Chapter 171 Tian Shu's Removal from the List, the Dynasty's Fury

Tianshu City was not a core metropolis of the Central Province Imperial Dynasty, but it was a crucial stronghold established on its eastern border. It was responsible for monitoring border movements, collecting taxes, and suppressing nearby Sects that refused to comply. The city was majestic and heavily guarded, with a high-level Void Refining Stage Cultivator stationed at the Hall of Consecrated Elders' sub-hall year-round to display the Imperial Dynasty's prestige.

On this day, Tianshu City seemed no different from any other. The city gates were bustling with traffic, Cultivators and Mortals weaving through like a tapestry, while armored soldiers patrolled the walls with sharp gazes.

Suddenly—

Above the towering Imperial Dynasty Consecrated Sub-hall in the city center, space was silently torn open like a curtain, revealing a massive gap!

A black-robed figure, like a demon god returning from the Nine Serenities, stepped out from within. No world-shaking Aura emanated from him, yet the hearts of the millions of living beings in Tianshu City suddenly constricted. A fear and chill originating from the depths of their Souls instantly swept through the city!

The noisy city fell deathly silent in an instant! All Cultivators, regardless of their cultivation level, felt their Qi stagnate as if frozen! Mortals collapsed directly to the ground, trembling uncontrollably, even finding it difficult to breathe!

"Who dares to trespass into the Imperial Dynasty's Hall of Consecrated Elders?!" Inside the sub-hall, a sudden roar of shock and fury erupted! A powerful Void Refining Stage Aura burst forth, attempting to break through the invisible suppression!

Stationed here was a Mid-stage Void Refining Elder named Li Jue. He practiced the Imperial Dynasty's secret technique, the "Imperial Sovereign Overlord Body Art," possessing a powerful Physical Body and fierce Qi.

A figure radiant with golden light soared into the sky from the hall; it was Li Jue. Wearing a specially made Imperial Dynasty official robe and possessing a majestic countenance, he now wore a look of shock and anger as he stared fixedly at the black-robed figure in the sky.

"A coward hiding his face! State your name!" Li Jue shouted sternly. The Imperial Sovereign Qi within him surged frantically as he tried to see through the opponent's depth, but he only felt that the other party was like a bottomless black hole. He couldn't see through him at all, and that invisible pressure made even him, a Mid-stage Void Refining Cultivator, feel his heart skip a beat!

Nightmare looked down at him as if looking at an ant, his cold voice echoing throughout the city:

"An Imperial dog is not worthy of knowing This Sovereign's name."

"Today, this place shall be erased."

Before his voice had even faded, he simply raised his hand and pressed down lightly toward the grand sub-hall below and the soaring Li Jue.

There were no flashy Spell lights, no world-shaking energy fluctuations.

There was only an invisible, intangible, yet absolute force representing termination and nothingness—the Power of Nirvana, spreading out like a tide!

"Arrogant!" Li Jue was shocked and furious. Sensing the fatal threat, he roared and pushed the Imperial Sovereign Overlord Body Art to its limit. His body erupted with golden light as bright as a blazing sun as he threw a punch toward the sky! The fist print expanded with the wind, transforming into a roaring golden Imperial Dragon, carrying imperial majesty and the power to shatter mountains and rivers as it met the invisible Nirvana force!

This was a punch that condensed his entire life's cultivation! He was confident that even a Late stage Lianxu Cultivator would not dare to take it head-on!

However, the next scene would be unforgettable for everyone who could still barely watch!

The seemingly invincible golden Imperial Dragon fist print, upon contact with the invisible Nirvana force, was like meeting its natural enemy. The massive dragon body dimmed and became illusory at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally dissipating silently like sand in the wind, leaving no trace behind!

It was as if it had never existed!

"What?!!" Li Jue's eyes nearly popped out, his face filled with absurdity and disbelief!

His full-strength strike was actually... so casually... erased by the opponent?!

How was this possible?!

Before he could recover from his shock, the Nirvana force had already descended!

Li Jue felt his entire body grow heavy, and the protective Imperial Sovereign golden light shattered like a fragile eggshell! His incredibly powerful Physical Body began to wither, age, and lose its vitality uncontrollably! The vast Qi within him dissipated frantically like a flood through a broken dam! Even his Divine Soul felt the excruciating pain of being torn apart and annihilated!

"No! What power is this?! Imperial Sovereign Indestructible Body! Block it for me..." He roared frantically, trying to struggle, only to find that all his methods were futile before that invisible power!

Under the watch of countless terrified and desperate gazes below, this majestic Mid-stage Void Refining Cultivator's body seemed to experience the erosion of ten thousand years. It quickly became shriveled and charred, and finally, with a 'poof,' it turned completely to ash and dissipated into the world!

Body and Soul both annihilated!

Silence!

A deathly silence!

A Mid-stage Void Refining Cultivator, an Imperial Consecrated Elder, was actually swatted like a fly and wiped clean by a casual palm strike?!

This was simply a myth! A Nightmare!

However, the Nightmare had only just begun!

After annihilating Li Jue, the invisible Nirvana force did not stop. Like mercury spreading on the floor, it enveloped the entire Imperial Consecrated Sub-hall!

The grand palace, built of special spiritual materials and covered in powerful defensive Restrictions, began to melt, collapse, and disintegrate silently under that power, like snow under the sun! Whether it was brick, wood, or those shining runic Restrictions, they all lost their spirituality in an instant and turned into the most ordinary dust!

Within a few short breaths, the Consecrated Sub-hall, which symbolized the Imperial Dynasty's majesty and had stood for thousands of years, completely disappeared from its spot, leaving only a massive pit as smooth as a mirror!

Along with the hall, the Imperial Cultivators and officials who didn't have time to escape, as well as all the archives and resources, were all reduced to nothingness together!

After doing all this, Nightmare acted as if he had only done a trivial matter. His rule fragments moved slightly, capturing the lingering ripples of teleportation arrays and spatial coordinates leading to other Imperial Dynasty strongholds.

He did not leave immediately. Instead, his gaze swept across the deathly silent city below, and his cold voice rang out once more:

"Tell the Zhao Family, this is only the beginning."

"The debts owed, This Sovereign will collect them one by one."

After saying that, his figure flickered, tearing through space again and disappearing from the spot.

It wasn't until long after he had left that the terrifying pressure over Tianshu City slowly dissipated.

After the dead silence came absolute panic and chaos!

"It's over... the Consecrated Hall... has been wiped out!"

"Elder Li Jue... is dead!"

"A devil! That was a devil!"

"Quick! Report to the Imperial Capital immediately!"

The news seemed to grow wings, spreading toward the core regions of the Central Province Imperial Dynasty at an incredible speed!

Tianshu City attacked! Consecrated Sub-hall erased! Mid-stage Void Refining Elder Li Jue fallen!

The culprit is suspected to be the newly risen Void Refining Demonic Lord—Nightmare!

The entire upper echelon of the Central Province Imperial Dynasty was shaken to its core!

In the Imperial Capital, within the deep palace.

A dragon's roar of extreme fury suddenly erupted, making the entire palace tremble!

"Useless! A bunch of useless fools!"

"Investigate! Investigate for me! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find that Nightmare!"

"Pass down my decree! The entire Hall of Consecrated Elders is to be mobilized! The Sky Patrol Alliance will cooperate! Notify all the Sects in the world! Anyone who provides clues about this scoundrel will be rewarded with three top-grade Spiritual Veins! Anyone who captures or kills him will be titled a Prince with a different surname and enjoy the blessing of the Imperial Dynasty's Luck!"

The Imperial Lord was enraged. Once the decree was issued, the world was in an uproar!

The massive war machine of the Imperial Dynasty began to operate fully! Countless spies, both open and hidden, were sent out, and major Sects were ordered to assist. A heaven-and-earth net targeting Nightmare was quickly spread!

Meanwhile, the Joyful Zen Sect also took the opportunity to kick him while he was down, announcing their alliance with the Imperial Dynasty to jointly pursue the "Devil Head" Nightmare and offering an eye-watering reward.

The winds and clouds of the Central Province changed abruptly, and the undercurrents turned into surging waves!

At this moment, however, Nightmare was already far from Tianshu City. Guided by the sense of the rule fragments and clues from the star pivot token, he was performing ultra-long-distance spatial leaps toward a distant direction.

He had long expected the Imperial Dynasty's wrath and bounty, but he didn't care at all.

How could a hunt stop because of the prey's anger?

His goal was that possible ruin related to the source of Nirvana.

There, he might find even greater gains.

As for the storms behind him, if they dared to follow, he would simply... annihilate them as well.

His figure flickered in the endless Void Realm. Each step he took covered ten thousand miles, as he marched steadfastly toward that unknown ancient land.

A new storm was already brewing beneath his feet.