Volume 3 - Chapter 417: Fame Shakes the Imperial Star, Progenitor of the Su Clan (Part 2)
Su Muqing and Lin Zhexuan stood frozen, staring blankly at the attack descending upon them. Their minds stalled—the speed of the strike exceeded the limits of thought. The overwhelming pressure left them paralyzed, unable to move.
A deafening crash rang out.
Blood splattered.
The void shattered like glass.
“Muqing!”
Su Zhenyuan’s voice rang out like a madman’s.
“Zhexuan!”
Lin Daogong, likewise crazed, charged toward them—but it was too late.
Or so they thought.
Halfway there, both men came to a stunned halt.
Before them, blood sprayed, limbs broke, and two figures were blasted through the air.
But it wasn’t Su Muqing or Lin Zhexuan.
It was the purple-robed middle-aged man and the golden-eyed middle-aged man.
Thud. Thud.
Suddenly, the heavens and the earth shuddered in unison.
It was as though a massive, ancient heart had begun to beat—low and mighty.
The world fell utterly silent, save for that deep, rhythmic thump. Each beat stronger than the last.
It was as if some ancient being had awakened from the slumber of eternity.
The entire shift happened in an instant. The patriarchs of the noble houses, the many Celestial Kings, even Li Hao—all finally registered the vile attack of the purple-robed man, and were both shocked and furious.
Yet that thunderous heartbeat echoing through the skies made them all too afraid to move.
Only one figure broke through the silence—walking across the Dao arena like the only living being in a frozen world.
Li Hao.
He rushed to Su Muqing’s side, finding her trembling and dazed, tears streaking down her cheeks.
It wasn’t fear. It was the oppressive might of a half-step Demon Emperor—so overwhelming that her body had instinctively shuddered, her tears flowing uncontrollably.
In that fragile moment, she looked heartbreakingly beautiful. For an instant, Li Hao had the urge to pull her into his arms.
Thump. Thump!
The heartbeat sounded even louder—echoing right above his head.
Li Hao’s expression shifted. He looked up—and saw a figure.
No one knew when he had arrived, or where he had come from.
He was barefoot, dressed in a tattered gray-white robe, his hair the same shade—gray and white, soft and loose, swaying gently in the breeze. He stepped atop invisible stairs in the void, approaching one step at a time.
The heavens were still. The earth was silent.
Only that figure radiated the presence of a sovereign. Cloaked in ordinariness, yet bearing an invincible majesty that shook the world.
The patriarchs of the noble houses gaped, eyes wide with awe and trembling.
A Great Emperor.
A true Great Emperor of the human race!
Jiang Qiuyue and Lin Daogong were both stunned, then their pupils constricted in recognition.
That back—it was him.
The Progenitor of the Su Clan.
Su Zhenyuan came to his senses. His tall, broad body began to tremble like a leaf.
Tears surged from his eyes.
The Progenitor had awakened from his slumber.
“Empty.”
A single word left the gray-white-haired figure’s lips.
Though his hair was aged and pale, his face was youthful, cold and divine, as tranquil as a lake. Yet within his eyes was the passage of sun and moon, of life and death—the full weight of mortal existence.
Before him, the purple-robed and golden-eyed men were paralyzed with terror.
Even as half-step Demon Emperors, the gap between them and a true Great Emperor was vast—an unbridgeable chasm.
The Emperor’s terrifying pressure suffocated them. Their primordial spirits, domains, immortal bodies, and imperial hearts—all quaked as if ready to shatter and perish.
They struggled desperately against despair when suddenly, a vast aura descended from the far reaches of the stars, enveloping them.
From within that aura came a power that clashed against the invisible force of the Heavenly Dao.
The void rippled.
A singularity formed—so dense it could crush all light and matter.
But that horrifying force was redirected by another—transported elsewhere, sparing the Imperial Star from devastation.
The demon didn’t care where they fought—but the Progenitor of the Su Clan did.
Had the power of both sides been unleashed here, the entire planet would have been obliterated.
“Su Jiuze… you’re not dead?”
The Demon Emperor’s voice resounded. Though his aura descended upon the Imperial Star, his figure did not appear.
Su Jiuze, the Su Clan Progenitor, raised his head slightly. His gaze remained level.
“You’ve seen your answer. Is that not enough?”
“Seems you’ve got another era left in you. But with that crippled body… can you still defend the Northern Domain?”
The Demon Emperor chuckled. “I suppose that cycle of reincarnation poison still lingers?”
“No matter. Want to try?”
Su Jiuze’s eyes glimmered with something gentle, almost like an invitation to dance.
The Demon Emperor fell silent for a moment, then laughed.
“Not today. Another time!”
With that, his aura began to recede like the tide, gathering around the purple-robed and golden-eyed men, preparing to retreat.
“You break the rules and expect to leave so easily? Do you take me, Su Jiuze, for a corpse?”
Su Jiuze’s voice was calm.
But as he spoke, a razor-sharp sword intent burst forth.
It slashed through the retreating aura—severing it instantly!
A sword appeared. Simple, gray-white, unremarkable in appearance.
Yet it pierced the void and halted the Demon Emperor’s retreat.
Many of the elder patriarchs recognized it instantly. Their eyes widened.
“The Spring Severing Emperor Sword!”
In the True Realm, there had once been nine legendary Emperor Swords, famed across the world. But after the great war against the ancient demons, all of them vanished—along with the Great Emperors who wielded them.
And now, the Spring Severing Emperor Sword had returned.
“What do you want?”
The Demon Emperor’s voice dropped into a cold, steady tone.
“Take one strike from Spring Severing. If you live, you may go. If not—stay.”
Su Jiuze’s voice was emotionless.
The two demon elites looked at the Emperor Sword. Faint strands of blood coiled around its blade—hairline fractures perhaps.
They trembled inwardly. In the hands of a Great Emperor, even a damaged Celestial-Forbidden Imperial Artifact could unleash its full might. They had no chance.
As they silently cried out to the Demon Emperor for salvation, he finally spoke, after a pause:
“Very well.”
Then a voice reached the two demons:
“The Spring Severing Emperor Sword is damaged. Defend with all you have. Whether you survive depends on your fate.”
No explanation.
A Great Emperor needed none.
He wouldn’t fight Su Jiuze here—not on the Imperial Star, the human domain.
This land held a grand array. If Su Jiuze used it to attack, even he would suffer.
Upon hearing this, the two demons turned ashen. Despair flooded their hearts.
But the Emperor had spoken. There would be no turning back.
They could only channel all their power.
Clang!
The Spring Severing Emperor Sword trembled.
The space around its blade turned black, devouring all light and Dao-origin energy.
It was a void of absolute darkness—like the world before creation.
The two demons unleashed their full power.
They burned their primordial spirits, their domains, even drew upon broken imperial artifacts.
Boom!
A single stroke of sword light fell.
Their auras shattered.
Their imperial weapons shattered.
Their domains shattered.
Only their primordial spirits remained—split in two.
The Demon Emperor’s force swept up their broken spirits. With a cold snort, he cloaked the black warship in another wave of power, retreating along the imperial road that had pierced the void—vanishing at the speed of light.
The Spring Severing Emperor Sword soared back up, transforming into a streak of gray-white light.
It merged seamlessly into Su Jiuze’s flowing hair.
The demons had left.
Now, only the human clans and the three great families remained in the void.
“We pay our respects to the Great Emperor!”
“Respects to the Great Emperor!!”
The patriarchs snapped out of their stupor and dropped to their knees.
This was a Great Emperor of humanity—their very faith and foundation.
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