Chapter 22: Overwhelming Might

The Aquafire Martial Supreme reacted as quickly as he could; however, other than saving his grandson and himself, there was nothing more that he could do.

A shining ray of light tore through the sky, making a beeline straight for the marching Aquafire Empire. And in a matter of microseconds, the light ray pierced through the front of the army, annihilating thousands of soldier cultivators before they even realized what had happened.

“We’re under attack!” Xia Wen shouted with an uncharacteristic tone of weariness.

He may not have seen who unleashed that ray of light, but whoever it was, the culprit definitely wasn’t below the Martial Supreme Realm.

For Xia Wen, this sounded impossible. However, that degree of power could only be exhibited by someone of the Martial Supreme Realm; there was no way it was anyone weaker.

“I should’ve been the only Martial Supreme in Huaxia, whether belowland or aboveland, so where did this unknown powerhouse come from??” Xia Wen cursed under his breath, attempting to locate the source of that devastating light ray.

Just then!

*Fwooop—*

Another light ray, this one twice as large as the previous one and originating from a different direction!

“Sh*t!” Xia Wen used his Spiritual Energy to condense a barrier surrounding him and his grandson.

“Grandpa, what’s going on??”

“Just sit still and don’t move!”

Xia Wen had to focus. This incoming light ray made him feel a serious threat to his life, demanding absolute concentration.

’I can defend against this attack!’ Xia Wen thought with certainty.

Yet, when the large light ray came close enough for him to feel the singing of his hair follicles, the color drained from his face. He realized right then and there that there was no blocking this attack.

Luckily, this realization came just before the instantaneous shattering of his protective barrier. The light ray hadn’t even directly touched him yet, and he had already jumped out of the way, leaving the soldiers of his Empire to fend for themselves.

“Ahhh!”

Screams resounded as those who weren’t instantly incinerated were badly burned and crippled.

Looking back, Xia Wen observed something he’d never forget.

For a radius of thousands of meters, what was once a grassy field had become a charred wasteland. Tens of thousands of Martial Apprentices and Martial Masters had died, with several Martial Grandmasters and Martial Saints also having met their demise to the light ray.

The light ray didn’t discriminate between cultivation realms. It burned all equally.

“Senior, who are you!? What do you have against us??” Xia Wen shouted, his voice coming out mildly delirious. “Why are you hiding!? Show yourself!”

At first, no response came.

But then space rippled, preceding the appearance of a young man dressed in a golden robe, a domineering crown on his head. He had arrived through the usage of a Beyond Divine-grade technique derived from his comprehensions in the fragmented, inferior Laws of this world.

“You ask the ruler of the land you invade what I have against you? Should I simply lie down and wait for you to kill me instead?”

As soon as Xia Wen heard Jin speak, his complexion worsened. All the color drained from his face, and the more he observed the young Emperor, the more he realized just how terrifying of an entity he was.

’8th Layer Martial Supreme! No, maybe even higher!’

Being only in the 2nd Layer Martial Supreme Realm himself, Xia Wen dreaded the mere notion of a direct confrontation with Jin. But more than that, Xia Wen couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out where a powerhouse like this had sprouted from.

As for his identity as the Emperor of the strongest faction in the Sky Cloud Continent, the Aquafire Martial Supreme wasn’t surprised. After all, with power came status, and with the strength Jin displayed thus far, he was obviously more than qualified to become the ruler of the continent.

“My Lord, I believe there has been a misunderstanding between the two of us…”

Left with no other choice, the proud and mighty Aquafire Empire Supreme attempted to appease the incomprehensible entity before him. This was the only viable method he could think of that could potentially rectify the situation.

“A misunderstanding?” Jin repeated, arms folded.

“Yes, yes, definitely a misunderstanding!”

“So you haven’t declared war on me and my Empire?” Jin’s eyes narrowed.

“N-No, of course not! How would I dare do such a thing?? In front of Your Majesty, I’m not even worth mentioning. Not worth even the fart.” Xia Wen waved erratically, sweating like a pig.

“Grandpa…” The little blonde-haired boy had never seen his grandfather so subservient before. It puzzled him, making his big round eyes focus intently on the golden-robed young man.

“I see… So this is all a misunderstanding,” said Jin, his bone-chilling voice scaring Xia Wen silly.

’Oh no, he’s going to attack!’

Yet just as the Aquafire Martial Supreme threw up his arms, prepared to fight for a chance at survival, Jin’s suffocating aura subsided. A small smile emerged on his face, and with a kind voice, he asked, “How would you feel about becoming my guests?”

“Guests…?” Xia Wen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Relaxing his posture, he warmly replied, “It’d be our honor, My Lord.”

Jin nodded before turning around and guiding the massive invading force into the center of his Empire.

The various soldier cultivators of the Aquafire Empire had no idea what was going on, but after witnessing a single attack take out almost thirty thousand of their own, they dared not raise their voices. They simply followed the lead of their Emperor and the Little Emperor until ultimately arriving outside the Crimson Moon Palace some weeks later.

But before heading in, Jin stopped in a large open field some distance away from the palace.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep