Perfect World

Chapter 472: Chapter 472: Pushing Things Too Far
 

The sunset was like blood, and the sky was filled with fiery clouds.

Yet this fiery red, as it spilled over the imperial palace, was sacred, for it laced each of the sprawling palace buildings with golden edges, imbuing them with extraordinary tranquility and serenity.

It was as if this were the dwelling place of divine beings from an ancient temple, secluded in the deep mountains.

It was a strange feeling. Clearly, it was the capital of a nation, yet at this moment, it had taken on an unusual spirit, lofty and peaceful.

The towering imperial city, under the sunset, flowed with golden brilliance, dreamlike and majestic, as if the master of the divine realm had descended here, residing in this place.

“Boom!”

The tranquility was shattered, the ground trembled slightly, as dozens of people approached from the distance. Those in the lead radiated precious light, forming divine halos around their bodies, as if deities had descended to the dust!

The trembling of the ground was caused by the leader taking a step, making the sunset-imbued imperial city quiver with him, which was quite shocking.

The Heaven Mending Sect, Western Sect, and Immortal Mountain from the three sects came together, boasting five venerables. Each of them was immaculate, their bodies crystal clear, shrouded in resplendent divine light.

They reached the city walls and gazed into the imperial palace with twinkling eyes that conveyed the depth of time and an oppressive killing intent.

The appearance of five great venerables at once, with their fluctuations and presence, stirred everything between heaven and earth, striking awe into the hearts of all!

Upon the walls, whether soldiers or war generals, all trembled continuously. It was not due to cowardice, but a suppression from the soul, making people feel as minuscule as ants, as if looking up to the gods.

The gap in echelons was too vast; with the presence of the venerables, their oppressive might was incomparable, simply unbearable, with many soldiers nearly collapsing on the city walls.

After entering the Venerable Realm, one would transcend the mortal world, truly leaving behind the dust of the earth to stand high above, far surpassing other realms, as if standing in the vast firmament.

When a venerable was angered, the heavens and earth would change color, mountains would shatter, rivers would dry up. Such was their mighty power!

On an ordinary day, venerables were never seen; even in places like the Primordial Divine Mountain, their presence was a great deterrent force. Venerables rarely trod the mortal world, instead focusing on secluded cultivation.

After the great catastrophe, when the Venerable of the wasteland vanished without a trace, today, five venerables appeared all at once, about to enter the imperial palace, making it feel as if the sky were collapsing!

Who could stop them? It was simply impossible to combat such might!

Even as powerful as Shi Hao was, having previously driven away a middle-aged female Daoist of the Venerable Realm, he would certainly die without a doubt in the face of these five, with no chance of victory whatsoever.

“Open the city,” said the leading elder from the Western Sect, his inch-long hair standing like steel needles, his body bronze-colored, pulsing with divine light.

A casual word, but such that it nearly made the group on the city walls spew blood. The oppressive force was too terrifying, simply impossible to contend with.

“Activate the array!” a war general roared.

The entire imperial city, being the emperor’s residence, was naturally engraved with many mysterious arrays. Characters along the wall lit up, forming a light screen to protect the entire imperial inner city.

“But a trifle.”

The venerable from the Western Sect pointed with his hand, and a beam of white light shot out, hitting the city gate’s tower. Like a flame, it burned swiftly, suppressing all the characters in the area, dimming them completely.

“Just a ruined Divine Spirit Formation, lacking divine materials for repair, and yet you dare to deploy it to obstruct our path?” a young man sneered from behind.

With the venerables present, these soldiers were not qualified to control the ruined Divine Spirit Formation. To the cultivators from the three sects, it was futile to try to stop their advance.

“Sacrifice the Array!” the war general shouted again.

On the city walls, characters flickered again, faintly emanating the breath of divine beings, blazing intensely. The entire wall was illuminated, shining brightly as if made of jade stone.

“Ah, you really spare no expense. You’ve repaired a part of it, and with various rare materials burning, you’ve managed to activate the array. It’s just too wasteful,” remarked a venerable from behind.

The city walls emitted a terrifying aura, halting their advance. It was the power of an ancient deity, rapidly reviving, turning this place into an impregnable fortress.

“We cannot be stopped,” declared the venerable from the Western Sect. In his hands appeared a black alms bowl that started to glow, radiating streaks of auspicious light.

“A Divine Spirit Artifact!” the people on the city walls exclaimed in shock as the alms bowl rose and gradually enlarged, turning from black to gold, bearing down heavily. The entire gatehouse trembled loudly, on the verge of collapse.

All characters on the wall were extinguished, unable to form a protective light shield any longer.

All soldiers slumped down, overpowered by the formidable pressure of the venerables and the presence of the Divine Spirit Artifact, weak and insignificant as ants, suffocating under that oppressive force.

The venerable from the Western Sect had already put away the alms bowl, but the force he emitted was still like a vast ocean, difficult for mortals to resist, with mana that roared like a tempest.

Even the war generals on the city walls could not withstand it, legs weakening, all collapsing to the ground, convulsing throughout their bodies, almost bursting apart from the overwhelming power.

Even if a king were to come in person, the result would be the same. This was the profundity that venerables held, above all else, capable of dominating all directions and slaughtering tens of thousands with a single thought.

Beings of this caliber could instantly traverse the ends of the sky, inhale, and suck millions of living beings into their mouths, devouring them completely.

Such strength at such a realm made conventional forces utterly insignificant, invincible in combat, capable of annihilating an entire clan or breaching an impregnable fortress in a mere moment of thought.

“It seems that Little Stone has exhausted his tricks, unable to even repair the city gate properly, how can he defend? We will enter as if it were unguarded,” a Venerable One spoke from the rear.

“Esteemed predecessors, what is the meaning of this? This place is the forbidden ground of the Stone Country imperial family. Please halt,” a War General on the city wall barely managed to speak out amid such pressure, his face pale and lacking color.

“Once a Venerable One emerges, where can they not go? Even if it’s an imperial city of a nation, let Little Stone come out to meet us,” a cultivator from Heaven Mending Sect spoke up.

On the city wall, a group of people bristled with indignation. Though they were no match for this force, they still felt resentful, sensing humiliation. The hallowed ground of an entire nation’s royal family was being invaded just like that.

“Open the gates!” A Venerable One from Immortal Mountain said, his words calm but carrying an immense sense of authority.

“We won’t open!” A soldier shouted defiantly, filled with valor.

“You won’t open? Then I will do it myself,” a Venerable One from the Western Sect declared, forming seals with his hands and taking the form of a Divine Lion. With a dong, a golden lion burst forth from his fingertips, slamming against the city gate.

The world was in uproar, the entire capital was shaken by a great earthquake. Were it not for other Venerable Ones maintaining protection, the capital would have suffered a great disaster, with countless buildings possibly collapsing.

Within the inner city, the royal city wall cracked, and the massive gateways were repeatedly struck. Various characters flashed non-stop, and finally, they collapsed with a thunderous crash.

On the city wall, many soldiers’ eyes turned red with rage. This bullying was intolerable. Was it proper to invade an imperial palace like this, treating it as nothing?

“How can you…act like this?!” Several War Generals bellowed angrily.

The five Venerable Ones looked over at them coldly, striking them like a thunderbolt. They all coughed up blood, retreating continuously, and then collapsing back onto the city walls.

The power of the Venerable Ones was unimaginable; it wasn’t just these soldiers that were futile, even a horde of Imperial Titles would cough up blood and be forced to retreat.

Some spirited soldiers were about to roar out and fight desperately, but they were stopped by several War Generals, who loudly chastised them, preventing their impulsiveness.

The War Generals had received secret orders from the New Emperor to assume such a stance, to let the Venerable Ones in without fighting to the death. Now was almost the right time; any further and it might become dangerous.

“Behave yourselves, properly and respectively. Don’t make a mistake that costs you your life,” one of the Venerable Ones from Heaven Mending Sect coldly scanned them.

Thereafter, these people stepped into the imperial city, walking towards each grand palace with faint smiles on their faces, truly as if entering a land without owners.

“The Stone Country imperial city is but flat ground; how could it stop the footsteps of a Venerable One?”

Behind the Venerable Ones were their disciples, brought here to broaden their horizons. Some sneered mercilessly, mocking without reservation.

“How is the forbidden ground of the royal family any different? We walk as if on flat ground. What does the royal family of the mortal dust count for?”

Hearing these words, all the soldiers guarding the city were enraged, their blood boiling with the urge to immediately leap into battle. However, they were sternly rebuked by several War Generals and were stopped.

“It’s truly unbearable, the revered ground of our Stone Country’s royal family. How can we tolerate such desecration and insult?” An old soldier coughed up blood from rage.

The five Venerable Ones continued forward, their expressions cold, not reacting in the slightest, passing through several palaces and heading towards the deepest depths.

Their disciples laughed heartily, their eyes filled with contempt for the old soldiers on the walls as they followed the advance. This moment was very gratifying for them, dispelling their previous frustrations.

After all, the cultivators from the three sects had once been driven away from here. Now returning, they expressed their feelings unreservedly, giving them immense satisfaction.

“Has Little Stone fled?” a Venerable One from Heaven Mending Sect asked coldly, not only shaking the imperial palace but also echoing throughout the entire Stone Capital like rolling thunder.

He wanted to create precisely this effect, letting everyone understand that the mere New Emperor didn’t weigh much in the eyes of the Venerable Ones. They could invade the imperial palace with abandon, asserting dominance over the New Emperor.

In this moment, the entire Stone Capital fell silent; everyone held their breath, the atmosphere in the capital tense to its limit.

“I am here; I will not allow you to be presumptuous!” a majestic voice rose, Shi Hao’s words emulating thunder, reverberating throughout the capital.

“Since you haven’t fled, young emperor, hurry and come forward to receive us,” a grandiose voice thundered, rolling across the sky.

Near the Central Heavenly Palace, True Dragon energy boiled over, golden radiance pierced the heavens, and the Battle Sword clanged loudly, shaking heaven and earth to the point where the evening glow was dispelled.

A youth dressed in a golden lion armor, holding a Divine Spirit Law Sword, bearing the National Guardian Divine Halberd on his back, his black hair disheveled, eyes electric, he looked down from afar, fixing his gaze on the five great Venerable Ones who had invaded.

“You’re courting death!”

His brief words were laden with an indescribable formidable “momentum,” a supreme authority enveloping the world as if a Heavenly Emperor had descended, standing firmly in place!

Hearing this, the five Venerable Ones’ eyes turned icy. From a distance, separated by many palaces, they beheld the youth wrapped in a golden light that spread across the heavens like a sovereign among the gods, making all their hearts skip a beat.

However, they quickly came to terms with the situation. With five great Venerable Ones present, who could contend? The Divine Spirit Formation here had been destroyed in the great catastrophe, and even if the materials were available, who could repair a Divine Level Array in such a short amount of time? Moreover, the materials from the Shi Clan’s treasure vault had long been emptied by several Princes and princesses they supported, with many falling into the hands of the three sects.

Even if that Little Stone defied the heavens and repaired the great Array, it would have been futile, as they had obtained parts of the Array’s ruined drawing from the imperial family and harbored no fear.

“Little Stone, your overconfidence and obstinacy are not the marks of an emperor. Come forward quickly and let us discuss the matter of the throne,” one of the Venerable Ones said coldly.

They called him Little Stone, a young emperor with such irreverence, even intending to depose an emperor, an outrageous act of bullying. Moreover, each acted with detachment, cozily sure that everything was under their control.

“I have only one sentence for you,” Shi Hao proclaimed, his body brimming with fighting spirit as he stood before the Central Heavenly Palace, looking coldly at the crowd. “Suppress and kill them all!”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)