The scene looked utterly comical!
Inside the Su Clan's protective formation, the Su Family members, who had all been worried sick, stared at one another, at a loss for what to do!
"Uh... let me ask a timid little question. Can someone tell me what da heck is going on?"
"That senior saved the grand elder and the others, so he must be a Great Emperor. It's understandable that they'd kneel to thank him, isn't it?"
"But... why did it sound like the grand elder and the others mentioned the patriarch?"
"Are you kidding? The patriarch exhausted his lifespan ages ago and sealed off his own vitality because of it. I've never even seen him in all my years. Just think how long he's been in seclusion!"
"What do you think, Uncle Qing?"
Someone turned to the burly man at the front and asked.
But at this moment, Uncle Qing was just as baffled as a monk who couldn't find his own head.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Lin Chen gently blew a breath at the imperial decree hanging in the void.
Whoosh!
The next instant, the sight before Wang Teng made his pupils contract sharply. His expression froze, his face went deathly pale, and his eyes filled with utter horror.
Bang!
The imperial decree, which contained the power of the Liu Imperial Clan's first empress, exploded under a single breath from the young man before him, scattering into golden specks of light that drifted down from the sky.
"You... who are you? Just who are you?"
Wang Teng was now trembling like a sieve.
His slowly raised right hand shook as though it might come loose from his body.
His voice came out shrill and thin.
It was an instinctive fear from the depths of his body.
The man before him was undoubtedly a Great Emperor, and no weakling even among Great Emperors.
The imperial decree bestowed by the empress was his greatest reliance on this trip.
But now, the power the empress had bestowed upon him, the very thing he relied on, could not withstand even a single breath from this man.
How was he supposed to play this?
Suddenly, Wang Teng seemed to think of something. His eyes went wide, his face full of disbelief!
"You... you're Su Chen? The patriarch of the Su Imperial Clan's current generation?"
Who else but Su Chen could still be alive and be addressed as patriarch by Su Ya and the other elders of the Su Imperial Clan?
But wasn't Su Chen rumored to be nearing the end of his lifespan, on the verge of dying in meditation?
In the imperial dynasty, the old fellows from the imperial clans who belonged to Su Chen's generation were in much the same state. In several clans, the patriarchs had already fared worse and truly died in meditation.
The Su Clan patriarch before him showed no sign of having exhausted his lifespan.
His appearance could be changed, but the vitality within his body could not be faked.
Were they saying that this young man, whose vitality was so vast that no one in the entire Black-Yellow Realm could rival him, was Su Chen, the Su Clan patriarch of the Su Imperial Clan, whose vitality should have been in decline?
"No last words?"
Su Chen simply watched Wang Teng in silence, as though looking at a dead man.
"You..."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as Wang Teng was about to speak, four rifts abruptly opened in the void. Four golden chains shot out of them and pierced his limbs in an instant.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
"Aaaah-!!!"
An unbearably shrill scream escaped Wang Teng's mouth.
His face first flushed red, then turned the color of pig liver.
His whole body twisted wildly, making the chains clatter against one another.
Fear gradually spread through Wang Teng's entire body.
The imperial decree he had brought contained only a portion of the empress's power, yet that alone had intoxicated him.
Now that he faced a true Great Emperor, one could imagine how desperate he felt.
From the look in Su Chen's eyes, he could tell that he would probably die here today.
At a time like this, no matter how much he disbelieved it, he had to admit that the young Great Emperor before him was Su Chen, the patriarch of the Su Imperial Clan.
In the entire Black-Yellow Realm, even a Great Emperor from another imperial clan could not defy an imperial decree, an imperial order, from the Liu Imperial Clan!
Only someone from the Su Imperial Clan would dare!
"You can't kill me! I'm just the messenger delivering the decree. Even when two nations are at war, they don't kill each other's envoys! If you kill me, the Liu Imperial Clan won't let you off!"
Wang Teng endured the searing pain in his body and spoke in a trembling voice.
He was truly afraid!
Hadn't he just been joking?
Damn it, the Su Clan's Great Emperor had actually come out! Couldn't they take a joke?
A Great Emperor bullying a mere Quasi-Emperor like him?
"Pah! Messenger, my ass! What the hell are you?"
"Did the imperial decree tell you to attack us? You're waving a chicken feather around like a command token!"
"A mere Ninth Heaven of the Quasi-Emperor Realm, and you dared run wild in our Su Imperial Clan? Did you really think our Su Clan had no one left? Did you really think our Su Clan's Great Emperor was made of clay?"
"Didn't you love laughing? Why aren't you laughing now? Were you born with no love for laughter?"
"The Wang Family? Back then, they were nothing but a dog that followed our Su Family around!"
With Su Chen, their backer, having appeared, Su Ya and the others instantly regained their confidence. They puffed out their chests, unable to suppress the grins on their faces as they looked at Wang Teng!
"Patriarch, I, Su Ya, openly suggest that we cripple Wang Teng's cultivation, chop off his limbs, and throw him into the Realm Sea to feed those of the Devil Race!"
"Patriarch, I, Su Hong, propose that we first line up and each give him a savage beating using nothing but our physical strength. I guarantee even his mother won't recognize him. Then we can kill him!"
"Patriarch, I, Su Yan..."
"Patriarch, I, Su Dong..."
The elders all chimed in, thoroughly enjoying their discussion!
Wang Teng had wanted to kill them, and if Su Chen had not arrived in time, they would probably be dead by now.
Let Wang Teng leave? He could forget about it!
Across from them, Wang Teng listened to their discussion, his face now as pale as paper.
Damn it!
These Su Clan people really weren't human. Every last one of them was a violence fiend.
But on second thought, it made sense. The Su Clan's first patriarch was known as the Battle Maniac, and his temper was notoriously explosive. How could these descendants of that Battle Maniac be anything but dangerous?
If the Realm Sea had not worn down their sharp edges, the other imperial clans would probably know no peace if these people were in the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty!
"Sigh! You're still far too violent. How can you have no compassion at all?"
Just then, Su Chen's voice drifted over, making the hearts of Su Ya and the other elders skip a beat.
Had they been wrong?
That was true!
After all, Wang Teng had been sent by the empress and had brought an imperial decree. If they really killed him, they would be slapping not just the empress in the face, but the entire Liu Imperial Clan.
In the Su Clan's present circumstances, they might not really be a match for the Liu Imperial Clan.
They might even implicate the entire clan!
"Please instruct us, Patriarch!"
Su Ya and the others hurriedly bowed, their manner the very picture of respect.
To them, Su Chen was heaven itself. Could heaven's words be wrong?
No!
That meant their own ideas just now had to be wrong!
Across from them, Wang Teng was overjoyed at the sight, and a trace of mockery flashed through his eyes.
Heh, what a load of crap this Su Imperial Clan is. Won't they still have to let me go obediently in the end?
Once I get back, I'll be sure to lodge a proper complaint against your Su Imperial Clan. Better yet, I'll have Her Majesty the Empress wipe out your entire Su Clan!
Wang Teng sneered inwardly, believing that Su Chen feared the Liu Imperial Clan and Her Majesty the Empress.
As for Su Chen shattering the imperial decree just now, that had merely been a case of suffering to save face.
Wang Teng could not help speaking up. "Fellow Daoist Su, you're very wise!"
"Promising pupils indeed!"
Seeing the attitude of Su Ya and the others, Su Chen nodded in satisfaction. Ignoring Wang Teng, he continued, "Remember, every extra moment you let someone like him live is a moment he's gained!"
"So..."
Just as Su Ya and the others were still pondering what Su Chen meant by those words.
They looked up and saw a sight that would shock them for the rest of their lives.
Su Chen slowly extended his right index finger and pointed gently at Wang Teng.
Rumble!
In an instant, the entire void and the ground shook violently, and the heavens seemed about to burst apart!