Chapter 67
Tianhan Empire.
The resplendent golden palace carried a faint chill; moonlight shone upon the gilded floor like a layer of frosty dew.
Emperor Liu Ran sat upright on the throne, his face emotionless. Below him, the Star Holding Elders wore dark expressions.
âElder Liu Chang actually perished within the borders of the Divine Xia Empireâthis matter must be accounted for!!â one of the family elders said furiously.
âHmph! Whatâs there to account for? That elder fell only after stepping into the Moon-Grasping Realm. The Divine Xia Empire may well harbor some ancient monster who long ago entered Moon-Grasping Realm!â
âImpossible! Absolutely impossible! If Divine Xia had such a monstrous old freak, they wouldnât have let us be the ones to initiate the âBestowment WarââŠâ
âBut now, who was it that got their bestowed character stripped?â Liu Ranâs cold voice cut through the previously noisy hall.
Everyone fell silent at his words.
The inheritance trial within Divine Xiaâs Secret Realm wasnât over yet, but all of Tianhanâs participants had perishedâthis Bestowment War was already lost for Tianhan.
And just moments ago, the Divine Xia Empire had officially proclaimed to the heavens that Tianhanâs bestowed name had been revoked.
The invisible fortune once enveloping the Tianhan Empire quietly dispersed at that moment.
This also meant the Tianhan Empire had lost the divine protection once granted by the celestial state that governed the myriad realms.
The other empires that had long suffered suppression at Tianhanâs hand would no doubt unite in retaliation.
And the root of all this disasterâ
âThe Su Family!!!â a Star Holding cultivator growled through gritted teeth.
âWe thought this mission would be easy⊠who wouldâve thought⊠who wouldâve thought!â
His voice brimmed with deep resentment.
âYour Majesty, I recommend that we destroy the Su Family at all costs. If we complete this task, that Lord will surely shield us.â
âAt that point, even without the bestowed name, our Tianhan Empire can slowly rise again!â
A red-robed civil official at the Star Holding level bowed as he spoke.
The others also voiced their agreement.
Liu Ran, hearing this, gave a slight nod. In his hand, he held a golden scroll glowing with divine radiance.
He slightly parted his lips to speakâ
But in the next instantâŠ
Awoooo!
Boomâboomâboom!!!
A dragonâs roar shook the skies like thunder.
Countless citizens within the Tianhan Empire instinctively looked up at the heavens.
High above, an unimaginably massive shadow slowly began to blanket the skies over Tianhan.
Boom! Boom!
Rumbleâ
With each pulse of the shadow, it felt as though something in the world was fracturing.
As if a horrifying, primordial beast was stirring in the firmament.
The moon turned faintly blood-red, like a sea of death.
Many cultivators stared at the increasingly eerie moon.
âAhhh!!!â A martial artist on the verge of stepping into the Heaven Origin Realm let out a cry of terror.
He trembled as he looked skyward, feeling the blood in his veins slowly crystallize into ice.
âSect Master, whatâs wrong!â
His disciples rushed to him in concern.
They saw that half-step Heaven Origin cultivator raise a shaking hand, pointing at the blood-red moon.
âAn eye⊠thatâs an eye!â His words seemed to drain all the strength from his body.
Everyone stared at the crimson moon with utter dread.
They couldnât believe itâ
if the moon was an eye, then how vast must its owner be�
Yet in the very next momentâŠ
They let out cries of horror, like souls witnessing the coming apocalypse.
They saw within the depths of the blood moon⊠a vertical pupil emerged.
Then⊠the blood moon moved forward, and a monstrous silhouette that blotted out the heavens began to unfurlâŠ
At its front was a colossal azure dragon, emanating a breath as ancient as time itself. Its blood-red eyes replaced the moon in the sky.
Behind it trailed countless transformed dragon-serpents, each radiating an unimaginable aura of dread. They shrieked and hissed in frenzy, heralding despair to all life.
The azure dragon led the way, its body formed of myriad giant serpentsâwhat unimaginable terror this was.
Even more astonishingly, above the azure dragon and the ten thousand serpents floated a palace, radiating endless divine light.
To ordinary citizens, the night simply felt unfathomably dark.
But to Tianhanâs cultivators, it was like a natural calamity descending from the heavens.
Many cultivators began fleeing the empire in a panic.
They couldnât imagine what kind of terrifying entity the Tianhan Empire had provokedâfor even its mount alone was this monstrous.
At the same timeâ
A majestic and ancient bell tolled across the sky.
Dong!
Dong!
Immediately, all cultivators attempting to flee felt their true essence surge and churn uncontrollably.
Then, to their horror, they realizedâthey could no longer sense any spiritual power within themselves.
These high-and-mighty cultivators had suddenly become no different from mortals.
Across the entire Tianhan Empire, all cultivators below the Star Holding Realm had their cultivation completely sealed.
Moonlight poured like a waterfall; starlight glittered like fireflies.
Su Zhou stood with hands behind his back atop the head of the azure dragon. The night wind swept through his dark robes, making him appear like a deity ruling from the ninth heaven.
He slowly raised one hand, within which floated a small, ancient bell.
The bell shimmered with radiant light and was inscribed with infinite secret runes.
Beneath the bell was a floating projectionâupon close inspection, it was a miniature Tianhan Empire!
[Morning Bell]: A Primordial Treasure. Engraved with the Dao of Sealing the Heavens. Can seal the cultivation of all cultivators below the userâs realm for the duration of one quarter-hour.
The terrifying azure dragon beneath him now seemed no more than an obedient pet in his presence.
Behind him, within the radiant palace, stood disciples of the Su Family.
They gazed upon Su Zhou with expressions of utmost reverence, as if worshiping a god.
âThis Dusk Bell and the Ten Thousand Serpents Dragon⊠not bad at all,â Su Zhou looked down at the azure dragon, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
[War Behemoth: Ten Thousand Serpents Dragon, Moon-Grasping Stage 4]: Led by the Azure Dragon, formed from myriad giant serpents. Possesses a trace of forbidden ancient bloodlineâbecoming an unnamable, terrifying monstrosity!
These two treasures were rewards from Su Nanâs recent investment.
Perhaps sensing Su Zhouâs gazeâThe azure dragon let out an excited howl.
Awoooo!!
Instantly, a terrifying blood mist spread across the skies of the Tianhan Empire.
Within that mist, one blood dragon after another began to twist and take form.
Inside the Tianhan imperial palaceâ
Everyoneâs expression changed drastically.
They hurried out of the halls, staring into the heavens at the expanding, nightmarish shadow.
Their faces turned incomparably grave.