518: Chapter 518 The Heavenly Emperor (83)

"Seniors, there is a problem with the Gongshu Family."

"The Gongshu Family has long since become the core stronghold and intelligence hub for the Fallen Beings within the Three Thousand Dao Provinces."

This conclusion caused the expressions of all the Great Emperors present to darken.

The Heavenly Emperor of the Eastern Heavenly Court, Heavenly Emperor Dongjue, sat at the head of the assembly.

Having finished listening to Ye Yun's statement, he did not speak immediately. His gaze fell toward the Dao Prefecture where the Gongshu Family was located.

"Speed is of the essence in war."

After a long silence, he spoke slowly.

"Since we have already startled the snake by beating the grass, we cannot give them any time to react."

A counter-offensive plan targeting the chaos throughout the Three Thousand Dao Provinces was finalized in the shortest time possible.

The forces were split into two routes.

"Ye Zhan."

Heavenly Emperor Dongjue's gaze fell upon the Great Ancient Ancestor of the Ye Family. "You shall lead sixty Great Emperors and accompany me on a personal expedition against the Gongshu Family."

"Ye Yun, you will also come with us."

Ye Yun and the Great Ancient Ancestor nodded simultaneously.

"Brother Ximen."

Heavenly Emperor Dongjue turned toward the Heavenly Emperor of the Western Heavenly Court, Heavenly Emperor Ximen.

"You shall lead all the remaining Great Emperors and immediately infiltrate the Dao Prefectures where the Southern and Northern Heavenly Courts are located in secret. Use the Great Power of a Heavenly Emperor to forcibly break the Court-Protecting Seals that were tampered with by the traitors."

"You must rescue our trapped Fellow Daoist Yao Xi and Brother Beiming."

"Understood."

...

Half a day later.

Above the sky of the Dao Prefecture where the Gongshu Family resided, space was violently torn asunder.

Dozens of ancient flying boats emerged one after another from the rift.

Leading them was Heavenly Emperor Dongjue.

The Imperial Might of a Heavenly Emperor descended, suppressing the Laws of Heaven and Earth across the entire Dao Prefecture.

In the ancestral land of the Gongshu Family, alarm bells rang incessantly.

The Mountain-Protecting Formation was activated immediately, radiating an Emperor-level brilliance.

Several equally powerful bursts of Imperial Might surged from the depths of the ancestral land, attempting to resist.

"A mantis trying to stop a carriage."

Heavenly Emperor Dongjue remained expressionless.

Crack!

The sound of shattering echoed.

That Mountain-Protecting Formation, which had been continuously reinforced by successive generations of Gongshu ancestors, was instantly covered in cracks.

Then, it shattered with a boom.

Those Fallen Emperors of the Gongshu Family, who had just rushed into the air prepared for a desperate struggle, were struck by the aftershocks of the Heavenly Emperor's Might, coughing up black blood as they were sent flying back.

"Kill."

Heavenly Emperor Dongjue's voice was very soft.

It was a one-sided massacre.

These Human Race Great Emperors, who had fought against Fallen Beings for countless years in the Land of Expedition, had a perception of and restraint against eerie auras that was already ingrained in their very bones.

The Elders and Disciples of the Gongshu Family who had long been corrupted had nowhere to hide before them.

Laws collided, and Imperial Might ran rampant.

Screams and booms rose and fell one after another.

The once glorious and prosperous ancestral land of the Gongshu Family rapidly turned into a sea of fire under the iron hooves of the Expeditionary Emperors.

Ye Yun did not make a move.

Standing behind Heavenly Emperor Dongjue, he pushed his Heavenly Eye and Heart Heavy Pupils to their limits, taking in every corner of the battlefield to guard against any possible unforeseen changes.

...

Meanwhile, in the Southern Heavenly Court's Dao Prefecture.

Heavenly Emperor Ximen's figure hovered above the ancestral land of the Southern Heavenly Court.

Behind him were dozens of Expeditionary Emperors with equally powerful auras.

"This is the place."

Heavenly Emperor Ximen's gaze locked onto the seemingly impregnable Court-Protecting Formation that enveloped the entire Southern Heavenly Court.

"This formation was tampered with from the inside; its core hub was reversed, turning a defense into a cage."

"To break the formation, one can only use the power of a Heavenly Emperor from the outside to forcibly sever its connection with the earth's ley lines."

Heavenly Emperor Ximen spoke no further.

A white sword glow that spanned the entire Dao Prefecture flashed and vanished in an instant.

Crack!

The sealing formation that had imprisoned the Southern Heavenly Court for thousands of years shattered instantly under that single sword strike.

Almost at the exact moment the formation broke, an equally overbearing Imperial Might soared into the sky from the depths of the Southern Heavenly Court's ancestral land.

From the Southern Heavenly Court, Heavenly Emperor Yao Xi charged out of the cage, leading the thirty-plus Great Emperors who had been trapped under her command.

"Brother Ximen, thank you."

Heavenly Emperor Yao Xi bowed toward Heavenly Emperor Ximen from a distance, her expression solemn.

However, after learning about the actions of the Expeditionary Emperors following her escape...

A single sentence from her caused Heavenly Emperor Ximen's face to change drastically.

"The Gongshu Family is not that simple!"

Heavenly Emperor Yao Xi said urgently.

"That place is not a common stronghold at all!"

"According to a secret report from my Southern Heavenly Court thousands of years ago, the Gongshu Family once obtained a fragmented remains of a Saint Clan member in an ancient ruin!"

"The level of those remains is extremely high; even if fragmented, they are enough to threaten a Heavenly Emperor!"

Heavenly Emperor Ximen's heart sank.

...

The Gongshu Family battlefield.

The battle was nearing its end.

The Gongshu Family's overt resistance forces had been completely dismantled.

All corrupted clansmen were executed.

The Expeditionary Emperors were preparing to close the net and mop up the remnants.

Heavenly Emperor Dongjue stood with his hands behind his back high in the air, looking down at the ancestral land turned into a sea of fire, his expression calm.

He confirmed that there was no longer the aura of any giant-level Fallen Being in this place.

Everything seemed to have settled.

At the final moment, when even this Heavenly Emperor believed the situation was decided and his guard was at its lowest...

An abrupt change occurred.

An eerie aura erupted from beneath the ruins of the Gongshu Family's assembly hall at the very core of the battlefield, which had long since been leveled.

That aura appeared too suddenly and too strangely.

It did not possess a world-shaking power, yet it was incredibly cold.

It perfectly bypassed the Divine Thought probes of all the Great Emperors; even Heavenly Emperor Dongjue only sensed it half a beat late, just an instant before it erupted.

However, one person was faster than him.

Ye Yun.

The moment that aura erupted, the Heart Sword within his sea of consciousness let out a hum that shook the heavens.

It was not resonance; it was repulsion.

It was the instinctive repulsion felt when natural enemies meet.

Ye Yun's face turned pale instantly.

He immediately judged that this aura belonged neither to the Abyss Lord he was familiar with, nor to the Saint Clan member he had heavily injured at the Immaculate Emperor Sect.

This was a third one.

A brand new member of the Saint Clan who had been lurking here all along!

Its sole purpose was to launch a fatal sneak attack at the very moment Heavenly Emperor Dongjue's defenses were weakest.

That pitch-black Saint Clan Origin turned into a streak of light invisible to the naked eye, ignoring all space and Laws.

Its target was not Heavenly Emperor Dongjue's imperial body.

It was his sea of consciousness.

Once it successfully occupied this body of a Heavenly Emperor, the absolute core of the entire Expeditionary Army would be reduced to a Puppet of the Saint Clan.

The consequences would be unimaginable.

"Not good!"

Heavenly Emperor Dongjue finally reacted, his Heavenly Emperor power erupting as he tried to set up a defense before him.

But it was too late.

The Saint Clan's speed was too fast, and its intention too venomous.

Faced with it, Heavenly Emperor Dongjue had already missed the optimal timing for defense.

And in this spark-striking-flint instant, before anyone else could react...

Ye Yun moved; because of the Heart Sword, he was the first to sense it.

Without any hesitation.

The moment the Saint Clan member appeared, Ye Yun didn't even have time to think before an invisible and formless Heart Sword slashed out from between his brows.

That Sword Intent did not strike at the Saint Clan's Origin, because there wasn't enough time.

It slashed toward the Void Realm between the Saint Clan member and Heavenly Emperor Dongjue.

The Saint Clan's certain path of Possession was blocked for a brief moment by this sudden barrier.

That single moment was enough.

"Vile beast!"

Heavenly Emperor Dongjue's roar resounded through the entire Dao Prefecture.

Having almost been successfully ambushed by a petty scoundrel, this Heavenly Emperor was absolutely furious.

He no longer held anything back. His Heavenly Emperor power transformed into an ancient bronze mirror, its light cascading like a waterfall, pinning the Saint Clan Origin that had been delayed for a moment firmly in place.

Immediately following this, Heavenly Emperor Dongjue's figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already in front of the Saint Clan Origin.

He threw a punch.

Boom!

That terrifying Saint Clan member, who had endured for countless years and had not even appeared when the Ye Family was besieged, was directly wounded by that single punch.

Punch after punch followed.

Its core Origin began to weaken continuously, but it could not be completely erased.

Ye Yun stepped forward and slashed out with a Heart Sword, actually managing to extinguish this eerie, fragmented Origin.

The fall of a Saint Clan member was no small matter.

At the moment its Origin collapsed, a phenomenon of Heaven and Earth erupted, sweeping across the entire Three Thousand Dao Provinces.

Laws wailed and the Great Dao trembled.

The sky was torn apart.

The light of countless stars dimmed at this moment.

This phenomenon could no longer be concealed.

It announced a fact to all living beings of the Three Thousand Dao Provinces, as well as to the Fallen Beings in the shadows.

The Hundred Emperors of the Expedition, the kings have returned.