Chapter 238: Chapter 226: Breaking the City

After some time, Nie Yun exhaled and stood up. He felt his Spirit was full and his power abundant. The injuries from his battle with Venerable Mi Hong had completely healed, and his stamina was once again at its Peak.

"Master, I have finished gathering my subordinates!"

"Master, I have gathered all the Wind Wolves in the Divine Wind Empire! They await your command!"

Just as he stood up, he heard shouts from nearby. He looked up to see that the Wind Wolf King, Zi Tong, and Hei Yan—his Three Great Demon Pets—had already gathered all their subordinates. A dense, black mass of Demon Beasts covered nearly the entirety of Luoding Mountain.

"Good. We’re going to Divine Wind City now to turn the entire Imperial Capital upside down. We’ll let everyone know the price of offending me, Nie Yun!"

With a cold snort, Nie Yun took to the sky and led the way, soaring toward Divine Wind City.

***

’The Ancestor and the others have been gone for a day now... Surely nothing has happened to them...’

In the Imperial Palace, the Emperor of the Empire sat on his throne with a haggard expression. His eyes darted toward the sky from time to time, revealing his extreme impatience.

"Your Majesty, the Right Minister and a group of high officials are outside, requesting an audience!"

A guard walked in from outside the Imperial Palace.

"I won’t see them! I won’t see anyone!" The Emperor of the Empire waved his hand dismissively, his brow furrowed.

"But... they said they have urgent matters concerning the stability of the Empire to discuss with Your Majesty!" the guard said, hesitating.

’Urgent matters concerning the stability of the Empire? Could they know that the Ancestor went to hunt down Nie Yun?’ The Emperor of the Empire was startled. After a moment’s thought, he nodded. "Let them in!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Not long after the guard left, a group of ministers in court attire walked in.

The Divine Wind Empire, like the other Six Great Empires, held martial strength above all else. Every minister was an exceptionally powerful individual, possessing at least the strength of the Qi Sect Realm.

Ever since the Left Minister, Zhao Zhenyu of the Zhao Family, had been casually killed by Nie Yun, the Right Minister, Fanx Shenjie, had monopolized control of the court, making him the most powerful official.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

Fanx Shenjie entered the grand hall and immediately fell to his knees.

"What is it?" The Emperor of the Empire’s heart skipped a beat. At this moment, the one thing he feared most was hearing someone say those two words: "something terrible."

"Reporting to Your Majesty, we’ve discovered a large gathering of Demon Beasts outside the city, numbering in the thousands! We fear they are about to attack Divine Wind City!"

said the Right Minister, Fanx Shenjie.

"You’re making a fuss over nothing. We have the thirty-thousand-strong City Guard Army and the eighty-thousand-strong Brave Cavalry Camp. Are we really supposed to be afraid of a mere few thousand Demon Beasts?" Hearing it was not news about the Ancestor and Nie Yun, the Emperor of the Empire breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand dismissively.

The Imperial Capital had been attacked by Demon Beasts and the Demon Race before. However, as the core of the Empire, its Defensive Power was terrifyingly strong; a few thousand Demon Beasts were nothing to worry about.

"Your Majesty is correct, but..." The anxious look on the Right Minister’s face did not diminish in the slightest.

"But what?"

"According to reports from our scouts, among these thousands of Demon Beasts, there are over a hundred at the Qi Sect level, five to six hundred at the Armor Realm, and the rest are all at the Gang Formation Realm! To be able to command such a powerful army of Demon Beasts at once, we fear... we fear that an Ultimate Venerable Demon Beast is targeting us!"

Right Minister Fanx Shenjie voiced his greatest fear.

"An Ultimate Venerable Demon Beast is targeting us? Could it be..." The thought of an Ultimate Venerable Demon Beast made an image of the young man’s three Demon Pets flash through the Emperor’s mind, and he shuddered involuntarily. "Did the scouts see what the leader looks like? Was it a Purple-Eyed Iron Armor Dragon, or a snow-white Wind Wolf King, or maybe a Black Bear?"

"It was none of them! It seems to be a human!" a minister named Wang Mumu said, clasping his fist.

"A human? As long as it’s not one of those three Demon Beasts, we’re fine. A human is easier to deal with. They’re probably just after money; give them enough, and they’ll likely retreat..." Hearing that the leader wasn’t one of the three Demon Beasts, the Emperor of the Empire breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, and Your Majesty knows this human!" Wang Mumu added, as if suddenly remembering.

"I know him? Who is it?" The Emperor of the Empire frowned.

"It is Lord Yun, the one Your Majesty newly appointed as King Yun!" Wang Mumu said, clasping his fist.

"Wha... what? King Yun? Nie Yun?" The Emperor of the Empire, who had just been feeling relieved that the army wasn’t being led by Nie Yun’s three Demon Pets, felt his eyes roll back as he nearly fainted.

’Oh, god, you have to be kidding me! For him to personally lead the Demon Beasts here means nothing happened to him... which means my ancestor, Fengg Yu, is probably dead!’

’It’s over. It’s really over this time...’

’I plotted against him so many times, and then the Ancestor went to kill him... How could he possibly let me go?’

Realizing this, the Emperor of the Empire slumped limply onto his high throne, his eyes vacant, like a boneless heap.

***

Before the towering gates of Divine Wind City, a dense crowd of people was lined up, waiting for the guards’ inspection and to pay the city entrance fee.

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

"I have to leave again today after I’m done shopping, so let’s get a move on!"

"I’m going to see the fissure in Divine Wind Plaza left by Lord Yun’s single sword strike! I hear it’s become a divine landmark!"

"It’s a shame. If we had been in Divine Wind City a few days ago, we could have seen that legendary duel! Lord Yun took on five Ultimate Venerable Powerhouses all by himself... He’s incredible!"

"Lord Yun is my idol, too. I wish I could be like him someday, making a name for myself by battling supreme experts in the most prosperous city in the Empire..."

All sorts of chatter could be heard from the crowded queue, but the most common topic was still the great battle from a few days prior.

The impact of the battle had been immense. A teenage prodigy, not yet seventeen years old, had faced off against five of the Empire’s Ultimate Venerable Powerhouses and defeated them one by one. It was an unprecedented feat, one that would likely never be surpassed, and everyone spoke of it with a relish and excitement they could barely contain.

The strong are revered no matter where they go.

Nie Yun, who became famous in a single battle, had already become an idol worshiped by countless people in the Divine Wind Empire.

"Huh? What’s that over there?"

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble violently, like an earthquake. The crowd then saw a herd of gigantic Demon Beasts charging toward the city from the plains outside.

Each Demon Beast was much larger than a fine warhorse. As they ran at full speed, they kicked up so much dust that they formed what looked like a long dragon of dirt and smoke outside the city walls.

"Why are there so many Demon Beasts? Are they attacking Divine Wind City? How is this possible...?"

Seeing so many Demon Beasts, everyone was terrified. Their faces went pale, and they were too tense to speak.

"Look! There’s a figure standing on top of that white Wolf King!"

"Ah... It’s Lord Nie Yun! King Yun!"

"That’s King Yun? Why has he brought so many Demon Beasts with him?"

Once the crowd got a clear look at the figure, an uproar immediately broke out.

"Halt, King Yun! The Empire has regulations forbidding Demon Beasts from entering the city at will. Please wait outside while I report this matter..."

The city guards were dumbfounded by the scene. One of them hurried forward and shouted, but before he could finish speaking, he saw a flash of sword light descend like a wrathful Celestial God, whistling through the air as it cleaved the city gate behind him.

BOOM!

The city gate, along with a section of the wall, collapsed in an instant. The young man then led the countless Demon Beasts into Divine Wind City without the slightest hesitation.

"Ah..." Everyone was dumbstruck by the scene. Ignoring the city guard’s plea, he had toppled the wall with a single sword strike. Was King Yun openly challenging the authority of the Divine Wind Empire’s Imperial Family?

This... was just too terrifying!

"Listen, everyone! As long as you don’t attack the Demon Beasts or get in our way, your safety is guaranteed. Otherwise, you die!"

Just as the crowd began to panic, a clear, loud voice boomed from the sky. The speaker was a flying Black Bear!

"Don’t attack the Demon Beasts, and don’t obstruct them?"

Hearing this, you would have to be a fool not to understand what was happening.

"King Yun is openly challenging the Divine Wind Empire’s Imperial Family? What in the world is going on?"

"The Imperial Family has ruled for so many years. Even if King Yun has some Demon Beasts, surely he’s no match for them!"

"I heard that King Yun became too powerful, which made the Imperial Family jealous. They sent assassins after him, but they failed. Now, King Yun is furious, and that’s why he’s here!"

"Who knows for sure? But no matter what, the realm is about to be plunged into chaos!"

All sorts of rumors flew through the crowd. Undeniably, human imagination is a terrifying thing. Despite knowing nothing for certain, the haphazard spread of gossip gave rise to all kinds of stories. However, one thing was clear to everyone: for King Yun to dare to do this, he must have his reasons. He was certainly not overestimating his abilities in a futile gesture.

"Stop! This is the Imperial Capital! You can’t just run wild..."

A large contingent of the City Guard Team moved to block the path of the numerous Demon Beasts.

"This is a personal grudge between myself and the Imperial Family. I don’t want to kill unnecessarily. Scram!"

Aboard the Wind Wolf King’s back, Nie Yun suddenly opened his eyes. His cold gaze pierced the leader of the City Guard Team like a razor’s edge, causing the man to break out in a cold sweat, too terrified to utter another word.

"Alright, withdraw!"

After being subjected to that gaze for only a moment, the City Guard leader could no longer bear the pressure and roared the command.

’A clash between great figures is not something people like us can get involved in. The best thing to do is stay far, far away and pretend we saw nothing. Otherwise, we won’t even know what killed us!’

While this City Guard Team chose to stand down, others were not so discerning. However, Nie Yun didn’t even have to lift a hand. The Black Bear in the sky swatted its paw down, instantly annihilating a contingent of several thousand soldiers and sending the remaining royalists scattering in defeat.

They advanced unimpeded and soon arrived before the Imperial Palace.

"Master, shall we charge straight in?" the Wind Wolf King asked with a howl, his dark eyes glinting with excitement as he stared at the high walls of the Imperial City before them.

"No need."

Waving his hand casually, Nie Yun abruptly stood up and pressed his palm forward.

BOOM!

With that single press of his palm, the tallest structure in the Imperial City collapsed with a deafening roar. Stone shattered into powder, dust filled the air, and countless defending guards were turned into shredded flesh.

"I’ll count to three. Emperor of the Empire, get your ass out here now! If you do, I will kill only you. Otherwise, I will slaughter every last living thing in this Imperial Palace!"

Clasping his hands behind his back, Nie Yun spoke coldly, his voice soaring to the heavens and echoing throughout the entire Imperial City.

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