Before Yan Lie could unleash his blazing fist, a majestic golden aura erupted from the throne's steps. Emperor Cao Yuan slammed his imperial scepter onto the marble floor, creating a shockwave that instantly extinguished the roaring flames around Yan Lie's hands."Enough!" snapped Emperor Cao Yuan in a voice laden with the absolute authority of a ruler, shattering the tension in the Throne Hall.Yan Lie was jolted, forced to hold back his punch even though his breath still surged with anger. Elder Chi and the second elder of the Cloud Flame Sect frowned, displeased that the show of humiliating the Sky Sword Sect had been cut short.Emperor Cao Yuan stepped forward a few paces, his stern gaze sweeping across Yan Lie, Wang Chen, and the elders of both major sects."The Throne Hall of the Cao Empire is not a battle arena to satisfy your arrogance!" Emperor Cao Yuan stated firmly in a cold tone. The doubt that had previously clouded his face now shifted into a hard, resolute desperation.

Seeing Yan Lie’s burning fist surging toward his head at high speed, Wang Chen’s face showed not the slightest hint of panic. His golden eyes gleamed coldly, reading every movement and opening of the punch fueled by raw fury."My patience has its limits, Yan Lie... So, enough..."Whoshhh!Just a fraction of a second before the fist bathed in red fire struck his face, Wang Chen calmly raised his right hand.TAP!A hard clash resounded, but it was not the sound of a crushing explosion—rather, it was a grip of absolute precision. Wang Chen’s palm, lightly coated with the heat of the Dragon Flame, caught Yan Lie’s wrist dead-on, halting the lethal momentum of the strike midair."What?!" Yan Lie’s eyes bulged in shock. His punch, backed by a massive portion of his fire Qi, was stopped so effortlessly, as if he had just struck an unshakeable ancient wall of steel.With no intention of retaliating or wasting energy on a foolish duel at the outermost boundary, Wang Chen let out a faint snort.

Wang Chen’s body, feigning complete helplessness, was dragged mercilessly across the ground. The rough friction of the toxic soil scraped against his clothes and skin, but against Wang Chen’s physical constitution—fortified by the resilience of the Dragon Flame—the poisons were instantly neutralized the moment they entered his body.Behind his tightly closed eyelids, Wang Chen slowly slitted his eyes, peeking through a narrow gap in his eyelashes to map out the route they were taking.The dense purple fog that had previously enveloped the dead forest gradually thinned as they ventured deeper. The foul stench of poison gave way to the sharp, pungent aroma of liquid sulfur and blood.After passing through a narrow fissure in a rugged, black stone cliff, a breathtaking spectacle suddenly unfolded before Wang Chen’s eyes.A massive city stretched endlessly across a hidden valley. However, this city was vastly different from the majestic, gold-carved cities of cultivators in the outside wo

Upon hearing the sharp, mockingly sarcastic whisper, Yan Lie’s body instantly froze. He slowly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and his breath coming in ragged gasps. As his blurred vision finally brought the figure before him into focus, the rage burning in his chest immediately eclipsed the pain consuming his entire body."W-Wang Chen...?! You?!" Yan Lie growled in a raspy, broken voice, his eyes bulging as if in complete disbelief that the very person he despised the most was now standing tall right in front of him.Despite his battered and broken condition, his luxurious garments reduced to dirty rags, and the Slave Brand on his forehead emitting a searing red glow, the remnants of Yan Lie's foolish arrogance had apparently not been completely eroded. His ego as a sect genius made him reject the reality that he was now in the same position—if not an even more wretched one—than Wang Chen."You bastard... damn you!" Yan Lie cursed, coughing up blood as he tried to puff out his br

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wang Chen pinched two fingers in midair.FWOOSH!A blaze of golden fire infused with deep crimson erupted from his fingertips. Pure and ferocious, the Dragon Flame instantly condensed, manifesting into a slender, razor-sharp sword of fire that radiated extreme temperatures capable of softening steel in a heartbeat.With a playful glint in his eyes, Wang Chen inspected the size of the Immortal Jade boulders before him."They asked for five stones the size of a human head?" Wang Chen murmured, chuckling softly under his breath. "I’ll give them eight... and twice the requested size at that. Let those foolish demon soldiers be so overjoyed that they won't even realize the Core Essence of the Jade within has been drained dry by me!"With graceful movements akin to a master artist sculpting a masterpiece, Wang Chen swung his Dragon Flame sword toward the stone wall and the clusters of Immortal Jade crystals.Slash! Slash! Slash!The hard obsidian rock that typ