96: Chapter 96 Your Majesty, things have gone wrong!

Eastern Wasteland, the extreme north.

On a desolate snowfield, the cold wind bit, and heavy snow fell.

The world was a vast expanse of white; there was nothing but ice and snow.

This place was rarely visited by humans, and even Yao Beasts could not be bothered to set foot here; it was one of the most desolate places in the Eastern Wasteland.

However, at this moment—

Deep within the snowfield, beneath a hill covered in ice and snow, a faint light was flickering.

The light was dim, like a candle in the wind, liable to extinguish at any moment.

But if someone could see the scene underground through the thick layer of ice, they would surely be shocked.

Hidden beneath the hill was a massive underground palace!

Deep in the underground palace, within a dim hall, space twisted slightly, and an illusory figure slowly condensed.

It was the Lord!

But at this moment, he was no longer the peerless expert of the Quasi-Emperor Realm Peak who had been so arrogant before.

His body was translucent, like a reflection in water, and his aura was weak to the extreme, as if a gust of wind could scatter him.

"Damn it... damn it..."

The Lord gritted his teeth, his voice raspy, his eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness.

He had not expected that he, a dignified peerless expert at the Quasi-Emperor Realm Peak with thirteen thousand years of cultivation, would actually be beaten to the point where his Physical Body collapsed and his Divine Soul was nearly dispersed!

What terrified him even more was that the youth—had actually achieved a Breakthrough to the Emperor Realm during the battle!

The Emperor Realm!

For ten thousand years, the Emperor Realm had been impossible to appear in this world!

"The imperial path is broken... the Heavenly Dao is incomplete... how did he manage to do it?!"

The Lord muttered to himself, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

He could not understand.

The Emperor used a great Divine Ability to connect with this world and plunder the Origin of the world, so that no one in this world could ever achieve the Emperor Realm!

This was what the Emperor had told him personally; the Emperor had once said that the Dao of this world was damaged and could no longer bear the Luck of the Emperor Realm.

If he wanted to achieve the Emperor Realm, he had to be guided by the Upper Realm and ascend to the Upper Realm.

This was also the promise the Emperor had given him.

He had assumed that it was impossible for anyone in this world to ever ascend to the Emperor Realm.

But that person...

"No... I must contact the Emperor immediately..."

The Lord took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in his heart, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.

"So what if you achieved a Breakthrough to the Emperor Realm? The Heavenly Dao of this world is already incomplete; you cannot go very far in the Emperor Realm!"

"As long as I contact the Emperor and ask the Emperor to take action..."

He paused, a flash of fanaticism appearing in his eyes.

"Even if you are an expert of the Emperor Realm, you will still die and your Dao will dissipate!"

Before his voice had even faded, he raised his hand and waved it.

A pitch-black light surged from his palm and sank into the ground in the center of the hall.

"Rumble—"

The ground trembled, and cracks spread out like a spider web.

Within the cracks, a blood-colored light faintly seeped out, emitting a chilling and eerie aura.

Immediately after, a massive altar slowly rose from underground.

The altar was pitch black, its surface covered in dense blood-colored runes; those runes were profound and complex, with some kind of pattern faintly circulating within them.

In the very center of the altar, a blood-colored crystal the size of a fist was enshrined.

Inside the crystal, countless tiny runes were faintly swimming, emitting an ancient and vicissitudinous aura.

The Lord walked to the front of the altar, formed hand seals, and chanted incantations.

Streams of pitch-black light surged from his palm and sank into the blood-colored crystal.

The crystal suddenly erupted with blinding blood-colored light!

The blood-colored light was as intense as blood, illuminating the entire hall!

An aura of extreme terror permeated from the crystal, like the sky collapsing and the earth sinking, pressing down so heavily that the entire underground palace trembled violently!

"Hum—"

The Void Realm trembled, and a pitch-black crack slowly tore open above the altar.

From the depths of the crack, the aura of another world faintly drifted over.

"Emperor, this subordinate has an important matter to report!"

The Lord knelt before the altar, his voice devout, his head bowed, his posture humble to the extreme.

The blood-colored crystal trembled slightly, and from that pitch-black crack, a suffocating pressure slowly permeated out.

In the depths of the crack, a pair of eyes slowly opened.

The eyes were an eerie silver-white, with vertical pupils like some kind of cold-blooded reptile, cold, indifferent, and devoid of any emotion.

"Speak."

A single word, the voice raspy and deep, yet it exploded in the underground palace like a thunderclap, shaking the entire hall violently.

The Lord shuddered, his head bowing even lower.

"Emperor, the matter you entrusted this subordinate to handle has encountered a complication."

He swallowed, his voice trembling.

"The secret realm core of the Xuantian Secret Realm was taken away by a Cultivator of unknown Origin. This subordinate sent people to retrieve it, but they were killed by him. This subordinate took action personally, intending to retrieve the secret realm core, but I did not expect..."

The Lord paused, a flash of deep fear appearing in his eyes.

"That person achieved a Breakthrough to the Emperor Realm during the battle!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the blood-colored crystal suddenly erupted with blinding blood-colored light!

The pitch-black crack trembled violently, as if something on the other side of the crack was enraged.

"Emperor Realm?"

The Emperor's voice remained raspy and deep, but it carried a bit more fluctuation.

"In this world, the imperial path is broken and the Heavenly Dao is incomplete; how could anyone achieve a Breakthrough to the Emperor Realm?"

The Lord shook his head repeatedly: "This subordinate does not know. But that person did indeed achieve a Breakthrough to the Emperor Realm, and... and his strength is extremely terrifying. In his hands, this subordinate could not even withstand a single move; my Physical Body was destroyed, and my Divine Soul was almost completely wiped out by him."

"This subordinate used the secret technique bestowed by the Emperor to escape, and came here to report to the Emperor."

The Emperor was silent.

The pair of silver-white vertical pupils in the crack narrowed slightly, as if thinking about something.

A moment later, he slowly spoke: "What is that person's background?"

The Lord shook his head: "This subordinate does not know. He looks to be only about twenty years old, but his strength is unfathomable. This subordinate suspects he might be some old monster from a forbidden zone."

"Old monster?" The Emperor snorted coldly, "Those so-called old guys in the forbidden zones are just lingering on with their last breaths; how could they possibly achieve the Emperor Realm?!"

Before his voice had finished, a burst of blinding blood-colored light erupted from the crack!

The blood-colored light was as intense as blood, illuminating the entire hall!

An aura of extreme terror surged from the crack, like the sky collapsing and the earth sinking, pressing down so heavily that the entire underground palace trembled violently!

The Lord's face turned ghastly pale, his entire body pressed to the ground by that aura, unable to even lift his head.

"Em—Emperor, please calm your anger!"

His voice was trembling.

The Emperor ignored him.

The pair of silver-white vertical pupils looked through the crack, toward the outside of the underground palace, toward the sky of the Eastern Wasteland.

"I would like to see who exactly dares to ruin my grand plan!"

However—

Just at this moment!

"It seems I have arrived at the perfect time."

A calm voice came from outside the underground palace; it was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of the Lord and the Emperor.

The Lord's pupils shrank, and his face instantly turned as pale as paper.

"It's him! He has come!"

His voice was shaking, and his whole body trembled like a sieve.

Outside the underground palace, a figure slowly walked over.

With his hands tucked into his sleeves, wearing a green robe, his demeanor was lazy.

It was Shen Qingyuan.

He strolled leisurely, unhurriedly.

Wherever he passed, the ice and snow melted, the cold wind ceased, as if the entire world was making way for him.

The gates of the underground palace were like nothing before him; he took one step and had already appeared in the hall.

The Lord collapsed on the ground, his whole body trembling, his eyes filled with fear.

"You—how did you find this place?!"

His voice was raspy, carrying uncontrollable trembling.

Shen Qingyuan looked down at him, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.

"A dignified Quasi-Emperor Realm expert, how could it be so easy to kill you completely? Naturally, I had to investigate thoroughly!"

The Lord stiffened, his face as pale as paper.

He understood.

He had guessed long ago that he had left a backup plan!

It was not that Shen Qingyuan lacked the means to completely annihilate him.

Shen Qingyuan had done it on purpose!

He had deliberately spared his life, deliberately let him escape back here, and deliberately let him summon the Emperor!

The goal was to follow the vine to find the melon, to find the Emperor!