"Welcome, my emperor."
Elder Winter gazed at the Golden Light Projection, whose aura proclaimed his supremacy over all, and immediately fell to his knees, greeting him respectfully.
In the sky, the Golden Light Projection stood with his hands behind his back. He had dazzling golden hair and a handsome face as sharply defined as if carved by a blade. His deep eyes possessed a powerful magnetism that made him unforgettable.
Yet what drew people to him most was the majesty radiating from him, as though he stood above heaven and earth.
Across the world, countless powerful experts trembled beneath that pressure.
The moment the Golden Light Projection appeared, his gaze settled on Luo Li. Then a deep, grand voice thundered through heaven and earth.
"Luo Li, do you truly intend to refuse?"
At that moment, Luo Li raised her head against the War Emperor's pressure. She looked straight at the golden figure, her clear, melodious voice spreading through heaven and earth. "I am grateful for your favor, War Emperor, but I have no intention of becoming the War Hall's Saintess. Please choose someone else."
"Hehe, you certainly live up to being someone acknowledged by Luo Shen."
In the sky, the gold-robed War Emperor, whose bearing and elegance were unparalleled, gently clapped his hands. Rather than growing angry at Luo Li's words, his eyes filled with even greater admiration as he looked at her.
He turned toward Elder Winter and said calmly, "Affection between a man and a woman must be mutual. When have I ever used my power to force anyone?"
At those words, Elder Winter hurriedly bowed and admitted his fault.
Then the War Emperor shifted his gaze from Luo Li to Mandala and said with a faint smile, "Let us set aside the matter of the Saintess for now. But you, an Ancient Mandala Flower, have repeatedly challenged the dignity of my War Hall. You deserve punishment."
"War Emperor, given your status and position, wouldn't taking issue with such matters be beneath your dignity?" Luo Li asked gravely.
The War Emperor smiled indifferently. "If I let this pass so easily, others will think that I, the Western Heaven War Emperor, am weak and easily bullied. Rest assured, I will merely take these two back to the Western Heaven Battle Hall and suppress them for a few years. Once their temperaments have been tempered, I will let them leave. I will not take their lives."
Hearing this, Luo Li's lovely face immediately turned cold. Not only did the War Emperor intend to take Mandala away, he even planned to punish Mu Chen.
Facing the War Emperor's oppression, Mandala's expression remained unchanged as she shouted, "Junior brother, if you don't come out now, I'm going to tell on you!"
Her voice rang loudly through heaven and earth.
Everyone froze. The War Emperor himself was here-could calling out her junior brother really solve anything?
Yet just then, a terrifying wave of spiritual energy pressure erupted, blanketing the sky and earth. It actually matched the Western Heaven War Emperor's overwhelming presence.
Not even a Complete Earthly Sovereign could accomplish such a feat. Only a Heavenly Sovereign could.
The countless experts had never imagined that this Ancient Mandala Flower's junior brother would actually be a Heavenly Sovereign. At this revelation, their faces filled with horror.
"War Emperor, you will not take either my little senior sister or my junior away today."
The voice sounded from the sky. Countless experts raised their heads against the pressure and saw a young man clad in purple-gold battle armor step out through the air.
In the days since they had left the Ancient Heavenly Palace, with the Heavenly Emperor still alive, Mandala had grown increasingly close to her junior brother, Futu Yijing. His presence also gave her the feeling of being protected.
That was why she had shouted about telling on him without the slightest concern for maintaining her dignified image.
As soon as Futu Yijing appeared, Mandala and the others felt their bodies lighten, as though years of shackles had dissolved like frost beneath a spring breeze and gentle rain.
The other Earthly Sovereigns of the Mu Estate had long known about Mandala's relationship with Futu Yijing. When they had first learned of it, they had all been delighted to discover they now had a Heavenly Sovereign backing them, and had felt immensely fortunate to have joined the Mu Estate.
Luo Tianshen and the other members of the Luo God Clan were utterly stunned. The Complete Earthly Sovereign who had accompanied Mu Chen had actually called in a Heavenly Sovereign.
"We respectfully welcome the Heavenly Sovereign!" the other Earthly Sovereigns of the Mu Estate cried in unison.
They had been furious while suffering the War Emperor's oppression. Now that Futu Yijing had appeared, they could finally hold their heads high and breathe freely.
"Who are you?" the War Emperor asked, his expression dark.
"Futu Yijing, Demon-Slayer King of the Great Thousand Palace," Futu Yijing replied with a smile, in stark contrast to the War Emperor's ugly expression.
Compared with his connection to the Futu Ancient Clan, his status as a Demon-Slayer King of the Great Thousand Palace carried far more weight.
"So you're that second Demon-Slayer King. But if you think you can take these two from me today, I have two words for you: dream on!" Clearly, the War Emperor had heard of Futu Yijing. However, Futu Yijing had only been an Earthly Sovereign at the time, so he had not paid him much attention.
Now, however, the other man stood against him as a Heavenly Sovereign.
The War Emperor was somewhat wary of Futu Yijing's status in the Great Thousand Palace, but wariness was all it amounted to.
If he simply let those two go, it would utterly disgrace him as the Western Heaven War Emperor.
"I already told you-you won't take a single person away today!" Futu Yijing's aura erupted with savage force. His terrifying presence swept through heaven and earth, forcing everyone below the Earthly Sovereign level flat onto the ground.
"Do you think becoming a Heavenly Sovereign means I can do nothing to you? Today, I will teach you that even Heavenly Sovereigns have different grades!" The War Emperor unleashed an equally terrifying aura.
Cold sweat instantly drenched the backs of countless experts. Their scalps prickled, and they felt an overwhelming urge to flee.
If two Heavenly Sovereigns went to war, their battle would surely rend the heavens and shatter the earth. When that happened, even the entire Lesser Western Heaven Realm would likely be caught in the aftermath.
A clash at that level carried destruction in its very nature.
"Then let me see just how formidable you are, War Emperor!" Futu Yijing raised his right hand, and a long spear appeared in his grasp.
As he gripped the spear, terrifying blood energy spread through heaven and earth. Its sheer density sent chills through countless experts.
Futu Yijing lifted his hand, and an enormous dragon formed from spiritual energy soared upward and coiled overhead. Its terrifying aura made everyone feel that a single touch would annihilate them.
"True Dragon Precious Technique-Divine Dragon Tail Swing!"
Futu Yijing closed in like a phantom, sweeping his spear toward the War Emperor. The enormous spiritual energy dragon lashed its tail along the same crescent arc traced by the spear.
The War Emperor abruptly formed seals with both hands. Vast golden light immediately rose from his body like blazing golden suns, with figures faintly appearing within each one.
Buzz!
The golden suns shuddered, releasing a vast surge of spiritual energy that shook heaven and earth.
The golden suns gathered together and transformed into a massive golden cauldron. Countless figures were engraved upon it, resembling ranks of elite armies.
"War Spirit Indestructible Cauldron!"
The Western Heaven War Emperor gave a low shout. The golden cauldron immediately descended with crushing force, drawing the soaring spiritual energy dragon inside as it plunged.
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