Above the Divine Capital's night sky, the long-gathered thunderstorm had yet to break.
Leaden clouds stretching ten thousand miles hung low, almost touching the Imperial City's highest glazed-tile roof. The air was as thick as congealed grease. Damp chill had been squeezed out entirely by scorching heat, replaced by a low-frequency hum that made divine souls tremble. This was no weather phenomenon. This was the Great Qian Dynasty's National Fortune, accumulated over a hundred and seventy years, boiling.
A crimson gold light pillar shot up from Taiji Hall, piercing heaven and earth. Within it, a Golden Dragon Phantom coiled, its scales and claws menacing. Its utterly emotionless eyes looked down upon the city's northern corner, leaving faint scorch marks in the void wherever its gaze passed.
"By the mandate of Heaven, the emperor decrees."
The vast voice resounded through every corner of the Divine Capital. Without a trace of humanity, cold and mechanical, it reverberated inside people's skulls. Those with weaker cultivation immediately collapsed, bleeding from all seven orifices. This was Imperial Power's prerogative of "Word is Law," burning National Fortune as fuel to forcibly rewrite the laws of the present world.
Golden light gathered in midair. Characters of Tadpole Gold Script, each as large as a bushel, appeared from nothing and arranged themselves into an Imperial Edict that blotted out the sky and sun. With every character that descended, the defensive formation above the Heavenly Prison groaned under the unbearable burden.
"Fang Mo, Heaven Prison Overseer, has thrown yin and yang into chaos, harbored demons, slaughtered Imperial Officials, and plotted rebellion. Our heart is deeply grieved. We hereby command Meng Tian, supreme commander of the Imperial Guards, to bear Taizu's Dragon Slaying Sword and apprehend him at once. Any who obstruct him shall be killed without exception and their