The battlefield was a sea of blood-red haze.
Countless martial artists held their breath, their pupils contracting as they stared fixedly at the battle atop the Embroidered Uniform Guard's pinnacle of power. At last, king faced king.
It took only one punch.
The Purple Cauldron condensed from purple qi-
Shattered into pieces!
It could no longer coalesce.
Before every watching eye, the young man in the Purple Python Robe staggered back more than ten steps. As the blood mist dispersed, his face visibly paled.
Yet the man in the Golden Flying Fish Uniform remained towering and immovable throughout.
Against a punch that could carry Mount Tai across the northern sea, even Lord Jia, who stood in the same realm, could not withstand it.
The Purple Cauldron collapsed, and he retreated a full twelve steps.
And this was only their first exchange.
Countless martial artists looked horrified. In truth, they had expected this all along; they had merely been awed by the purple qi surrounding a nineteen-year-old. But the favor of martial destiny could never outweigh decades of accumulated strength.
He had been too impatient.
Impatient to blaze with golden light, impatient to ascend to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's pinnacle. Had he lain low for a few more years, Lord Jiang would surely have fallen to him then. Time was merciless and cruel; Lord Jia was the future.
But now that he had rushed into battle, did he still have any chance of surviving?
The Kirin Office Embroidered Uniform Guards clenched their fists, then let them fall helplessly. Could flesh and blood truly unleash that blood-red fist that blotted out the sky?
"He hasn't the slightest chance," the eunuch guarding the Ancestral Hall murmured.
But beside him, the wrinkled Old Eunuch swallowed, his clouded eyes filled with horror.
The next instant,