"Marshal!"

Countless cries pierced through the howling winds above the Imperial Capital.

In the defensive bunkers below, countless Great Xia soldiers witnessed the God of War being knocked back by that brute's punch, blood staining the sky. Their eyes reddened as they gripped their weapons tightly.

Inside the underground supreme command center.

*Bang!*

The one-armed general, Wang Zhenbei, had bloodshot eyes. His remaining left hand clenched into a fist and slammed heavily onto the tactical simulation table. The table, forged from special alloy, was dented by his strike.

"Why?!"

Wang Zhenbei gritted his teeth. "Why?! We just defeated Sakura Country and won that War of National Extinction! I thought Great Xia could finally rest easy and enjoy some peaceful days!"

He looked up at the group of high-and-mighty black-robed figures on the large screen, his eyes brimming with red.

"Where did these Ancient Awakened Ones come from?! Five SS-ranks! What on earth do they want?!"

"Is Great Xia... destined to suffer endless calamities?!"

However, the entire command center remained silent.

All the officers and staff lowered their heads. No one could answer him; only silence met his words.

...

Thousands of meters up in the sky.

Violent winds swirled through the tattered clouds.

"You're looking for death!"

Lin Zhu looked at the blood on the corner of Zhao Qingcang's mouth, her face taut.

The Wood Law around her, once gentle, turned violent! Countless dark green poisonous vines with sharp thorns burst from the Void Realm, weaving into a massive strangling net behind her, aimed directly at Batu!

However, just as Lin Zhu was about to unleash her ultimate skill...

*Swish!*

A silver spatial ripple appeared. Zhao Qingcang, suppressing his churning blood and Qi, teleported in front of her and pressed down on her hands, which were forming seals.

"What are you doing? Move!" Lin Zhu bit her lip. "Why are you stopping me? I'm going to kill him!"

"Don't be foolish!"

Zhao Qingcang said with a stern face, his voice low, "Didn't you see how many people are on the other side? Five SS-ranks! Plus dozens of top-tier S-ranks! How could we possibly be their match?!"

"Charging in now serves no purpose other than throwing your life away and provoking them into massacring the city!"

Hearing this, the violent vines around Lin Zhu paused.

She gritted her teeth, her eyes reddening as she questioned, "So we just stand here and take it? We just watch as these monsters from the old era shit all over Great Xia?!"

"Endure!"

Zhao Qingcang stared at the members of the Dawnbreaker Guild ahead, squeezing the word through his teeth.

"All we can do now is wait." Zhao Qingcang swallowed. "Wait for Zhou Huai to arrive!"

Lin Zhu was stunned for a moment and looked away. "What if he's tied up by something and doesn't come back? Can the millions of people in the Imperial Capital afford to wait?"

"Impossible!"

Zhao Qingcang shook his head upon hearing that.

He thought of the young man in the wheelchair and clenched his fists.

"He possesses even greater Divine Abilities than we imagined! The commotion in Sakura Country was most likely his doing. He must have sensed the crisis here!"

Zhao Qingcang looked at Lin Zhu. "The only thing we can do now is believe in him!"

Looking at Zhao Qingcang, Lin Zhu withdrew the menacing poisonous vines behind her.

"Then... what should we do now?"

"Stall!" Zhao Qingcang wiped the blood from his mouth. "Delay for as long as possible!"

While the two were talking in low voices...

"Hey!"

Batu, the Earth-element brute who had just knocked back Zhao Qingcang with a «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» punch, slammed the bloody giant axe on his shoulder into the Void Realm and grinned.

"I say, what are you two little mice whispering about over there?"

Batu cracked his thick neck and looked down at them. "Are you discussing how you're going to die?"

"Or do you plan to be a pair of ill-fated lovebirds in the afterlife? Hahahaha!"

Behind him, the experts of the Dawnbreaker Guild also let out bursts of harsh, mocking laughter.

Zhao Qingcang ignored Batu's provocation.

Standing tall and straight, he looked past Batu at the black-robed old man at the back of the group.

"Your Excellency!"

Zhao Qingcang spoke loudly, his voice carrying across the sky with the help of magic power. "As long as you do not harm the citizens of Great Xia and do not start a massacre in this city..."

"We can hand over all the members of the Ancient Remnant Clan we captured at the universities and borders, and return them to you untouched!"

Zhao Qingcang lowered his head slightly, making a concession. "Great Xia also has no intention of making enemies of experts like you!"

As soon as he said this, the eyes of countless Great Xia soldiers in the defensive lines below turned red.

They knew that this proud god of war of great xia was bowing his head to the enemy for the sake of the millions of lives in the city!

However, hearing these words...

The Grand Elder standing in the Void Realm only gave a faint smile.

He stroked his gray beard and then shook his head with regret.

"If you had shown such a subservient attitude from the start, I might have actually considered your suggestion."

The Grand Elder half-closed his eyelids.

"But it's too late now."

"You resisted recklessly just now and even dirtied Batu's fist. Your actions have thoroughly offended the glory of the old era."

The Grand Elder waved his wide sleeves and delivered his ultimatum:

"You have lost the right to negotiate with us!"

"Now, your only end is death!"

As he finished speaking, Batu let out a roar and raised his giant axe again, the Earth Law locking onto Zhao Qingcang and Lin Zhu.

The entire Imperial Capital fell silent.

However—

Just as the Grand Elder had finished pronouncing the death sentence and Batu was about to charge!

"Roar—!!!"

A vast, resonant dragon's roar echoed from the far edge of the sky!

This dragon's roar dispersed the oppressive thunderclouds over the Imperial Capital and interrupted everyone's conversation!

"What is that sound?!" Batu's giant axe paused as he turned his head.

The Grand Elder stopped his movements and looked toward the east.

Then, the Grand Elder of the Dawnbreaker Guild saw the scene in the distance.

On the horizon tens of thousands of meters away, a Black Dragon over sixty meters long, its entire body covered in dark gold scales, was flying toward them with terrifying pressure!

"Who is it?!" The Grand Elder's eyes widened, his voice tight.