The Divine Court's Great Sage trembled all over as he climbed up from the ground and carefully placed the Imperial Edict, its golden light dimmed, on a jade table nearby.
His face was as white as paper, without a trace of blood, and his chest heaved violently, every breath carrying the burning sting of humiliation.
The humiliation he had suffered today weighed on his chest like a boulder of immense weight, stifling him until he nearly vomited blood. Yet what welled up deep within him was an even deeper helplessness and fear.
The being before him thought nothing even of the Divine Court Emperor Lord, who was about to prove his Dao and whose might bore down upon the universe. With a flick of his fingers, he had suppressed the Quasi-Emperor Artifact the Emperor Lord had personally forged.
What difference was there between a mere Great Sage like him and an ant before such a figure? However much resentment and indignation he harbored, it all seemed laughable and feeble before that absolute disparity in strength.
Trembling, he retreated far from the Imperial Edict before straightening his back, his face alternating between green and white. He wished he could dash his head against the ground and kill himself on the spot.
But even ants clung to life, let alone a dignified patriarch of an entire domain like him. In the end, he could not resign himself to death.
He raised his head with difficulty, not daring to meet Jiang Zhu's gaze. He only dared look at the Thirty-Three-Story Emperor Tower floating before him, stripped of all radiance and resembling ordinary iron.
Forcing down his emotions, he asked expressionlessly, "Can you let me go now?"
Every word seemed squeezed through his teeth, carrying bloody spittle and a tremor.
Resentment seethed in his