A mournful horn blast rolled across the capital like thunder, echoing far into the distance. An army of a million cultivators stood arrayed before the city walls. The Heavenly Wind Kingdom's defending generals looked upon the sight and felt only despair rise in their hearts.

  The eight marquis houses had brought too many powerhouses. Their hidden legion reserves proved no weaker than the king's original four great armies. Now only three remained—Su Chen had effortlessly claimed the Black Tortoise Army for himself long ago.

  Inside the royal palace.

  "Your Majesty, urgent report! The Marquis of Pacifying the Seas, the Marquis of Ink Abyss, the Marquis of Mysterious Ice… all eight great marquises have arrived at the gates with their armies. They intend to—"

  One of the kingdom's highest ministers stood trembling beside the throne. Before he could finish, the Heavenly Wind King cut him off with a cold laugh.

  "They intend to kill Us and take Our place—is that it?"

  The king's voice dripped with mockery. "We should have staked everything and killed that brat the moment he showed his face in the capital. If not for those old fossils of the main branch vouching for him, how could We have allowed this disaster to live this long?"

  Cold sweat poured down the minister's face.

  The king continued speaking to himself, unperturbed. "Those main-branch relics thought they could groom Feng Chen into another Grand Ancestor, a guardian for our Feng clan. How could they know the wolf cub only ever wanted to overthrow the main branch—even take Our head?

  "At first We only planned to quietly eliminate him. Who could have guessed he would slip through our fingers time and again? But if he thinks he can topple the main branch so easily, he is sorely mistaken."

  The king's expression remained eerily calm, untouched by the terror of an army at the gates. In that moment, he no longer concealed his cultivation.

  Half-step… Profound Connection realm!

  …

  Amid the vast, surging army,

  Su Chen frowned. He sensed an unprecedented, terrifying energy emanating from within the capital.

  "At least peak ninth-layer Spirit Soul… perhaps even stronger."

  The royal capital had indeed been hiding an old monster. Yet he felt no fear. He turned slightly and cupped his hands toward the elder beside him. "The rest will be up to you, Grandfather."

  The Marquis of Pacifying the Seas gave a firm nod. In the next instant, he transformed. His body swelled into a dozens-of-zhang-tall giant clad in golden armor—majestic, domineering, unstoppable. He executed one of the superior-grade spiritual martial techniques recorded in the Spirit Communion manual. A single fist slammed against the capital's grand protective array.

  BOOM!

  An earth-shattering explosion rang out. Countless runes shattered and fell like radiant rain.

  Inside the city, innumerable people burst into clouds of blood mist in an instant. The entire capital was stained crimson. The once-impregnable grand array was torn open with a gaping hole. The sight sent a surge of exhilaration through the allied forces of the eight marquises.

  To the defenders of the capital, it felt as though the sky itself had collapsed. In the space of a single breath, the array had been broken. The Marquis of Pacifying the Seas… had already stepped infinitely close to the Profound Connection realm!

  At that moment, a figure cloaked in golden light emerged from within the capital.

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  "You lot think you can replace Us? 'Cleanse the sovereign's side, pacify the kingdom's calamity'—do you take Us for some powerless, incompetent ruler?"

  The hoarse voice carried overwhelming dominance. It rolled outward, shaking every soul in the eight marquis alliance.

  Su Chen's expression grew grave. The king had hidden his strength far too deeply. Without anyone noticing, he had quietly reached half-step Profound Connection.

  Fortunately, the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas had reached the same boundary.

  Killing intent surged like an ocean, terrifying fluctuations spreading for ten thousand meters.

  "Feng Yu! No matter how well you concealed your cultivation, today this marquis will demand justice for Chen'er!"

  With a furious roar, the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas charged straight toward the Heavenly Wind King.

  The clash of two half-step Profound Connection realm powerhouses erupted in an instant, capable of destroying heaven and earth.

  This was power far beyond the reach of ordinary Spirit Soul cultivators. Profound Connection realm—enough to claim kingship. Even at half-step, the two fought like sovereigns of heaven and earth.

  "Kill!"

  While the king battled the marquis, Su Chen immediately led the army in a charge through the breach. The main branch of the Feng clan also dispatched its strongest experts. The final, decisive war for the fate of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom had begun.

  "Feng Chen, as long as you order a retreat, We swear—never again will anything like this happen. No one will ever move against you in secret!"

  An elder of the main Feng branch still tried to reason with Su Chen.

  Su Chen only let out a cold laugh. They had already raised the banner of rebellion. Surrender now? That was simply asking to die. Countless powerhouses flooded into the fray.

  Spirit Vein realm cultivators died like ants, falling in droves. Spirit Sea realm experts fared little better—merely larger ants. Only those at Spirit Soul realm truly decided the main battlefield.

  Su Chen clashed directly with one of the main branch's Spirit Soul realm clan elders. This was the first time he had fought at the Spirit Soul realm. His opponent was formidable. Su Chen gained no advantage at all. In the end it was only when the Master of the Startling Swan Spear found an opening that the elder was finally slain.

  High above, the duel between the Heavenly Wind King and the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas raged on without pause.

  Su Chen plunged straight into the ancestral grounds of the Feng main branch, intent on slaughtering every last member of the core lineage.

  Heads rolled. Blood flowed in rivers.

  He spared not even the high ministers of the court. He trod across the bones of dukes and marquises that littered the royal streets. After this battle, the order of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom collapsed completely. The other marquises watched and thought Su Chen had gone mad.

  Yet inwardly they rejoiced. They hoped he would kill every last one of them. If Su Chen became the main branch and ascended the throne, he would have no strength left to control them. The realm would plunge into utter, endless chaos.

  Only Su Chen knew he had not lost his mind. He had simply seen red. As long as those court heavyweights lived, his heart would never know peace. What became of the world afterward no longer concerned him.

  Just as he was on the verge of wiping out the entire main branch, the sky changed. Black clouds gathered, thick and oppressive. From deep within the ancestral grounds of the main branch, a coffin rose slowly into the air… then opened without warning.

  An old man stepped out. His face was pale as paper, eye sockets sunken, eyes dull and lifeless, devoid of any spark—as though the flame of life could gutter out at any moment.

  In an instant, every sound of battle across the battlefield fell silent. Only the old man's faint, labored breathing remained. His skeletal hand reached forward.

  Su Chen felt a crisis unlike anything he had ever known.

  Bang!

  An ancient elder from one of the marquis houses exploded into a mist of blood without warning.

  Another finger pointed.

  Another Spirit Soul realm powerhouse burst apart like fireworks in midair.

  Su Chen's hair stood on end. Soon, he stood completely alone. Everyone around him was dead. Even the Master of the Startling Swan Spear.

  "Profound Connection realm… this is the Feng clan's founding ancestor, Feng Tianxing. He's still alive!"

  Cold sweat drenched Su Chen's back. Unwillingness and rage filled his heart. He had been so close—just one final step!

  A Profound Connection realm cultivator could live at most eight hundred years. Yet from the founding of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom until now, nearly a thousand years had passed. This old monster had lived more than a millennium?

  There was no time left for thought.

  Seeing the situation turn catastrophic, the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas abandoned his duel with the king and rushed to carry Su Chen away.

  "Chen'er, run!"

  Before he could even draw near, the withered old man reached out and gently pinched. The marquis' body twisted grotesquely—then burst apart in an instant.

  The Heavenly Wind King arrived too late. When he saw the main branch reduced to a field of corpses, his eyes turned scarlet with fury as he glared at Su Chen.

  "What a ruthless heart… We will make you wish for death!"

  As the words fell, Su Chen laboriously raised one arm and raised his middle finger in defiance.

  A deafening roar shook the heavens. Then all sound ceased.

  The world fell utterly still.