The three thousand soldiers behind him responded in unison, the crisp sound of their armor clashing creating an unstoppable momentum.
Their numbers were less than a tenth of the enemy's, yet every figure exuded a fierce aura. Although the taxi soldiers of the Divine Martial Army were not Soul Master, they had been taught Martial Dao by Yu Tianheng. After years of arduous training and extensive resource cultivation, even the most ordinary taxi soldiers in the Divine Martial Army had reached the Sinew Refining Realm. Their tendons and bones were far more resilient than ordinary people. The force generated when they swung their swords could split rocks, and they could leap over walls more than ten feet high. Such combat power was already comparable to Three-Ring Soul Master of the Power Attack System.
The centurions and chiliarchs who led the troops were experts in the Bone Refining and Organ Refining Realm, with combat strength approaching that of Four-Ring and Five-Ring Soul Master.
The army of three thousand men formed a condensed iron torrent, each step forward carrying the potential to crush everything in its path.
Yu Tianheng took the lead, his spear transforming into a purple electric current. Wherever the spear tip swept, the enemy's swords and shields shattered like paper, and the front-line soldiers were sent flying several feet away before they even got close.
His Soul Power surged like a tide, and the pressure of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul spread out. Wherever it passed, the enemy's formation fell into chaos, and even the generals had to concentrate on resisting. No one could stop it.
The Divine Martial Army followed closely behind, with the front-line soldiers raising their shields to form a solid wall. The shield edges collided with a dull thud, forcefully withstanding the enemy's rain of arrows and charges. The rear-line soldiers thrust their spears in unison, the tips gleaming with a cold light. Each volley could pierce through several men. Amid screams, the enemy's defensive line crumbled backward like torn cloth.
These Sinew Refining Realm moved with steady footwork and coordinated perfectly. The swords and blades of ordinary soldiers could only leave shallow white marks on them, while their fists and kicks would break their bones and tendons.
In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the first line of defense built by tens of thousands of troops collapsed.
Yu Tianheng's spear tip pointed straight at the palace wall. His figure, surrounded by purple lightning, was like a bolt of lightning. He broke through the gap first, and the Divine Martial Army surged in like a raging tide. Their iron hooves trampled over the corpses of the enemy soldiers, and their armor was splattered with blood, but their sharpness was not diminished in the slightest.
The arrows shot by the guards on the palace wall were deflected by their swords, and the rolling boulders were overturned by their combined efforts. The palace wall, which was once considered an insurmountable barrier, was as good as nothing in front of this elite force.
"Report!"
A piercing scream shattered the silence of the side hall. A soldier stumbled in, his armor askew, his hair disheveled, and his face deathly pale with shock. He fell to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "Your Highness! Prince! It's... it's terrible! Yu... Yu Tianheng... Yu Tianheng has led his men in! They've already broken through the palace gates and are coming this way!"
"What?!"
Xue Beng's hand, which was holding a teacup, trembled violently, spilling scalding tea onto his dragon-patterned brocade robe. Oblivious to the Xue Beng, he abruptly stood up, his eyes wide, and the color draining from his face. "What did you say? Yu Tianheng broke in? How is that possible!"
Prince Xue Xing's expression also changed drastically. The hand that had been stroking his beard just moments before clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white. He shouted angrily, "Nonsense! How much time has passed? Not even an hour! The palace walls are so thick, are the tens of thousands of elite troops outside just for show? Even if Yu Tianheng had wings, he couldn't possibly break in this quickly!"
The soldiers were so frightened they didn't dare lift their heads, prostrating themselves on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly. "It's... it's true! I saw it with my own eyes! That army was like a madman, impervious to swords and spears, unable to withstand a rain of arrows! The guards at the palace gate couldn't hold out at all, falling like wheat being harvested... Yu Tianheng led the charge, and no one could stop him!"
Xue Beng staggered back a step, crashing into the table behind him. The porcelain vase on it shattered on the ground with a loud crash, the sound particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall.
His mind went blank, filled with disbelief and horror—how could it be so fast? Those elite troops he had placed so much hope in, those supposedly impregnable defenses, hadn't even held out for a moment?
Prince Xue Xing's face turned from red to white, then to green. His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time. "This, this... useless! A bunch of useless people!" He was shocked and angry, but even more so, he felt a chill rising in his heart— Yu Tianheng had rushed in so quickly, and Xue Qinghe hadn't been dealt with yet. Now, all his plans were in chaos!
Inside the side hall, only the rapid breathing of the two men and the suppressed sobs of the soldiers remained. Their previous unwavering confidence had been shattered by the sudden and shocking turn of events.
"We can't wait any longer!" Xue Beng shouted, leading his men directly into the main hall where Xue Qinghe was.
The palace doors were suddenly pushed open from the outside, slamming against the pillars with a loud bang.
Xue Beng burst in with several guards. The hem of his brocade robe was billowing in the wind, and there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. He couldn't hide the panic in his eyes, as if he was only holding on to a strong will to keep from collapsing.
He spotted Xue Qinghe sitting by the window at a glance—the other was leisurely holding a teacup, his fingertips pinching the lid, gently skimming off the foam, his movements so composed that the commotion outside the hall had nothing to do with him.
Sunlight streamed through the carved window lattice, falling on him and giving his moon-white brocade robe a soft sheen. Even the steaming cup of tea exuded a sense of tranquility, detached from worldly affairs.
" Xue Qinghe!" Xue Beng's voice was strained, deliberately raised in a sharp tone, but the tremor in the last syllable couldn't be hidden. "You can still drink tea so leisurely?"
Xue Qinghe looked up at him, his eyes calm and unwavering, as if he were looking at a clown. He brought the teacup to his lips, took a small sip, and then slowly spoke, his voice gentle yet tinged with coldness. "What's wrong with Fourth Brother? You're so flustered, as if you've been frightened by something."
These words were like a needle, piercing through Xue Beng's forced composure. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. Looking at Xue Qinghe's calm and collected demeanor, his anxiety intensified, yet he couldn't utter a single harsh word—the more composed the other party was, the more uneasy he felt, as if all his actions had been part of the other party's calculations.
The hall fell silent for a moment, with only the soft clinking of Xue Qinghe's teacup lid as he drank tea making the heavy panting of Xue Beng even clearer.
Xue Beng immediately ordered his men to take action, dispatching several Soul Grandmaster to try and kill Xue Qinghe. However, Xue Qinghe's side was not to be underestimated either, as they also had Soul Grandmaster protecting them.
There were even Titled Douluo secretly protecting him. If he really wanted to deal with Xue Beng and his cronies, it would be a piece of cake. However, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he did not send Titled Douluo- level experts to take action. After all, it would be easy to find out the origin of such a person. Even if he ascended the throne of the Heaven Dou Empire, he would inevitably be accused of colluding with the Spirit Hall.
This is detrimental to subsequent plans.
Therefore, Xue Qinghe did not mind spending some time waiting for Yu Tianheng to send troops to storm the palace and deal with Xue Beng's henchmen, so that it would become an internal matter of the empire.