Outside the Su Imperial Clan's clan-protecting array!
A middle-aged man in a purple robe stood in the air.
His gaze was icy, and a hint of mockery played at the corners of his mouth. His narrow eyes made him look like a venomous snake.
More than a dozen people stood in the air opposite him.
At their head was an old man with graying hair, but his presence was not the slightest bit weak. He was a supreme expert at the Quasi-Emperor level at the very least!
"Wang Teng! Don't go too far! My Su Imperial Clan has guarded the Realm Sea for a hundred thousand years. I don't believe the Liu Imperial Clan wants to put us on trial!"
The old man at the front looked at the middle-aged man before him, his face full of indignation.
"Shh!"
The middle-aged man merely gave a disdainful smile and pressed his index finger against his lower lip. "Su Ya, watch your words. I am now the Envoy of Heaven's Mandate, here to proclaim an edict on Her Majesty the Empress's orders. How dare the likes of you address me by name?"
Su Ya shouted angrily, "What bullshit Envoy of Heaven's Mandate? I've lived all these years and never once heard of an Envoy of Heaven's Mandate!"
"Heh." The middle-aged man sneered. "Her Majesty the Empress represents Heaven's Mandate. I have come bearing her sacred edict, so naturally I am the Envoy of Heaven's Mandate!"
"And another thing..."
The middle-aged man swept his gaze around before it finally settled on Su Ya, a trace of contempt in his eyes. "One of the once-mighty twelve great imperial clans, second only to the Liu Imperial Clan, has actually fallen so far."
"Where is your clan leader? Your ancestor?"
"Oh? Your current ancestor seems to be called Su Chen, doesn't he? I hear his lifespan has already reached its limit. Could it be that he's already passed away? What a pity!"
Halfway through, the middle-aged man couldn't help smacking his lips, a hint of "regret" on his face.
"Look at yourselves. In this vast imperial clan, only a few Quasi-Emperors like you are left, and yet... you still have the right to call yourselves an imperial clan?"
"Wang Teng, you brat, bullshit! Do not disrespect the ancestor of my Su Clan!"
Su Ya's face flushed with anger at those words. "The leader of my Su Imperial Clan is now gravely wounded and dying from stopping those members of the Devil Race in the Realm Sea from breaking through. The other thirteen Great Emperor Realm experts are either injured or trapped in the Realm Sea. Not only have you failed to send aid, you're kicking us while we're down. How utterly hateful!"
"Pfft!"
As soon as Su Ya finished speaking, the middle-aged man laughed, looking at him as though he were an idiot. "Su Ya, you're the Su Imperial Clan's grand elder, for all that. Why do you keep talking nonsense?"
"And you claim your clan leader was gravely wounded suppressing the Devil Race!"
As he spoke, the middle-aged man turned slightly and pointed toward the Realm Sea. "Su Ya, look for yourself. That's the Nine Heavens Devil-Suppressing Profound Firmament Array, which the twelve great imperial clans joined forces to deploy back then. The array suppresses and purifies those members of the Devil Race at every moment.
Are you saying that an array the Devil Race couldn't break through a hundred thousand years ago can be breached by them now?"
Following the direction of the middle-aged man's finger, they saw a boundless golden array enveloping the entire Realm Sea.
Above the array, dragon silhouettes circled and phoenix silhouettes cried in harmony, while the faint impression of ten thousand beasts stampeding to suppress the Devil Race could also be seen.
The Su Imperial Clan was situated relatively close to the Realm Sea.
Yet as they stood in the air, they could not sense the slightest trace of Devil Qi. It seemed no wonder the middle-aged man didn't believe Su Ya.
"And how much fake wine did you drink to dare make such a boast?"
The middle-aged man rolled his eyes at Su Ya and said speechlessly, "As the true master of the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty, the Liu Imperial Clan has only ten Great Emperor experts in total. The other imperial clans have no more than five each.
Yet you just flap your lips and claim that your Su Imperial Clan has thirteen... No, including your clan leader, that makes fourteen Great Emperors in all. What, Grand Elder Su Ya, do you think I, Wang Teng, look like an idiot?"
Su Ya trembled all over with anger. "If you don't believe me, you need only go closer to the Realm Sea and take a look!"
There was one thing Wang Teng had said that wasn't wrong.
Back then, the twelve great imperial clans had joined forces to set up the Nine Heavens Devil-Suppressing Profound Firmament Array, suppressing the Devil Race within the Realm Sea.
Nothing happened for the first forty thousand years.
But starting in the fiftieth millennium, the Devil Race had begun to resist, battering the array day and night in an attempt to break free.
At first, the Devil Race's actions had remained under the Su Imperial Clan's control.
But later, for some reason, the members of the Devil Race had begun throwing away their lives to break the array, as if they had no regard for their own survival.
As a result, all the Su Imperial Clan's Great Emperor experts had been forced to mobilize. By now, virtually all of them were tied down in the Realm Sea.
During that time, the Su Imperial Clan had also sent people back to the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty to request aid.
But those people simply hadn't believed them. In the end, the Su Clan had only hoped that the Liu Imperial Clan and the others would provide them with some resources.
After all, with every Great Emperor expert in the clan mobilized, the resources they consumed were countless, and the other clan members needed to cultivate as well.
Yet even that fallback request had been refused by the Liu Imperial Clan.
Now, the Su Imperial Clan's ancestor was nearing the end of his lifespan, its clan leader was gravely wounded, and its other Great Emperors were all trapped in the Realm Sea, their lives in danger at every moment.
And at a time like this, the Liu Imperial Clan had actually sent a sacred edict ordering the Su Imperial Clan to return to the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty and stand trial?
Stand trial for what?
For suppressing the Devil Race and protecting hundreds of millions of living beings?
"Heh, I, the Envoy of Heaven's Mandate, have no time to waste here with you!"
The middle-aged man waved his hand, clearly unwilling to approach the Realm Sea.
In his eyes, the Devil Race were filthy creatures. Even catching a whiff of Devil Qi was enough to make him sick to his stomach.
Likewise, he didn't believe Su Ya's words were true.
"Oh, right! I can let you in on some news ahead of time!"
The middle-aged man suddenly looked at Su Ya and the others with a somewhat strange expression. "Word has it that news came from the Liu Imperial Clan that your Su Imperial Clan has been drawing pay without doing any real work. At this trial, your Su Clan will be kicked out of the ranks of the imperial clans, and my Wang Clan will replace you as a new imperial clan!
That's because my Wang Clan's ancestor recently broke through to the Emperor Realm and lived a second life! Hahahahaha!"
His words carried a barely concealed pride.
In the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty, the minimum requirement for becoming an imperial clan was to have a Great Emperor expert in the clan.
It seemed that a new Great Emperor had appeared in the Wang Clan to which Wang Teng belonged.
But from the sound of it, the Liu Imperial Clan did not intend to make the Wang Clan the thirteenth imperial clan. Instead, they meant to strip the Su Imperial Clan of its imperial clan status and let the Wang Clan take its place!
"Nonsense! My Su Imperial Clan has never received any resources from the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty in the past hundred thousand years. How dare you claim, without a shred of proof, that we've been drawing pay for nothing?
You've gone too far!"
Hearing this, Su Ya felt the Qi and blood churning within him, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Wang Teng's claim that the Su Imperial Clan had been drawing pay for nothing implied that the Liu Imperial Clan had been sending them resources on schedule.
But the problem was, they had never received so much as a single spirit stone!
"That's none of my concern!" Wang Teng curled his lip, not caring in the least. His voice abruptly turned cold. "I have delivered the sacred edict. Now gather everyone in your Su Clan at once and return to the imperial dynasty with me to stand trial!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a Quasi-Emperor's oppressive pressure surged from Wang Teng, bearing down on them!