Inside the palace in Sacred Mountain City.
Heavy troops guarded the surroundings, and every general inside wore a solemn expression.
Khan Tuoba Zhen had just suffered an unprecedented, crushing defeat. His entire body had been cleaved in two.
Now Tuoba Zhen was reviving inside the palace.
Points of light continually gathered into the shape of a man.
But resurrection was hardly quick. Reconstructing his flesh and merging his soul would take several hours.
During this time, his soldiers needed to stand guard and buy him time to revive.
After roughly eight full hours, Tuoba Zhen finally revived, gasping for breath.
He looked utterly drained. Those around him immediately presented Heavenly Treasures to replenish his body.
Tuoba Zhen's expression was dreadful. Since reaching the Saint Realm, he had never lost so miserably.
To have cultivated to this level at his age, even he thought his achievement was extraordinary.
The Saintblood Baptism had awakened his constitution, and with all manner of Heavenly Treasures added to the mix, his cultivation naturally advanced swiftly.
Even in the history of the Northern Court, experts like him were rare.
Yet the emperor of the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty was even more outrageous. Tuoba Zhen had no idea how Li Chen had cultivated.
Angry though he was, Tuoba Zhen was thinking: The strength Li Chen displayed proves that I haven't yet reached the ceiling of cultivation in this world.
Initially, Tuoba Zhen had believed he had already reached that ceiling. After all, none of the Saint Realm experts he had encountered could match him.
Moreover, his progress had slowed in recent years, even coming to a halt, so he had assumed he had reached the limit.
Now, that no longer seemed to be the case. Li Chen's higher ceiling proved that Tuoba Zhen had not yet reached his