Chapter 1296: Destined For Annihilation

Zhu Hongwu, whose body was still fused with the Upali Golden Form, displayed vast power and was different from the typical martial cultivators. Even though his body was broken down into a million pieces, he was still alive and even possessed extraordinary power. His consciousness was still clear as he attempted to remake his body.

However, Zhu Yi was still better. He channeled the Four Appearances Sky Formation and the Great Boundaries of Celestial Light and Darkness Mandala, and both spells worked together to seal every single piece on Zhu Hongwu’s body and completely suppressed them.

“Even though you have just assimilated the Upali Golden Body, removing your mastery is a little more challenging than the last time.” Zhu Yi’s voice didn’t have a thread of emotion as if he was simply stating a fact or a trifling matter. “However, the outcome will remain the same and all this means for me is that I will take a longer time.”

Zhu Yi said nothing more as the Higan Golden Bridge’s radiance spiraled and swept up the Great Heavenly Wheels in void space before it crashed down towards the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace was trapped by the Crucible of the Divine Lands and the Two Elements of Creation Formation, and the added pressure from the Higan Golden Bridge made it completely helpless.

There were still waves of indignance and exasperation, as if it was from a furious ruler. Even though he was at a disadvantage, his pride and his dignity never diminished.

Yet, it was arrested to the point of immobility and Zhu Yi and Shi Tianhao came down from the Higan Golden Bridge and landed inside the Imperial Palace. They could see that Li Yuanfang was sitting inside the large military drill ground before the great hall with his legs crossed, and beams of light permeated the air around him. These rays of light formed a giant magic formation and blanketed over the entire region.

There were quite a number of cultivators from the Great Zhou Empire inside the Imperial Palace. This included powerful individuals like the Prince of the East Sea, Liang Jinglie, amongst others.

However, they were all imprisoned by Li Yuanfang’s magic formation and not a single one of them could do anything. The Xuan Heaven Seal was a Mahayana-level magic treasure that belonged to the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ River Abode and was hovering in midair as it worked together with Li Yuanfang’s magic formation. Their combined force completely oppressed everything around them.

At this point, Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu’s defeat was irrevocable. Besides a handful who were still stubborn and resistant, most others had lost their will to fight and were just sitting down on the ground in silence.

Li Yuanfang glanced at Zhu Yi and Shi Tianhao and said, “The Crouching Dragon Stele was called inside the great hall by Liang Pan beforehand.”

The Crouching Dragon Stele and the Frontier Galleon were both Mahayana-level magic treasures that belonged to the Great Zhou Empire. However, neither Li Yuanfang, Shi Tianhao nor Zhu Yi appeared in the least bit concerned.

The Imperial Palace was arrested and the Divine Martial Army were all but incapacitated. Yue Hongyan had the Saros Magical Tree by her side, and even if Liang Pan had the Crouching Dragon Stele, he wouldn’t be able to cause much disturbance.

Zhu Yi and Shi Tianhao stood outside the great hall and waited alongside Li Yuanfang. They didn’t enter the great hall and were just waiting patiently.

The power ripples coming from the great hall were extremely violent and there were all kinds of clashes. It was apparent that there was an epic battle going on inside.

Liang Pan rarely engaged in battle personally. His brilliance had always been hidden behind the Imperial Palace, and most people would even think that he was masked by Zhu Hongwu, but his true power wasn’t something to be underestimated.

Even though he could no longer use the Supreme Reign Divine Light, Liang Pan’s abilities were still incredibly powerful.

However, he was exhausted from his battle with Zhu Hongwu against Zhu Yi. He had channeled the Supreme Reign Divine Light excessively and he was now extremely weak, as if he was at he was at a dried-up lantern.

He was once as rich as he could be, and he once possessed all the pills and herbs in the world that one could think of that could help him regain his strength. However, he couldn’t recover in such a short time and return to his peak state.

This was the reason why Zhu Yi, Shi Tianhao and Li Yuanfang weren’t worried about Yue Hongyan. From their perspective, the outcome of the battle would be decided once the Saros Magical Tree arrested the Crouching Dragon Stele.

It felt like an extremely short time, yet it felt like forever. A sudden wave of mana burst out from inside the great hall before everything quickly returned to tranquility.

It didn’t take long before footsteps could be heard, and a figure wearing full-body armor and with a pole-ax in hand stepped out from the great hall. Her fiery red hair swayed in the wind as if they were actual flames.

There was a large crack in the armor at her right shoulder, and traces of blood could be seen dotting the area. The armor’s spiritual energy had also become extremely weak.

However, the fearsome aura coming from this figure appeared to shoot up into the skies and petrified every onlooker.

There was a tree branch that flickered with dark golden light behind her, and the hues came together to form something like a halo.

The halo was like a tiny world and one could see a stone stele inside.

This person walking out from the great hall was beautiful and enchanting. Her eyes were clear and her teeth were sparkling white – except her eyebrows were bright red as if they were miniature swords tainted with blood and her aura was as ferocious as ever.

Zhu Yi, Shi Tianhao and Li Yuanfang all smiled as they watched this person walk out.

It was Yue Hongyan. Her face was pale, and she appeared very weak as she surveyed her friends, but a radiant smile appeared on her face as he lifted up her left hand.

She was holding onto a crown that was cracked all over in her left hand. The embroideries were shattered, and the royal and majestic aura was no longer there – all that was left was a feeling of defeat and incapacitation.

Liang Pan was the one who wore this crown.

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And now, it was in Yue Hongyan’s hands. There was nothing else to be said about Liang Pan’s fate.

Zhu Yi suddenly felt Zhu Hongwu, who had been sealed into place by him and was initially struggling and resisting, suddenly went quiet.

It was only a momentary pause before he exploded with hysteria once again. Violent and furious exclamations could be heard from the world he was in and they echoed between the heavens.

“Bitch! Bastard! You dare to harm the holy emperor! All of you will die a painful death and all of you will go to hell!” Zhu Hongwu’s body was shattered into pieces but everything started to twist and churns. Zhu Yi had broken down his body into dust-like particles, but they were all starting to congregate once more and with a brilliant radiance.

Zhu Hongwu’s shadow reflected off every single piece and there was a feeling of fury and wrath never seen before. “If I still have a single breath left, I will seek vengeance onto every single one of you treacherous bastards!”

Zhu Yi shook his head from side to side. “You’re still so stubborn at this point. Your unwavering determination is admirable – even now, you haven’t completely lost your faith and you still intend to do what you want. This is the reason for your powers, but also the root of your destruction.”

His fingers twitched, and immense power pressed down once more. Rolling mana transformed into Qilin that petrified all evil, and caused the seal to become even more stable. Zhu Hongwu was instantly repressed once more, and Zhu Yi never gave him a chance.

Zhu Yi turned towards Yue Hongyan. “Fourth junior sister, congratulations on your revenge and on getting what you’ve always wanted.”

Shi Tianhao and Li Yuanfang chimed in from the side and said, “Congratulations, fourth senior sister.”

Yue Hongyan glanced at the seal Zhu Yi was holding up with his hands. The murderous look in her eyes flared but when she turned back towards Zhu Yi and the others, her gaze became lot more gentle and tender.

Even her eyebrows that were originally straightened up like swords became a lot more relaxed.

All kinds of past memories and events surfaced and many people from her past flashed by in her mind.

She had just accomplished her greatest life goal and much complicated emotions appeared in her heart.

She felt a little at a loss, yet her heart and soul seemed to rise to another level. She had experienced this feeling before when she defeated Zhang Lie all those years ago.

Yue Hongyuan gradually closed her eyes and the fiery lights in her eyes seemed to extinguish. The next time she opened her eyes, the flaming radiance in her eyes only became even brighter.

She flew up from the Imperial Palace and into void space. She turned towards the three mountains of the Ying Sea before she knelt down in their direction.

Lin Feng’s Nine Qi Avatar on top of the Penglai Celestial Mountain and his Avatar of Ares on the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain gazed at Yue Hongyan as they smiled at the same time. “You don’t have to do this, Hongyan. All you have to do is realize the path you have to travel on after this and I will be happy and content.”

A giant figure appeared above the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain. Its entire body was covered in white scales and two horns protruded from its head as lightning bolts flickered all over its body – Lin Feng’s Thunder Dragon Avatar.

The Thunder Dragon Avatar was carrying a person on its hands, and it was Liang Pan’s avatar. Both of his eyes were closed and there was not a single trace of life.

Lin Feng’s Thunder Dragon Avatar looked towards Yue Hongyan and laughed as he said, “You still have a long way to go in your life.”

Yue Hongyan knelt down again in midair once again. A faint layer of mist seemed to flicker in her eyes but it dissipated in the next moment and the usual fiery light sparkled once again as she raised her voice and said, “I am full of gratitude for you, master, and all the things you’ve done for me to make me the person I am today. I will never forget your wisdom and your teachings.”

Zhu Yi, Shi Tianhao and Li Yuanfang flew out from the Imperial Palace as well. Zhu Yi greeted Lin Feng and said, “Master, I intend to return to Mount Yujing after this.”

Lin Feng nodded and said, “Go ahead.”

“Yes, master,” Zhu Yi turned towards Yue Hongyan and the others and said, “I will leave all this to you guys. I intend to bring Zhu Hongwu before my mother’s grave for closure.”

Yue Hongyan’s eyes glowed ever so bright as she said softly, “Congratulations, second senior brother, for attaining what you’ve always wanted. I have to thank you, sixth junior brother and Tianhao for today. I am extremely grateful.”

Zhu Yi and the others shook their heads and replied, “You’re too polite. We are from the same sect and this is our responsibility.”

With that, Zhu Yi ascended the Penglai Celestial Mountain. Lin Feng had a spatial magic formation erected inside that could send people directly back to Mount Kunlun.

Zhu Yi returned to Mount Yujing and arrived inside his Heavenly Temple and opened up a small world beside his main hall.

This tiny world was elegant and had stunning scenery with dense volumes of spiritual energy. However, it was uninhabited and had a certain feeling and appearance of primitiveness.

There was a single peak in the center of this world, and a path extended from the foot of the mountain. This path was manmade as it meandered up to the waist of the mountain, and a grave could be seen at the end of the road.

Zhu Yi came before the grave and released his mana and the seal. The broken pieces of Zhu Hongwu’s body began to congregate with lightning speed once again.

The glass-like remnant pieces reflected Zhu Hongwu’s face as he stared at the gravestone before him with chilly eyes. “Meng! Bing! Yun!”

Zhu Yi grabbed with both of his hands and mana surged forth as he reformed Zhu Hongwu’s broken pieces into a new body. However, his powers rippled throughout the entire process and caused Zhu Hongwu’s reformed body to be riddled with thin cracks and scars. Rays of light undulated within and in between these cracks and caused these cracks to be unable to close completely.