Hearing Feng Qi dare invoke the Emperor's name to pressure him.
"Hehehehe."
Peng Lie suddenly let out a chilling low laugh.
At first, the laughter was exceedingly soft, but it gradually turned crazed, echoing ceaselessly through the grand hall and shaking dust from the beams and pillars.
Like the shrieks of evil ghosts seeping up from the depths of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, it coiled back and forth through the magnificently carved hall.
His skeletal fingers slowly brushed the jade pendant at his waist. The age-spotted skin on his face twitched, while the killing intent churning in his cloudy eyes nearly solidified into substance.
"Feng Qi, what a fine Principal Third Rank Chief Imperial Guard personally appointed by Your Majesty."
Peng Lie dragged out his words, enunciating every syllable with perfect clarity.
The next instant, crimson gang essence roamed around his body like a living thing, and the air crackled with the sizzling burst of flames.
"Back then, if this old man hadn't seen that you had a few decent bones in you, I'd have fed you to the Wild Dogs long ago!"
Before his words had even faded, the terrifying aura around Peng Lie surged severalfold.
"Boom—!"
A fire dragon carrying scorching heat tore through the air. Wherever it passed, the floor tiles shattered inch by inch.
Feng Qi had no time to react at all. He flew backward like a kite with its string cut, his back slamming heavily into a Coiled Dragon Pillar.
The silver armor covering his upper body melted into molten iron beneath the intense heat, sliding down his mangled, bloodied flesh.
It struck the ground with sizzling sounds, and the stench of burnt flesh instantly mingled with the smell of blood.
"Ahhh!" Feng Qi rolled madly across the floor, trying to lessen the