âThe protective formation here is quite powerful. Even regular Chaotic Primes will struggle to get through it. Back up,â uncle Ming said to everyone. After they all backed up, he directly punched the formation around the forbidden grounds.
Immediately, the formation erupted with blinding light. Turbulent energy surged out from underground and the three towers, and all of it gathered in the formation.
Since it was enduring such a powerful attack, the formation began to absorb all the energy there to push its defences to the limit.
But in the end, the formation was still unable to hold itself against uncle Mingâs punch. It shattered after reaching its limit.
With the formation destroyed, the three towers were exposed. The power of uncle Mingâs punch continued onwards after destroying the formation, landing on the three towers at the same time with earth-shaking power.
Bang!
With that sound, the three tower that had stood there for who knows how many years all turned to dust with a slight tremor, disintegrating in the breeze.
This exposed three figures. Currently, the three figures sat together with their eyes closed. A black chain shackled them.
The black chain was completely refined from pure energy. Not only did it restrain their movements, but it also sealed up all of their cultivation.
The three of them were the current emperor, Xi Ziyun, and the other two ancestral emperors, Xi Haoxuan and Xi Haoming!
âZiyun!â
âFather!â
The expressions of the empress and Xi Yu immediately changed when they saw the restrained Xi Ziyun. They both cried out and rushed over regardless of the consequences.
But at this moment, the black shackles around the three of them rapidly dimmed. After the formation and the three towers were destroyed, the black chains seemed to lose their reserve of energy. In just a few seconds, they completely vanished.
With the chains gone, the eyes of all three snapped open. Immediately, a sharp light flickered through their eyes.
The three of them recovered their cultivation in a single instance. All of their presences surged towards the sky, completely unleashed.
âQuickly conceal your presence. Donât harm Yuâer,â the empress became relieved when the three recovered. She promptly stepped before Xi Yu to protect her while admonishing them.
The three people were surprised when they heard that. They concealed their presences, and in a single instance, they saw everything around them. Their faces immediately changed.
âWhat has happened here? Why has our imperial palace become like this...â
âWhere is the ancestral emperor? Where is he? We have things to ask him...â
Xi Haoming and Xi Haoxuan both called out.
Clearly, the three of them were completely unaware of the world around them after Xi Lianxue had trapped them. As soon as they broke free, they were surprised when they saw the surrounding landscape.
Afterwards, the empress narrated exactly what had happened to the three of them in great detail. Only after that did Xi Ziyun, Xi Haoxuan, and Xi Haoming finally understand the overwhelming change that the Cloud Plane had gone through while they were trapped.
âThe ancestral emperor has actually been reduced to a demonic puppet. Why? Why would this happen...â
âNo wonder the ancestral emperor suddenly turned against us. Turns out heâs no longer the ancestral emperor we once knew.â
The three of them all became filled with heavy sorrow when they heard that Xi Lianxue had been reduced to a demonic puppet.
âLetâs put the ancestral emperorâs matter aside from now.â At this moment, the Xi Emperorâs father, Xi Haoxuan, said sternly, âItâs a disaster to all the organisations that exist on the Cloud Plane with what has happened so far. Itâs very difficult to say whether our Xi Empire can survive this disaster. We need to properly consider how we handle this.â
âThe current Cloud Plane has already divided into two sides, one with the Tian Empire and one with the Heavenâs Link Peak. Unless we give up on everything weâve built up, we need to join a side. Remaining neutral is not an option,â said Xi Haoming.
âAnyway, our Xi Empire can never yield to the Tian Empire. Iâd suggest we join the Heavenâs Link Peak against the Tian Empire. We definitely canât let the Tian Empire conquer the entire Cloud Plane, or it would be directly against the interests of our Xi Empire,â said Xi Ziyun.
Xi Haoming and Xi Haoxuan were in no hurry to express their thoughts. Instead, they both looked at Ming Dong. The three of them had already learnt that it was exactly because of Ming Dong that they had managed to break free this time.
âMy friend, I was wondering if you...â Xi Haoxuan wanted to ask about Ming Dongâs stance on the situation, but before he could finish speaking, Ming Dong waved his hand, âDonât ask me. Whatever happens on the Cloud Plane has nothing to do with me. How you plan on dealing with it is up to you. Everything is fine as long as it doesnât affect our Tian Yuan clan.â
Unable to persuade Ming Dong to join a side, Xi Haoxuan became disappointed. Then he turned to Xi Ziyun and Xi Haoming and said, âIf thatâs the case, letâs stand with the Heavenâs Link Peak and stop the Tian Empireâs path to domination together. Xi Ziyun, youâre the current emperor, so weâll leave it up to you to explain to the Heavenâs Link Peak. Although the Heavenâs Link Peak is the weaker side right now, they wonât be defeated that easily.â
âMoreover, although the Sword Sect of Four Poles and the Heaven-cracking sect has slain many people of our imperial family, letâs focus on the bigger picture at such a sensitive time.â
In the northern region of the Cloud Plane, the Godsfallen clan was a clan that stood at the apex of the plane, as they had a Grand Prime.
However, the alliance led by the Heavenâs Link Peak and formed from a few peak clans had all gathered in the Godsfallen clan currently. They used the northern region as a line of defence to prevent the Tian Empire from total domination.
The lord of Heavenâs Link Peak, the ancestor of the Godsfallen clan, Luo Mantian, the ancestor of the Tong family, Tong Wuming, the ancestor of the Firegod clan, Lieyan Wuji, the ancestor of the Cosmic sect, Zhou Zhidao, the ancestor of the Daoist Sect of Emergence, He Yidao, and the ancestor of the Heavenquaking sect, Gu Li, had all gathered within a majestic divine hall within the Godsfallen clan. They were all figures that could make the entire Cloud Plane shake at a whim.
Some of the people among them were injured. Their presences were much weaker, clearly having clashed with the Tian Empire before.
âIn terms of peak power, our numbers match the Tian Empire, but the Tian Empire has the Heavenless Demon Exalt, which makes us slightly weaker than the Tian Empire. As for the majority of the forces, the Tian Empire has controlled the four eternal empires, so in terms of both strength and numbers, theyâre at least twice as great as us. Weâre weaker than the Tian Empire in terms of both peak power and the majority of the forces, so the situation is not optimistic at all,â Luo Mantian said grimly.
âIf this continues, we probably wonât be able to last for very long. Once the Tian Empire decides to ignore the losses and deal with us regardless of the consequences, we will have even less time,â Tong Wuming gravely added.