“Master, you are truly too powerful!” Ji Fuyao’s eyes, reflecting the dance of flames, held an even deeper reverence and awe for Lu Xuan.
Not long after, Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes and handed a jade slip containing cultivation insights to Ji Fuyao. “It’s done,” he said simply.
Ji Fuyao’s Divine Sense swept into the jade slip, and a storm of emotion erupted in her heart. The Heaven-Burning Art had undergone a qualitative transformation, its spiritual essence now vastly superior.
She carefully put away the jade slip, her gaze fixed on Lu Xuan. “Master, I will cultivate diligently! I am ready. You can send me to the Northern Plains now.”
Lu Xuan slowly rose. “Good.”
Moments later, Lu Xuan and Ji Fuyao arrived at the square outside the Emperor Palace. Commander Wang Man, Commander Qing Yan, and their forces were already assembled, along with the Old Ancestors and warriors of the Fire Dragon Race and Golden Crow Race.
Ji Fuyao’s face was etched with a majestic authority. Gripping the Heaven-Burning Spear, she pointed its tip directly at the sky. “Excellent! Now, follow me, and together we shall conquer the Northern Plains!”
“To battle!” “To battle!” “To battle!” The assembled forces roared in unison, their voices shaking the very air.
Lu Xuan nodded, then casually flicked his sleeve. A surge of Spatial Array Patterns enveloped the entire Imperial Dragon Guard, and in an instant, the vast army vanished from the square.
Boom! The next moment, they reappeared. They were in the Northern Plains.
Above the Northern Plains, enormous snowflakes descended relentlessly, and icy winds, sharp as blades, scoured their bodies. Frost instantly crystallized on the eyebrows of Commander Wang Man and Commander Qing Yan. The other Imperial Dragon Guards, clad in their golden armor, shivered uncontrollably from the biting cold.
Ji Fuyao turned to them. “Are you cold?”
Commander Wang Man, despite his trembling body, declared, “Your Majesty, we are not cold!”
Ji Fuyao offered a faint smile. A wisp of spirit fire power surged from her jade-like palm, spreading out to envelop everyone. Instantly, a comforting warmth permeated their bodies, chasing away the chill.
Commander Wang Man, his Blood Axe already swinging in the air, roared, “Your Majesty, we need a battle! What does this icy power matter? It cannot cool my boiling blood!”
Lu Xuan activated his Insight Eye. In the far distance, he quickly perceived a stronghold belonging to the Fire Alliance, currently surrounded by the Northern Plains Imperial Court’s legions. It was an ice city, Beiwang City.
Above Beiwang City, thousands of Imperial Court soldiers stood before its walls, their spears raised. At the city gates, countless corpses lay scattered, their blood staining the icy ground a stark, crimson red.
Numerous silver-armored guards relentlessly assaulted Beiwang City. Boom! Boom! Boom! The city’s defensive formation was already riddled with cracks, its brilliant spiritual patterns flickering and dying out. It wouldn’t hold much longer.
The leading commander, spear in hand, pointed it at Beiwang City. “Traitors of the Fire Alliance! How dare you defy the Imperial Court! The Ice Frost Empress has decreed: annihilate every single one of the Fire Alliance’s rebels!”
It was widely known that after Lu Xuan and Ji Fuyao’s departure, news of the North King’s demise and the theft of the Extreme Cold Three Thousand Flames had spread like wildfire. The Ice Frost Empress had been forced to emerge from her secluded cultivation prematurely, and her fury was boundless.
The Extreme Cold Three Thousand Flames was an absolute necessity for her, an invaluable treasure the Imperial Court had nurtured for tens of thousands of years! To think it had been snatched away before its full maturity was an unbearable insult.
Even more infuriating was the brutal death of the North King, who had been guarding the Extreme Cold Abyss. He had been killed, impaled with countless Ice Shards, and his corpse publicly displayed for days. The gruesome images of his demise had circulated throughout the Northern Plains, a spectacle for all to see.
With the North King’s death, the entire Northern Plains erupted in celebration. For years, the North King had wantonly taken ‘cultivation vessels,’ destroying countless factions and incurring the wrath of both heaven and man. His demise had sent the Northern Plains into a frenzy, with entire cities throwing themselves into joyous revelry.
But the Ice Frost Empress was beyond furious. She immediately decreed seven days of mourning for the North King across the entire Northern Plains. When faced with the domain’s defiant revelry, she responded with brutal efficiency, massacring dozens of cities in a chilling display of power.
The Ice Frost Empress then issued a direct command: “Slaughter the Fire Alliance! Eradicate them root and branch!” Simultaneously, a domain-wide bounty was placed on the Extreme Cold Three Thousand Flames.
Anyone who provided information leading to the recovery of the Extreme Cold Three Thousand Flames would be rewarded with an opportunity to reach the Quasi-Dao Supreme realm! Under the Imperial Court’s patronage, the Nine Clans had swiftly risen to prominence.
She could tolerate it no longer! Previously, the Ice Frost Empress had been well aware of the Fire Alliance’s existence. The only reason she hadn’t ordered their complete annihilation was to use them as a training ground for the Imperial Court’s forces.
This was a warning left by a previous Supreme Old Ancestor: “Be Prepared for Danger in Times of Peace!” “Do not grow arrogant due to the Imperial Court’s sole dominance!” “The collapse of a dynasty often happens overnight!”
But this time, with the North King brutally murdered, she would not tolerate even a grain of sand in her eye.
And so, at this very moment, Beiwang City was under siege by the Imperial Court’s guards! Outside the city, the leading commander gazed down coldly, his killing intent palpable. “You traitors! The Imperial Court tolerating your existence was a monumental grace! To think you would still betray Her Majesty the Empress! You all deserve to die!”
Inside Beiwang City, the City Lord was already wounded. Behind him, numerous cultivators wore expressions of utter despair. “The Ice Frost Empress has issued a death order!” one cried. “We likely can’t escape this calamity!” another lamented. “The entire Fire Alliance cannot withstand this!”
The City Lord gazed up at the sky, sighing repeatedly. “That prophecy has circulated for so long, speaking of a magnate of the Spirit Fire Dao who would lead us to overthrow the Northern Plains Imperial Court. Will he truly appear?”
Everyone shook their heads. “It’s hopeless! Hopeless!” Where was the sign of any savior descending? Once the Northern Plains Imperial Court truly unleashed its fury, who in the entire Northern Plains could possibly stand against it?
Crack! Crack! Beiwang City’s defensive formation began to shatter, countless fragments raining down.
The City Lord abruptly stood, raising his long saber, and let out a wild, almost deranged laugh. “Kill! Ten thousand years of drinking ice cannot cool my boiling blood!” “Hahahaha!” he roared, “What savior is there in this world? We are our own saviors!”
As his voice echoed, the Fire Alliance cultivators, fueled by desperation, charged out with their City Lord. “Today, we shall Die Heroically in Battle, but not before we slay a few of these Imperial Court dogs!” “Kill them all!”
On the other side, the Imperial Court’s legions surged forward. “Mere rabble, daring to challenge the Imperial Court’s Eight Epochs of Heritage!” their commander scoffed.
Just then, Boom! Crack! The void itself tore open, space twisting violently.
From within the Spatial Rift, an incomparably terrifying power surged forth. Heaven-shaking roars reverberated through the void, and a dreadful battle intent, vast as an ocean, washed over the surroundings. Instantly, everyone looked up at the sky.
The next moment, Ji Fuyao appeared. Clad in a fiery red gown, blazing flames surged around her. Her Two-rotation Quasi-Dao Supreme aura, deep as an abyss and vast as a sea, pulsed through heaven and earth. In her hand, she wielded the Nine-star Supreme Weapon, the Heaven-Burning Spear, from which a boundless Sea of Spirit Fire directly manifested.
In that instant, Ji Fuyao stood within the Sea of Spirit Fire, a majestic figure akin to the Ancestor of Blazing Fire itself!
Behind Ji Fuyao stood her assembled forces: Commander Wang Man and Commander Qing Yan, the Fire Dragon Old Ancestor and the Golden Crow Old Ancestor, and countless Imperial Dragon Guards. Clad in resplendent golden armor, their heaven-shaking battle intent alone surged through the void, their golden scales gleaming like sun-kissed blossoms, radiating brilliant light, even before they moved to strike.
Lu Xuan, meanwhile, stood leisurely at the very back. The stage of the Northern Plains had been handed over to Ji Fuyao; he would depart shortly.
Witnessing this scene, everyone was utterly stunned. The Beiwang City Lord stared at the figures in the sky, his eyes wide with disbelief, and let out a cry.
“Divine Soldiers Descending from Heaven!” he shrieked, his voice hoarse. “Like a Blazing Venerable descending from the heavens, truly the Northern Plains Supreme God!” “That prophecy… it’s actually coming true!”