The decree hung heavy in the air above Chenzhou: Below the Quasi-Emperor Realm, all may attack! Magnates from countless factions watched, their eyes burning with greed and anticipation. The only reason the higher-star Great Emperors hadn't descended yet was the chilling threat of the White Robe Great Emperor. He had sworn to annihilate anyone who dared use their superior realm to bully the young. Yet, the lure of the bounty was too great; even the most cautious Great Emperors were beginning to stir.
Boom! The space twisted violently. A Grey-robed Man stepped out from the crowd, his Half-step Emperor Realm pressure surging like a turbulent sea. A cold, sneering smile stretched across his face as he fixed his gaze on Ji Fuyao.
“Ji Fuyao! Who gave you the right to be so arrogant? If not for the White Robe Great Emperor backing you, you would have been dead countless times over!” he roared, his voice like thunder. “A mere Saint King dares to challenge a Half-step Emperor Realm Expert? Without the White Robe Great Emperor, without an Emperor Weapon to lean on, what are you? What power do you truly possess?!”
Ji Fuyao’s eyes narrowed, cold as winter stars, but she remained silent. Every gaze in the vast sky was locked on her, thick with hostility. They all wondered what kind of heaven-defying fortune allowed her to become the disciple of the White Robe Great Emperor. If not for that, the one standing here today would surely be someone else.
The atmosphere was thick with deadly silence.
Suddenly, Wang Man erupted. Wielding his massive axe, he charged the Half-step Emperor Realm Expert, his face crimson with murderous intent. “Who gave you the dog guts to speak to Her Majesty the Empress like that?!” Wang Man roared. “I’ll cleave you in two!”
The axe descended with the force of a tidal wave. The sheer pressure alone made the Grey-robed Man bleed from his orifices, nearly forcing him to his knees. Yet, he managed a mocking sneer at Ji Fuyao. “Ha! The White Robe Great Emperor forbids us from bullying the small, yet your own people use Emperor Weapons to bully me! How utterly ironic!”
Ji Fuyao raised a delicate hand. Her voice was calm and cold. “Wang Man, stand down.”
Wang Man let out a frustrated snarl, slowly pulling the massive axe away from the man's head, retreating to Qing Yan’s side.
Qing Yan whispered urgently, “Wang Man, don't be rash. If you strike, the higher-star Great Emperors will use it as an excuse to attack Her Majesty. Everything is still within the Empress's control.”
“This bounty is too high!” Wang Man ground his teeth. “I have to deter these petty thieves!”
Qing Yan’s eyes flashed with grim realization. “You can't deter them. No one can! The Half-step Supreme Opportunity is enough to drive the entire Southern Wilds insane!”
“Damn it!” Wang Man cursed.
Meanwhile, the Grey-robed Half-Emperor swallowed a healing pill, wiping the blood from his face. He stared at Ji Fuyao. “Your head is mine!”
Ji Fuyao stood tall in the void, a figure of cold, exquisite beauty. Her form blurred as she executed the technique of Traversing the Void, instantly closing the distance.
The Half-Emperor roared, unleashing a terrifying surge of spiritual energy. “Floating Fist!” His fists glowed with brilliant Divine Radiance, the massive, golden imprints soaring toward Ji Fuyao like a collapsing mountain. It was a killing blow.
Ji Fuyao’s slender hand moved with deceptive ease, imbued with the power of the Heaven-Burning Art. Her skin instantly became crystalline, shimmering like flawless jade.
Boom! Fist met palm in the sky. Terrifying shockwaves, like a bursting dam, ripped through the void, scattering brilliant Divine Radiance everywhere. Both Ji Fuyao and the Half-Emperor were forced back hundreds of feet.
The onlookers were aghast. Ji Fuyao was fighting a Half-step Emperor Realm Expert to a standstill!
“Impossible!” the Grey-robed Man gasped in disbelief. He attacked again, channeling a thread of Dao and Essence—the fundamental principle he had comprehended upon reaching the Half-step Emperor Realm—to crush Ji Fuyao. “Die!” he snarled.
Ji Fuyao’s long hair whipped around her, her eyes shining with cold light. She raised her hand, and a profound rhythm of Dao and Essence surged from her—the Path of Spirit Fire. In an instant, her superior Dao and Essence enveloped the Half-Emperor's meager thread. His comprehension was thin and fragile; it was instantly refined and annihilated by the overwhelming fire Dao.
The Half-Emperor’s face went slack with horror. How could her Dao and Essence be dozens of times denser than his?
Ji Fuyao moved, her beautiful form dominating the space. Her crystalline hand reached out, effortlessly seizing the Half-Emperor's throat, locking him in the void.
“Ji Fuyao! He is defeated, let him go!” A voice boomed across the sky—the Stooped Old Man, the Li Family Old Ancestor. “If you kill him, my Li Family will annihilate you…”
Before he could finish, Ji Fuyao’s hand clenched. Crack! A vast, overwhelming force erupted. The Grey-robed Man's throat shattered, and his head slid cleanly from his shoulders. Blood sprayed across the void as his body plummeted, a rain of gore.
Ji Fuyao’s dress fluttered like a banner of fire, enveloped in dazzling Divine Radiance. She looked at the Stooped Old Man, her expression icy. “What was that? If you are dissatisfied, you may attack me. I accept your challenge!”
The entire scene fell into a dead silence. Everyone felt she was far too brazen. With so many forces seeking her head, shouldn't she be trying to escape quietly? Why was she still killing people?
The Stooped Old Man’s face was twisted with malice and killing intent. He had never imagined Ji Fuyao would dare kill their Li Family Half-step Emperor Realm Expert.
He produced an ancient staff—an Emperor Weapon—and slowly approached Ji Fuyao, leaving brilliant Dao runes in his wake. “You dared kill a member of my Li Family! Today, your head stays here!”
At his command, three One-star Great Emperors and five Quasi-Emperor Realm Experts stepped forward from the crowd. They soared into the sky on streaks of Divine Arc, their imperial might surging as they charged Ji Fuyao. The Stooped Old Man slammed his Emperor Weapon staff down, and the air rippled with the terrifying aura of a One-star Emperor Realm Expert.
A Li Family Quasi-Emperor sneered, “Ji Fuyao! If you have the guts, don't use your Emperor Weapon and fight us fairly!”
Wang Man’s face twisted into a snarl of pure savagery. He vanished, reappearing as a streak of Divine Arc, his blood-soaked axe swinging down toward the talking Quasi-Emperor.
“Go to hell! Have you no shame?! Several Great Emperors ganging up on Her Majesty the Empress and you talk about ‘fairness’?”
The axe, a Five-star Emperor Weapon, struck with devastating power. The other Li Family Emperor Realm Experts were too slow to react.
Splat! The Quasi-Emperor was cleaved in two from head to groin. Blood and gore exploded everywhere. But Wang Man wasn't finished. He swung the massive axe again and again, chopping the Quasi-Emperor’s remains into countless chunks, then meticulously arranging the bloody pieces on the ground to form the character for ‘Li’ (李).
The onlookers were aghast. The giant axe-wielding man was utterly barbaric!
The Stooped Old Man gnashed his teeth, glaring at Ji Fuyao. “Ji Fuyao, what is the meaning of this?! Are you trying to incite every Great Emperor here to attack you?!”
Wang Man roared, “You’re courting death, old thing!”
Ji Fuyao ignored the chaos. She summoned the Emperor Weapon, Heaven-Rending. The spear pulsed with murderous intent, its cold tip aimed directly at the Stooped Old Man.
“Too much wasted talk,” she said, her voice ringing with imperial authority. “If you want war, then let us fight!”