Twenty Years Later

Twenty years had passed in the blink of an eye since Qie Qiong had dealt with the Lieyang Clan.

Langya Prefecture City.

From atop the city walls, one would see only the densely packed figures surrounding the city. This was clearly a prefecture city under siege.

And in the sky above the city, the people who could truly decide the outcome of the war faced off in midair.

They were the Transcendents from the Cangyun Empire on one side and the Thunder Empire and Chuyun Empire on the other.

This had happened countless times over the past twenty years.

Twenty years ago, after Qie Qiong had dealt with the Lieyang Clan, news of what had happened to the Thunder Sacred Land spread across the world.

The Thunder Empire's royal family had lost its high-end combat power: some had been trapped by the Space Lockdown, and others had fallen.

The Cangyun Empire had watched Qie Qiong's attitude. When they saw that Qie Qiong had no interest in the Thunder Empire and had simply gone into seclusion in Cloud Sea Prefecture City,

they knew their opportunity had come.

After all, among the three nations, the Cangyun Empire had already been stronger than the other two. Now that the Thunder Empire had suddenly lost half of its high-end combat power, they estimated that even if the other two nations joined forces, they still wouldn't be a match for them.

Then, a year later, they suddenly launched an invasion of the Thunder Empire.

They attacked every stretch of the border between the Thunder Empire and the Cangyun Empire, except for the area around Cloud Sea Prefecture City.

Now, once they took Langya Prefecture City, they would be at the Thunder Empire's imperial capital.

On the Cangyun Empire's side, more than a dozen powerful Transcendents hovered in the air, led by the "Azure Flame Sword Saint," their auras fierce and imposing.

The Azure Flame Sword Saint wore armor patterned with blue flames and held a broad blue sword in his arms. With a mocking smile on his face, he looked at the Langya Wang Family across from him.

"Patriarch Wang," the Azure Flame Sword Saint said. His voice wasn't loud, but carried a hint of condescension as it reached the steady, composed elder opposite him, Wang Zhenyue, head of the Langya Wang Family. "Why keep resisting to the bitter end? Surely you know that those who understand the times are wise."

"Langya Prefecture City, and even the entire Thunder Empire, have reached the end of their fortunes. The Thunder Empire has already lost most of its territory, and even its Transcendent Worlds have lost three small ones. If you surrender and join my Cangyun Empire now, I can make the decision to let your Wang Family keep Langya Prefecture City. Why waste the foundation your Wang Family has built over hundreds of years—or even risk your lives—for a Thunder Empire whose sun is setting?"

Behind him, the Saint Rank and Sky Realm Transcendents of the Cangyun Empire wore varying degrees of arrogance and impatience.

After twenty years of war, the Cangyun Empire's territory had expanded rapidly. More than half of the Thunder Empire had fallen, and it had even lost three of the small Transcendent Worlds under its control. This overwhelming advantage had long since bred a different sort of feeling among the Cangyun Transcendents.

Wang Zhenyue, head of the Langya Wang Family and an elder who had also reached Saint Rank, heard him out with a grave expression. Yet there was no fear in his eyes. He took a deep breath and spoke loudly:

"Azure Flame, do you think I believe you? And would my Langya Wang Clan really have no trump cards?" Wang Zhenyue sneered.

Over the past twenty years, some Transcendent families had indeed surrendered to the Cangyun Empire. Among them was even a Demigod family.

But not a single Transcendent from those families had survived more than a few years after surrendering. Even the Demigod had met the same fate.

The Cangyun Empire had sent them to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

The Cangyun Empire had invaded the Thunder Empire to seize its resources in the first place.

If only people below the Transcendent level surrendered, they didn't mind giving them a few scraps.

But if Transcendent families joined them, they would have to share resources with those families.

Even if the Cangyun Empire's imperial family agreed, the other families would never accept it.

So, the usual fate of a Transcendent family that surrendered was for all its Transcendent ancestors to die, leaving only the clan members below the Transcendent level.

Some Transcendents could accept that, but Wang Zhenyue was not one of them.

"Do you really think Langya Prefecture City is an isolated city, there for you to butcher as you please?"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen powerful streaks of light suddenly shot out from behind Langya Prefecture City.

As if they had been waiting there all along, a Saint Rank aura arrived first. The person had not yet appeared, but his voice had already rung out: "Azure Flame, you brat, don't get carried away!"

More than a dozen Sky Realm Transcendent auras followed close behind, swiftly joining the Langya Wang Family's ranks.

This was Wang Zhenyue's confidence: Yue Qianshan, the Thunder Empire's former second-ranked figure on the Saint Ranking and its current number one, the "Mountain Suppressing Saber Saint."

The former number one on the Saint Ranking had been Prince Lei Xiao, whom Qie Qiong had killed earlier.

He held an ancient, unadorned saber. Just standing there, he forced most of the opposing auras back.

The dozen or so Sky Realm Transcendents who had come as reinforcements from the Thunder Empire and the Chuyun Empire each held a weapon. Their auras joined together, instantly reversing the Cangyun Empire's numerical advantage and creating a powerful suppression in terms of momentum.

After the Thunder Empire was invaded, the Chuyun Empire had joined the war in full force. After all, if the Thunder Empire fell, the next would be the Chuyun Empire.

"Yue Qianshan?! And Chuyun's scum!" The mocking expression on the Azure Flame Sword Saint's face instantly froze. He had never expected the other side to have such a crucial force hidden away.

"Good! Very good, Wang Zhenyue. So this is what gives you confidence?"

In his eyes, Yue Qianshan might be the Thunder Empire's number one on the Saint Ranking, but he was still only a match for him.

It was still anyone's guess which side would win.

"So what if it is?" Wang Zhenyue sneered, pointing the spear in his hand at the enemy. "Everyone, kill them, and I will deliver everything I promised."

"Kill!" The Transcendents of the Thunder and Chuyun allied forces roared in unison, instantly clashing with the Cangyun side.

"Hmph! Even with reinforcements, the outcome won't change. Cangyun Transcendents, follow me!" Though the Azure Flame Sword Saint was surprised by the reinforcements, he didn't panic. With a sharp shout, the broad blue sword in his hand erupted in towering flames, and he charged straight at Yue Qianshan.

The battle erupted in an instant.

However, the battle went against the Azure Flame Sword Saint's expectations.

The main reason was that Yue Qianshan had actually made a breakthrough. He had fought Yue Qianshan before, after all.

This time, Yue Qianshan was actually faintly suppressing his Profound Mystery of Azure Flame.

One had to know that this was a Grade Four True Meaning—the precursor to the True Meaning of Azure Flame.

The Cangyun Empire's two other Saint Rank Transcendents were also held fast by Wang Zhenyue and another Saint Rank Transcendent from the Chuyun Empire.

The Cangyun side's ten Sky Realm Transcendents were caught in a siege by nearly twenty Sky Realm Transcendents from the other side.

Before long,

screams rang out one after another. In just a few moments, three Sky Realm Transcendents from the Cangyun Empire were heavily wounded and knocked out of the air, losing their ability to fight.

The rest were also surrounded in separate groups, facing danger at every turn.

Though the Azure Flame Sword Saint and the others were frantic with worry, their opponents held them fast, leaving them completely unable to lend a hand.

The balance of victory was tipping toward the Thunder and Chuyun allied forces.

"Trash!"

Just as the battle reached a critical moment, a cold voice suddenly rang out, spreading across the entire area around Langya Prefecture City.

The whole battlefield came to a standstill.

Whether they were Saint Rank powerhouses locked in fierce combat or Sky Realm Transcendents fighting one-on-one, their movements all became sluggish at that moment, as if bound by invisible shackles.

The sky seemed to darken. It was not because clouds had covered it, but because it was shrouded by a pure, suffocating pressure.

A figure stepped through the air from behind the Cangyun side.

The newcomer wore a simple, dark gold robe. His face looked no older than middle-aged, and his eyes held not the slightest emotion.

He merely stood there, without making any unnecessary movements, yet it was as if he had become the center of Heaven and Earth, impossible for anyone to ignore.

The Cangyun Empire's Demigod—Demigod Wuyang.

The Cangyun Empire's third most powerful expert, and the wielder of the True Meaning of Dancing Sun, a lower True Meaning of the True Meaning of the Sun.

When the Azure Flame Sword Saint heard the word "Trash," his body stiffened involuntarily, but deep reverence appeared on his face.

He quickly retreated and, along with the other Cangyun Transcendents, bowed respectfully toward the descending figure. "We pay our respects to Lord Wuyang!"

Demigod Wuyang's gaze first fell on the Azure Flame Sword Saint.

"Azure Flame." His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a coldness that pierced the soul. "It's been twenty years. In all this time, you've made no progress at all?"

He shook his head slightly, his tone openly disappointed. "Back then, when you first comprehended the Profound Mystery of Azure Flame, you were sharp and brilliant. You still showed some promise. But now? You can't even lift your head under Mountain Suppressing's pressure. You used to keep him under your thumb. All these years, have you been standing still—or have you actually been moving backward?"

Every word landed on the Azure Flame Sword Saint's heart like a lash.

As a dignified Peak Saint Rank powerhouse, he felt ashamed at that moment and could only reply, "This subordinate is incompetent and has failed your expectations, my lord."

Demigod Wuyang no longer looked at him.

His gaze swept slowly over the Thunder Empire's "Mountain Suppressing Saber Saint" Yue Qianshan, who stood ready for battle, the Langya Wang Family's head, Wang Zhenyue, and the Saint Rank Transcendents from the Chuyun Empire.

Wherever his gaze fell, the air seemed to heat up in an instant, and space faintly warped.

"A bunch of ants who don't know the immensity of Heaven and Earth. You think that by gathering together, you can stop my Cangyun Empire?" Demigod Wuyang's voice was calm. "This ends today."

As he finished speaking, he slowly raised his right hand.

An indescribably terrifying fluctuation suddenly erupted! Centered on him, an invisible domain instantly spread open—the Dancing Sun Domain.

As a lower True Meaning of the True Meaning of the Sun, the True Meaning of Dancing Sun was most powerful in its domain techniques, as well as the techniques that branched out from that domain.

Within the domain, all the Transcendents of the Thunder and Chuyun allied forces—

whether Saint Rank or Sky Realm, felt the Dou Qi within their bodies slow down.

A terrifying heat rose within the domain, scorching their protective energy. The air filled with the smell of something burning.

"Demigod Wuyang! As a Demigod, you're actually attacking Saint Rank and Sky Realm Transcendents? Aren't you afraid the whole world will laugh at you?" Mountain Suppressing Saber Saint Yue Qianshan struggled to resist the domain's restraints. His ancient, unadorned saber unleashed an unprecedentedly weighty saber intent as he tried to cleave a path through. At the same time, he shouted sharply.

Wang Zhenyue and the other Saint Rank Transcendents also spoke up to challenge him, their voices filled with shock and fury.

They had never expected the Cangyun Empire's Demigod to personally take action. Especially those Transcendents who had been invited here: they had only meant to earn some compensation. They had never expected they would soon be risking their lives.

"Picking on the weak?" Demigod Wuyang sneered, his eyes full of disdain. "You're nothing but ants. Besides, who would dare laugh at me? Today, I'll show you what power means. The Thunder Empire and Chuyun should never have resisted to the bitter end."

He flicked his index finger lightly toward the allied forces.

"Vmmm—!"

The extreme light and heat within the Dancing Sun Domain suddenly erupted, transforming into countless dark golden beams.

They were manifestations of the True Meaning of Dancing Sun. Like blades of molten gold, they could instantly pierce through most of an enemy's defenses.

"Pff, pff, pff, pff, pff..."

A series of sharp, dense sounds rang out. The protective Dou Qi of the Sky Realm Transcendents, suppressed by the domain, was as good as useless. It vanished instantly under the beams' assault.

The Saint Rank powerhouses could at least resist them a little.

"No!" Wang Zhenyue's eyes nearly split with fury. Several beams easily pierced his protective Dou Qi and Saint Rank top-grade armor, leaving several charred, gleaming holes in his body.

A Saint Rank Transcendent from the Chuyun Empire, at Early Saint Rank, fared even worse. More than a dozen beams grazed him, carbonizing half his body in an instant as he plummeted toward the ground.

Only Mountain Suppressing Saber Saint Yue Qianshan erupted with power at the brink of life and death.

Dou Qi and profound mysteries flooded into the long saber, and he poured all his strength into a slash at the edge of the domain.

"Break for me—!"

"Rip!" The invisible Dancing Sun Domain was actually torn open by that desperate slash, leaving a crack.

Yue Qianshan did not hesitate. He used a secret technique to turn into a dim streak of blood and flee from the domain.

Demigod Wuyang raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that Yue Qianshan had escaped.

His gaze swept over the several Sky Realm Transcendents inside the domain who were about to follow suit. They were frantically burning their origins as they struggled.

"Hmph."

The domain's beams of light instantly doubled in density, and several thick, dark golden beams silently locked onto them.

These Flying Sky Transcendents were completely swallowed by the omnipresent beams of light in the blink of an eye.

The light gradually faded.

The heat slowly ebbed.

The domain disappeared.

A deathly silence hung over the sky above Langya Prefecture City.

Of the Transcendent forces of the Thunder Empire and Chuyun Empire's allied army, which had just been soaring with momentum, all had been wiped out except for Mountain Suppressing Saber Saint Yue Qianshan, who had fled gravely wounded, and two other Flying Sky Rank Transcendents who had been quick to read the situation and quietly retreated to the edge of the battlefield as soon as Demigod Wuyang appeared, now fleeing frantically in different directions.

Azure Flame Sword Saint looked toward the direction Yue Qianshan had fled and hurriedly asked Demigod Wuyang, "My lord, should we pursue Yue Qianshan?"

But Demigod Wuyang did not answer. His gaze shot toward the distance.

Two figures were rapidly approaching from afar. They were the Demigod powerhouses of the Thunder Empire, rushing over as reinforcements.

He gave a cold snort and said to Azure Flame Sword Saint,

"There's no need to pursue him. If I don't make a move, you won't catch him either. Yue Qianshan fled toward Cloud Sea Prefecture City. You know the rules there."

At these words, Azure Flame Sword Saint's pupils contracted sharply. He instantly recalled the rumor that had shaken the world twenty years ago: after Qie Qiong took control of Cloud Sea Prefecture City, he had established an ironclad rule—"Within the territory of Cloud Sea Prefecture City, all fighting is forbidden. Violators will be killed!"

Back then, a Demigod from the Cangyun Empire had not believed that Qie Qiong could see the entire territory of Cloud Sea Prefecture City. He had tried to ambush an enemy just inside the city's border, only to be killed by Qie Qiong from afar with a single "Space Cutting."

Since then, no one had dared violate this prohibition.

Demigod Wuyang turned and ordered Azure Flame Sword Saint behind him, "Relay the order to the ground forces: attack Langya Prefecture City at once! I will personally hold off the two Thunder Demigods who are coming."

As he spoke, the dark golden domain appeared around him once more, even more powerful than before.

The scorching heat distorted space, like a falling blazing sun spanning the sky, as he brazenly charged toward the two incoming streaks of Flowing Light.