From the first peal of the bell to the deaths of the Spirit God and the Barbarian God, and the imposing figure hovering in midair with a presence that awed heaven and earth, only a few breaths had passed.
"Go!"
At the southern gate of San Francisco Royal City, one of the three terrifying auras that had dominated the battlefield collapsed with the Barbarian God's death. The other two swiftly faded and vanished. Cowed by the Huan Emperor's fearsome reputation, they had decisively fled.
A man's name was like a tree's shadow!
Countless legends surrounded the Huan Emperor, but none could match the shock of facing him in person. The moment he appeared, he had shaken the Barbarian God to death and slain the Spirit God. The other two Western True Gods had not even dared show themselves, attack, or announce their names. They fled outright, terrified of becoming the third sacrifice to mark his return.
Jian Shang did not pursue the two departing True Gods. With the ancient bell hovering above his head and the Godslaying Spear in hand, he simply remained in midair, surveying the battlefield in every direction.
There was no vast aura shrouding the battlefield, no invincible presence that dominated the world. He merely hovered in midair, yet the might of having slain two True Gods brought the frantic, bloody chaos of battle to a brief halt. It also gave Jian Shang a moment to survey the battlefield and gather his thoughts.
San Francisco Royal City was still San Francisco Royal City. Jian Shang could still recognize it, but it had changed drastically.
The once-prosperous royal city, nearly the equal of an imperial capital, had become a desolate, ravaged ruin before Jian Shang lost consciousness, with more than half its interior reduced to wasteland. Now, the