Chapter 1287: Chapter 1285: The Holy Empress’s Tactics
"Master, your disciple is incompetent and has not met your expectations."
Che Renzhong wore a face of shame. It was only in front of Shi Xuanzhong that he would reveal his feelings of inferiority and vulnerability.
"You have already done very well, get up."
Shi Xuanzhong smiled.
At over eight hundred years old, he had become a leading figure, even sixteen thousand years ago, Che Renzhong would have been enough to shock the Martial World. Not to mention, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was nowhere near comparable to the past eight hundred years.
If given enough time, Shi Xuanzhong believed, the other party would undoubtedly become a Supreme Lord, and moreover, a top tier one among them.
"What, he really is a disciple of the Holy Monarch?"
Not only Supreme Lords but also the Great Battles Emperor and the Spirit Ink Emperor rushed to East Victory City. The distance from Hundred Battles Tower to Bee Island was not far; with the speed of a top figure, it would only take a quarter of an hour.
Seeing Che Renzhong kneeling before Shi Xuanzhong, the Great Battles Emperor was dumbfounded, and while shocked, he couldn’t help but feel boundless jealousy and envy.
This was the Holy Monarch, a legendary figure worshiped in the records of various eras, truly acknowledged as the number one master in the world. Sixteen thousand years apart, by what virtue and ability could Che Renzhong be worthy to pay respects to such a master.
Wait, the appearance of the Holy Monarch... Previously distracted by the Holy Monarch’s aura, the Great Battles Emperor had not paid attention to his looks, but now, taking a closer look, he was scared out of his wits.
Shi Xiaole?
No, it can’t be the same person, but there was a seventy to eighty percent resemblance. Recalling Che Renzhong’s past remarks, the Great Battles Emperor’s mind was thunderstruck.
Could it be, could it be that Shi Xiaole really is the son of the Holy Monarch? How is this possible!
The Spirit Ink Emperor standing beside him was even more overwhelmed. The Great Battles Emperor at least had some forewarning, but the Spirit Ink Emperor was caught completely unaware, stupefied and clueless.
"This is your master’s wife."
Shi Xuanzhong introduced Che Renzhong, pointing to the noble and dignified Holy Empress beside him.
"Master’s wife!"
Che Renzhong hastily paid his respects, every move was extremely reverent.
The Holy Empress smiled and said, "You are a good child; Xuanzhong seldom praises others."
From the outside, Che Renzhong seemed much older than the Holy Empress, but when she spoke these words of praise for a junior, no one felt it was improper.
In the heart of Che Renzhong, a warmth surged forth.
The ones standing before him were the legendary Holy Monarch and Holy Empress, known throughout the ages. He had been abandoned by his biological parents, yet he had received sincere kindness from this couple; how greatly blessed he was by the heavens.
"Shi Xuanzhong, you have finally come. Due to the invasion of the Outer Heaven Demons back then, the decisive battle between you and me never took place. This time you should not have any excuses."
The leader of the Blade Slaves Sect was brimming with fighting spirit, his Demon Blade hung at his waist. Feeling its master’s will, it unsheathed itself halfway automatically, releasing blade energy that caused a persistent dark crack in the sky.
"Don’t act rashly. A powerful enemy is before us, and it is important that we present a united front."
The Immortal Scholar quickly tried to persuade him.
"Blade Slave, if you can catch this one strike from me, the decisive battle can be postponed."
Without waiting for others to stop him, the leader of the Blade Slaves Sect’s right hand flashed out like lightning. As he spoke, he grasped the handle, and with a shake of his right arm, the Demon Blade was instantly unsheathed.
To those below the Supreme Realm, the speed of the blade had already surpassed the range of their perception. And even for the Supreme Lords, they could only see a flash of the blade, where a blurred blade energy carrying an overwhelming killing intent, was instantly directed at the Holy Monarch.
The eyes of the Blade Slave leader were fierce.
Back then, he was ranked fifth in the world, while Shi Xuanzhong was the first. But he was not convinced.
Especially after he practiced the "Ninety-Nine Demon Devils Eighteen Blade Techinques" up to the seventeenth technique, he firmly believed his own strength was sufficient to easily defeat Shi Xuanzhong from those years.
So he had to unleash this strike, otherwise, it would breed inner demons.
The ancestor of the Fire Stiffs watched with a flicker in his eyes. He was stpe behind the Blade Slave leader, but no matter, it was a good opportunity to gauge the strength of both parties.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
The aura formed by the many Supreme Lords was split in two in an instant, the blade light more dazzling and piercing than a collapsing star, tearing through everything in its path, striking towards Shi Xuanzhong.
Ninety-nine percent of the Supreme Lords present changed their complexion, reckoning that if they were in his place, they definitely couldn’t catch that strike.
And even for beings as strong as the ancestor of the Fire Stiffs, the Sorcerer Lord, and the Immortal Scholar, their expressions were somewhat grave. They could certainly catch this blade, but it would not be easy.
The question was, how much strength had the Blade Slave leader used?
Facing this blade that had intimidated the Supreme Lords present, Shi Xuanzhong slowly extended two fingers.
"Arrogant!"
The Blade Slave leader was both shocked and angry, his cold laughter unceasing.
The blade light suddenly accelerated. If it was previously comparable to a passing comet, then at that moment, it was a streak of aurora traversing the cosmos, making even time stand still because of it.
What’s more exaggerated was that the blade’s speed was constantly increasing, faster each moment than the last, as if there was no end to it.
Shi Xuanzhong remained expressionless, and as his two fingers stretched out, everything around him began to slow down, as though the river of time had been dammed, stopping the flow of time itself.
This slowness was not the mental perception caused by the excessive speed of the blade; it was more like a real event happening!
When the blade light came within a hundred yards of Shi Xuanzhong, its speed plummeted, it became part of the surroundings, and as time slowed, it kept approaching a standstill.
Clang!
Shi Xuanzhong flicked his finger.
The Demon Blade changed direction, bursting out of the hundred-zhang area and transformed into a streak of cosmic extreme light, striking back at the Blade Slaves Sect leader with even greater speed.
The latter leapt into the air, and at the critical moment, he accurately grasped the handle of the blade.
Recognizing its master, the Demon Blade rang out, but could not shed the force imposed on it, and carried the Blade Slave leader as he flew backward for tens of thousands of meters before finally coming to a stop.
"The Supreme Realm!"
The Blade Slaves Sect leader looked at Shi Xuanzhong with a face full of shock, his pupils contracting repeatedly.
What is the ultimate secret of martial arts?
This question has been pondered by all martial artists from ancient times, with the Supreme Lord being the precursor. According to the records, when the Supreme Lord’s power reaches its limit, he can alter the operation of the forces of heaven and earth.
This is the Supreme Realm.
After all, everything in this world boils down to the workings of power. Even space and time are but products under the influence of power. To grasp the essence of power is equal to holding the secrets of the universe.
Clearly, Shi Xuanzhong had touched the verge of the Supreme Realm.
The reason for saying "touched" is that just now he was only able to influence an area of a hundred zhang, while the true Supreme Realm, it is said, can affect the entire heaven and earth.
Of course, Shi Xuanzhong surely held back; this was his customary tactic, always concealing his full hand. But the more he did so, the more it sent shivers down people’s spines, for its unfathomability.
Hiss!
Not only was the Blade Slaves Sect leader shaken, but everyone else was also astoundingly shocked.
The ancestral Fire Stiff gazed deeply at Shi Xuanzhong, choosing not to make a move. He knew that to act would only invite humiliation unless he paid a hefty price, but that would be meaningless.
"What just happened?"
"I don’t know, it seemed like nothing happened."
The many martial artists of East Victory felt as though they had been dreaming. The only certainty was that the man who greatly resembled the lead boss, and who appeared godlike, had taken a decisive upper hand.
"My friends, we should talk about how to confront the Outer Heaven Demons."
Shi Xuanzhong, accompanied by many followers, landed on the peak of East Victory and opened with this statement.
Looking around, the Immortal Scholar was the first to speak, "The limits of heaven and earth have just recovered, and it should take some time before the demons can cross over. Before then, we must define the battleground to avoid affecting ordinary people."
The war of that year, due to being caught off guard, left the entire East Victory continent split in half, with countless ordinary people dying in the process. If possible, no one wanted to repeat that disaster.
"Shi, you must have a strategy in mind, why play mysterious?"
The ancestral Fire Stiff huffed and looked at Shi Xuanzhong.
Shi Xuanzhong, however, turned towards his beloved wife.
At this moment, Fairy Xinluo and the Red Jade Saint stepped forward together, calling out "Master" in unison, and then turned to Shi Xuanzhong, saluting and calling him "Grandmaster," before respectfully stepping aside.
The Holy Empress said, "I had chosen this place back then and laid down the eyes of the Seal Heaven Array. After years of evolution, the main array is about to take shape. We might as well use East Victory City as the battlefront to keep the Outer Heaven Demons outside the city walls."
The others listened and were inwardly astonished. They knew the Holy Empress was supremely intelligent and hadn’t expected her to have laid the groundwork sixteen thousand years ago.
While they were contemplating this, the Holy Empress, along with her two personal disciples, began setting up the array.
With a humming sound, mysterious golden rays of light suddenly burst from the depths of a pit millions of miles away, crisscrossing and matching the previously set Seal Heaven Array.
From each of the securely sealed Ten Great Dangerous Places, thread-like streams of power surged toward East Victory City through the connected Array System.
The array outside East Victory City was being enhanced at a jaw-dropping pace. Initially a pinnacle Sky Origin Array, when it finally stabilized, the aura it exuded made even the ancestral Fire Stiff and the Blade Slaves Sect leader feel tremors in their hearts.
The Holy Empress had long since prepared her plans, and back then, her incarnation Ling Yujie specially chose this place to further activate the array’s focal points, so everything today was just a matter of course.
But to others, the Holy Empress’s methods and mastery of the Array System could only be described as earth-shattering and unprecedented.
Who else in the world had such bold vision to use the Ten Great Dangerous Places as sources for an array, and who else could utilize it as she had?
Only the Holy Empress!
"Hahaha, excellent! The Outer Heaven Demons want to cross over; they can only enter through the Overlapping Land into the pit. But the pit has already been secured by the Holy Empress’s peerless array. And the Ten Great Dangerous Places have also been sealed. As long as we hold this place, we can protect East Victory. The Holy Empress is brilliant!"
The Immortal Scholar gave a thumbs up, praising again and again.
The others also let out a sigh of relief. In this way, they could at least be more at ease than before.
As for the countless martial artists stationed in East Victory City, they were already stupefied and when they found out what was going on, they couldn’t help but shout out loud.
"This time the Outer Heaven Demons will send even stronger warriors, we can’t take them lightly."
The Holy Empress showed no hint of pride.
After she spoke, suddenly sensing something, she looked towards someone within the distant crowd, her mind blanking for a moment, speechless.
After the Seal Heaven Array was activated, Shi Xiaole was moved out of the Immortal Palace just in case of danger and rushed to East Victory City at the first sign of trouble, witnessing everything that had just happened.
He did not step forward but watched from a distance. Despite knowing they were his biological parents, a certain unfamiliar barrier still caused Shi Xiaole to hesitate.
