499: Chapter 499 The Heavenly Emperor (64)

When the Ye Family army arrived at the border of the Dao Province where the Liu Family was located, half of the province's sky darkened.

Nine Star Divine Gold flying boats were lined up in a row, with Emperor Runes flowing upon them.

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor stood on the deck of the flagship, hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the territory ahead that the Liu Family had managed for countless eras.

Behind him, seven Distant Ancestors were lined up on both sides.

Among them, the Fifth Ancestor and the First Ancestor had the deepest auras, their Imperial Might restrained, standing as immovable as mountains.

The other five Distant Ancestors were all in the Quasi-Emperor Realm, but any one of them could suppress a major province on their own.

Ye Yun stood beside the Fourth Ancient Ancestor, his white robes fluttering.

"Yun'er."

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor did not look back, his voice flat.

"I am here."

"In this battle, you only need to stay behind me. There is no need for you to charge into the fray."

"Understood."

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor raised his hand and waved it forward.

"Commence the battle."

...

Five years.

The Ye Family took five years to strip away, layer by layer, the territory the Liu Family had managed for endless ages.

In the first year, all thirty-seven peripheral subsidiary orthodoxies of the Liu Family were annihilated.

The Ye Family Distant Ancestors took action personally, their Quasi-Emperor might crushing everything; there wasn't even any decent resistance.

In the second year, the Liu Family's hidden agent outposts planted across various Dao Provinces were uprooted.

The Ye Family's intelligence network was even more terrifying than they had imagined, pinpointing every single coordinate.

In the third and fourth years, the Liu Family's core defensive Star Domains were conquered one by one.

They had launched a large-scale counterattack in the third year, mobilizing three Quasi-Emperor powerhouses in an attempt to ambush the Ye Family's supply lines.

Ye Yun, accompanied by two Distant Ancestors, intercepted them.

Three Quasi-Emperors.

Ye Yun dealt with two of them by himself.

Using the Physical Body strength of his Major Achievement Desolate Ancient Sacred Body combined with the Star Suppressing form, he shattered the first Quasi-Emperor's protective Law with a single punch, then switched to the Sacred Flame Form, using a strike of Amaterasu to burn straight through the second Quasi-Emperor's Divine Soul.

From the moment the two Quasi-Emperors attacked to the moment they fell, it took no more than twenty exchanges.

The fifth year.

The Ye Family army arrived at the Liu Family's ancestral land.

...

Above the sky of the Liu Family's ancestral land, three bursts of Imperial Might erupted simultaneously.

This was the Liu Family's final trump card.

Two ordinary Great Emperors—one at the First Heaven of the Emperor Realm, and one at the Second Heaven.

And that figure Ye Yun had never forgotten.

The Liu Family Ancient Ancestor who had participated in the six-emperor ambush and escaped by self-detonating his lifebound Imperial Treasure.

Fourth Heaven of the Emperor Realm.

An Imperial Titan.

The three bursts of Imperial Might intertwined, turning the sky over the Liu Family's ancestral land into a purgatory of Laws, attempting a final desperate struggle.

The First Ancestor's figure vanished from his spot.

The Fifth Ancestor drew the long spear from his back that had accompanied him for hundreds of thousands of years, pointed the tip toward the sky, and took a step forward.

The two Great Emperors struck simultaneously, each locking onto one of the Liu Family's ordinary Great Emperors.

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor slowly ascended, fully releasing his Imperial Might at the Peak of the Third Heaven.

Opposite him, the Liu Family's Fourth Heaven Titan looked ashen, but he did not retreat.

He could not retreat.

Behind him was the Liu Family's ancestral land; if he took one step back, the entire clan would be annihilated.

The two locked eyes for a breath.

Then, they moved simultaneously.

Boom!

The Emperor war erupted.

Laws collided, stars shattered, and the surrounding ten thousand miles were reduced to nothingness.

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor's combat power was extremely strong, certainly among the top within the Third Heaven.

However, every minor Realm between Great Emperors was a chasm that could not be bridged simply by combat techniques and experience.

After a hundred exchanges, the Fourth Ancient Ancestor's offensive was suppressed.

After three hundred exchanges, his Imperial Robe was torn, and a wound appeared on his chest.

After five hundred exchanges, cracks appeared on his Imperial Weapon, and he was sent flying ten thousand miles by a single punch, Imperial Blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor forcibly stabilized his form, wiped the blood from his mouth, and charged forward again.

He was beaten back again.

He charged again.

He was beaten back once more.

The Titan no longer held back, launching a killing move condensed with all his Emperor Dao Laws toward the Fourth Ancient Ancestor.

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor's Imperial Weapon blocked in front of him, its cracks rapidly expanding.

He couldn't hold it.

At that critical moment.

A surge of Blood Qi from a Major Achievement Desolate Ancient Sacred Body crossed the endless Void Realm and descended from afar.

Bang!

A golden fist print appeared out of nowhere, slamming into the Titan's flank.

The power of that fist print wasn't enough to heavily injure a Fourth Heaven Titan, but the timing was incredibly precise.

It happened to interrupt the charging of his killing move, and it happened to cause a momentary pause in his offensive.

Desolate Heaven Emperor had acted.

This single strike caused his old, unhealed injuries to burst open again, and golden Imperial Blood spilled from his mouth.

In that momentary opening, the Fourth Ancient Ancestor's Imperial Weapon turned into light and merged into his body as he activated his Emperor Dao Origin.

His entire being transformed into a beam of Imperial Light, crashing head-on into the Fourth Heaven Titan.

It wasn't a desperate gamble.

It was a thunderous strike delivered after seizing a flaw in that split second.

Boom!

The Liu Family Ancient Ancestor's protective Imperial Light was smashed to pieces.

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor's fist pierced through his chest.

Imperial Blood splattered everywhere.

The Liu Family Titan's life force rapidly dissipated.

He looked down at the fist piercing through his chest, a large amount of Imperial Blood gushing from his mouth.

He wanted to say something, but only managed to make garbled sounds.

Then his body lost its life support and fell from mid-air.

It crashed into the ground of the Liu Family's ancestral land, carving out a massive crater.

The Emperor war was over.

...

Without the support of Great Emperor-level powerhouses, the Liu Family's ancestral defensive formation was like a candle in the wind.

The Ye Family Distant Ancestors joined forces to deliver a strike, and the sect-protecting formation that had shrouded the Liu Family's ancestral land for countless eras shattered with a bang.

The Ye Family army flooded in.

Resistance quickly collapsed.

The Liu Family, an ancient Imperial Family that was once considered prominent in the Three Thousand Dao Provinces, was completely wiped from the map on this day.

...

When Liu Yan was brought before Ye Yun, she had no injuries.

The Ye Family Prodigies had found her in a side hall while clearing out the remaining forces.

She hadn't run, nor had she resisted.

She had just been sitting quietly by the window of the side hall.

When brought before Ye Yun, her gaze fell upon the face of the white-robed youth.

No, he could no longer be called a youth.

Hundreds of years had passed, and while Ye Yun's face remained young, the things settled in his eyes were deeper than many old monsters who had lived for tens of thousands of years.

Liu Yan's lips moved.

"I know everything the Liu Family higher-ups did."

Her voice was very calm, with no intention of begging for mercy.

"Those who deserve to die are already dead."

She raised her head and looked directly into Ye Yun's eyes.

"But the majority of the Liu Family clansmen didn't know about those things; they knew nothing."

"I implore the Lord Imperial Son to spare them."

Ye Yun looked at her.

He remembered this face.

Back then, in the Ye Family's main hall, she had been full of arrogance.

"I, Liu Yan, will never marry a piece of trash!"

He remembered that voice, too.

Hundreds of years had passed.

The once high-and-mighty favored daughter of heaven now stood before him, pleading for others.

A cold voice came from behind him.

"Impossible."

The Fourth Ancient Ancestor walked over.

He was still stained with Imperial Blood, his expression cold.

"To be born into a guilty Family is itself a sin."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chill.

"The matter of the great terror cannot be treated lightly. Who can guarantee that among those so-called 'innocent' clansmen, there are no lurkers contaminated by the bizarre power?"

He glanced at Liu Yan.

"Throughout eternity, how many sources of clan-extermination disasters have been rooted in the word 'spare'?"

"Better to kill wrongly than to let one go."

Liu Yan's face turned deathly pale.

She did not speak again.

Ye Yun remained silent for a long time.

Those bizarre powers were too hidden, too dangerous.

The great terror's remnant soul in the Desolate Palace, the manipulation of the remains in the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb, the bizarre aura on the Liu Family's Quasi-Emperors—every time, they appeared in 'unexpected' ways.

Risking letting a single lurker go could cost the annihilation of an entire Dao Province.

In the end, Ye Yun did not oppose the Fourth Ancient Ancestor's decision.

He turned around and walked out of the side hall.

...

The Ye Family army returned in triumph.

The flying boat formation proceeded slowly through the Void Realm, the atmosphere heavy.

Although the battle against the Liu Family was a complete victory, no one felt relaxed.

Because everyone knew that the Liu Family was only a pawn.

The true opponent was still in the shadows.

Ye Yun stood on the deck of the flagship, gazing into the distance at the starry sky.

Footsteps came from behind him.

The Fifth Ancestor walked to his side and handed him a communication jade slip.

"News has come back from the Heavenly Emperor of the Eastern Heavenly Court."

Ye Yun took the jade slip and probed it with his Divine Thought.

The first piece of news:

The Heavenly Emperor of the Eastern Heavenly Court has personally gone to the Central Heavenly Court to investigate.

The result is that the Heavenly Emperor of the Central Heavenly Court claims to be 'secluded to break through to a higher Realm' and is shunning the world.

He is seeing no one.

The second piece of news:

The Heavenly Emperor of the Eastern Heavenly Court has decided to temporarily set aside the issue of the Central Heavenly Court and handle a more urgent matter first—he will join forces with the Heavenly Emperor of the Western Heavenly Court to head to the Land of Expedition to resolve the issue of the teleportation channels being blocked.

Ye Yun put away the jade slip.

The Fifth Ancestor looked at his profile.

"What are your thoughts?"

"Fifth Ancestor."

Ye Yun withdrew his gaze and looked toward a certain direction deep in the starry sky.

"After we return, I am going into seclusion."