is more brittle than paper!"

The face of the Human Emperor phantom was blurry, but its gaze pierced through the Nine Dragons Grand Array and the palace walls of Zhaoyang Hall, landing on Li Xuan.

A voice, devoid of emotion yet as grand as a judgment from the Heavenly Dao, resonated throughout the world.

"Ant, why do you not kneel when you see Us?"

The voice carried the dominance of one whose words become Law.

Inside the imperial palace, Emperor Li Zhan, the court officials, and the palace maids and eunuchs could not stand steady and fell to their knees.

They prostrated themselves completely.

Their Souls trembled.

Only Zhaoyang Hall remained silent as before.

Zi Wuji's laughter grew prouder and more cruel:

"Hahahaha! Did you hear that! You dare not even respond to our sect Old Ancestor's questioning; you are not even worthy of kneeling! You only deserve to die!"

"Now, let the Old Ancestor's Divine Might grind you and your dog kennel into powder together!"

Inside Zhaoyang Hall, Li Xuan stood up.

That pressure, which could cause a Marquis's Dao Heart to collapse, was useless against him.

He showed no fear; instead, he smiled.

It was not like he was looking at a Human Emperor.

It was like he was examining a decent appetizer.

"The power of the Human Emperor Realm, huh."

He muttered to himself, Chaos Qi circulating within his dual pupils, seeing through the reality and illusion of the Human Emperor phantom clearly.

"Impure, shallow, and filled with Death Qi. An intent left for thousands of years, with ninety-nine percent of its energy dissipated—it's just an empty shell, a toy to scare children."

Li Xuan smiled eagerly.

"It will serve perfectly as nourishment for Our Breakthrough."

Before his voice had even faded, he spread his arms.

The Great Sun Furnace Scripture, which he had just obtained and barely warmed up, was pushed to its limit within his body.

An aura of ultimate Yang and rigidity erupted from Li Xuan's body, incomparably domineering, as if it could incinerate everything.

The temperature in Zhaoyang Hall climbed sharply.

The air twisted.

Space trembled.

Li Xuan transformed into a golden sun, radiating light in all directions.

His body was no longer flesh and blood.

It was a furnace that seemed capable of refining all things.

"Devour for Us!"

Li Xuan gave a low shout; the voice was not loud, but it stirred the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

Above Zhaoyang Hall, a massive vortex of golden flames appeared.

The vortex spun rapidly, generating a terrifying suction force.

The Human Emperor Divine Might, which had originally suppressed the world, turned into visible golden streams of Qi as soon as it touched this suction force.

Like a river bursting its banks, it was crazily pulled toward the flame vortex.

In the sky.

The judgment finger pressed down by the Human Emperor phantom actually stopped in mid-air.

The energy at its fingertip, capable of shattering mountains and rivers, was being devoured mouthful by mouthful by the small palace below at an incomprehensible speed.

"What... what is happening?"

On the cloud-piercing ark, Zi Wuji's laughter came to a halt.

He widened his eyes in horror.

The expression on his face changed from ecstasy to disbelief.

"Im... Impossible!"

He rubbed his eyes vigorously, thinking he had gone mad with rage and was seeing things.

The Human Emperor Edict.

That was the Human Emperor Edict!

The will left behind by a Human Emperor Realm powerhouse!

The trump card of the Holy Land for ten thousand years!

How could it be absorbed by someone?

This was simply a monstrous joke.

Isn't this just helping the enemy?

The four Marquis Elders were terrified, their beliefs completely shaken by this scene.

If it was just having their Magic Treasure snatched from afar earlier, they would admit their skills were inferior.

But now, watching their own greatest trump card replenish the enemy's strength, this was beyond reason.

Their Dao Hearts suffered heavy damage.

"What... what kind of monster is this! What exactly is this monster!"

Elder Wu pointed at the palace below that was devouring the heavens and the earth, his scream changing pitch.

No one could answer him.

Li Xuan couldn't be bothered with nonsense.

"The taste is not bad, but the amount is too little, not even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth."

A disdainful evaluation came from Zhaoyang Hall.

The next second, the suction force of the flame vortex surged tenfold.

What was a small stream just a moment ago now became a celestial river pouring backward.

The thousand-foot-tall Human Emperor phantom was shaken violently by this suction force, and for the first time, shock and anger appeared on its blurry face.

A silent roar of will.

It wanted to retract its power and sever the connection.

But, it was too late.

Once the Great Sun Furnace Scripture started spinning, it was a fight to the death.

Moreover, the one directing all of this was Li Xuan.

"You come when you want and leave when you want? How can I allow you to come and go as you please?"

Li Xuan sneered, took a step, and was already at the center of the flame vortex above Zhaoyang Hall.

He stood at the eye of the vortex.

He extended his right hand toward the fierce-looking but cowardly Human Emperor phantom and clenched his five fingers violently.

"Come here, you!"

The sky shook.

The Human Emperor phantom could no longer hold on; it let out an unwilling, silent roar, and its entire body disintegrated with a boom.

It transformed into the purest and most majestic golden torrent, pulled by Li Xuan's hand and poured entirely into his body.

The Qi inside Li Xuan's body began to surge crazily.

Marquis Realm Fourth Layer Peak... Bottleneck, broken!

Marquis Realm Fifth Layer!

Marquis Realm Sixth Layer!

Marquis Realm Seventh Layer!

His body was a bottomless pit, crazily devouring this massive amount of energy.

On the warship, everyone was stunned.

They stared blankly at the sky.

Watching the phantom of their Human Emperor Old Ancestor, which they were so proud of, being easily torn apart and swallowed in one gulp.

Their faith collapsed completely.

It is unknown how much time passed.

The last wisp of golden energy was absorbed into Li Xuan's body, and the sky returned to clarity.

That incomparably powerful Human Emperor Divine Might was gone without a trace.

"Hiccup."

Li Xuan let out a satisfied burp.

The next second, a System notification sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully devouring the Human Emperor Edict energy!]

[Great Sun Furnace Scripture EXP +100%! Current Cultivation Technique Rank: First Glimpse of the Path!]

[Ding! Absorbed massive amounts of Human Emperor Law power; congratulations to the Host for a huge improvement in cultivation!]

[Current Cultivation: Marquis Realm Ninth Layer (Peak Great Perfection)!]

The power within his body was filled to the extreme; he felt that a single punch had the strength of ten thousand jun.

Li Xuan was quite satisfied with this.

Marquis Realm Peak.

He was only one step away from the Human Emperor Realm.

He looked up at the warship in the high sky that was still in a daze.

His gaze was disdainful.

"The show is over."

He flicked his finger.

"Roar!"

The Nine Dragons Heaven-Locking Grand Array activated again.

The array had absorbed the dissipated Human Emperor energy, and its power was several times stronger than before.

Nine Golden Dragons of Fortune, which had become more than twice as solid, roared and rushed out, their massive dragon bodies surrounding the thousand-foot warship.

The Sharp Weapon of war that had been so arrogant before was now as small as a toy.

"No... don't..."

"Spare me... spare me!"

"We are from the Ziyang Holy Land; you cannot kill us!"

Zi Wuji and the others finally came to their senses, terrified by the Dragon Might, and let out shrill pleas for mercy.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Li Xuan couldn't be bothered to look at them again; he turned and returned to Zhaoyang Hall, his voice floating in the air.

"Noisy."

The nine divine dragons tightened their grip violently, their dragon claws tearing through the warship's shield, and their dragon tails swept across, directly smashing the cloud-piercing ark into pieces.

Amidst the fragments filling the sky, Zi Wuji, his four Marquis Elders, and hundreds of elite Disciples fell like rain.

Before they even landed, a large golden runic net emerged from below, sweeping them all up and dragging them into a dungeon deep within the imperial palace.

From beginning to end, the gates of the Great Xia Imperial Palace had never opened.

A catastrophe capable of destroying an ordinary Dynasty hundreds of times over was resolved so easily by this mysterious Retired Emperor.

He even enjoyed a big meal in the process and improved his cultivation on the spot.