Chapter 2631: Kill Only the Palace Lord

"What? Not kidnapped?"

The various factions, who were on the verge of resuming their battles, paused at the sound of this, exchanging confused glances before collectively looking up. Their expressions were genuinely bewildered.

"Soldiers, heed my command: Continue the assault." Songshan Zhangjiao’s voice, amplified by a special secret technique, spread across all battlefields, issuing orders to his own forces. Morale was at its peak, there was no reason to retreat.

"Songshan Sect, bring your heavenly stones, elixirs, magical artifacts, young maidens, and brides to Huangxuan Mountain to ransom your Zhangjiao. No extensions if you delay."

Following Songshan Zhangjiao’s announcement came Ye Chen’s roar, each word delivered with such conviction that it was hard not to believe he had truly captured someone.

"Ye Chen, still trying to deceive us." Songshan Zhangjiao snorted coldly.

"My fellow Daoist, I said we’d split the ransom fifty-fifty. Don't cause trouble, okay?" Ye Chen scolded. "If people don't know better, they’ll really think I'm bluffing."

"Utter nonsense. I am right here."

"!"

"What a glib tongue you have."

"Let's make it seventy-thirty. I won't go lower."

One was the Songshan Zhangjiao, the other the future Huashan Zhangjiao. They bantered back and forth across the distance, like performers in a comedic play, leaving the onlookers stunned and bewildered.

Not just the onlookers, even Songshan Zhangjiao couldn't help but glance at himself. After hearing that drama king's words, he almost believed he had been kidnapped.

"Songshan Sect, bring your heavenly stones, elixirs, magical artifacts, young maidens, and brides to Huangxuan Mountain to ransom your Zhangjiao. No extensions if you delay."

"Absurd. I am perfectly fine."

One claimed he was kidnapped, the other insisted he was safe. Who was telling the truth? Too many people scratched their heads, unsure whom to believe. Both Songshan Zhangjiao and the future Huashan Zhangjiao spoke with such certainty.

"Go to Huangxuan Mountain, and you'll see for yourselves."

In an instant, groups of figures converged on Huangxuan Mountain, including people from Songshan. They needed to confirm the facts. If he really was kidnapped, then what was the point of fighting?

Upon reaching Huangxuan Mountain, they indeed found someone there. It was Ye Chen's clone, holding a pipe and puffing away, with smoke swirling around him.

Beside him lay a burlap sack, bulky and obscured by a concealing secret technique, making it impossible to tell if Songshan Zhangjiao was inside. It was all part of the act, so he played it to the end.

As for Ye Chen's true self, he had already slipped through a domain gate, heading straight to a battlefield where Songshan forces were engaged against the Man Niu Clan.

With the Emperor’s Dao suppressed and inaccessible, he couldn't enter Songshan directly. Since they refused to listen, he would make them regret it. If he couldn't kidnap the Zhangjiao, he could still kill the hall masters. And once they were out, they wouldn't be going back.

In this battle, he would use blood to teach Songshan a lesson, making them understand that Huashan was not to be trifled with, and being lapdogs for Tian Ting came at a price. They would meet their end amid mountains of corpses.

In the Tian Ting’s sovereign sleeping palace in the small world,

Yin Ming lounged leisurely on a chair, gazing contentedly at a holographic water curtain suspended nearby. It clearly displayed the chaotic melee in the scattered immortal realm, scene after scene drenched in blood.

He was the true spectator.

Before long, a figure in black entered, his form ethereal like a ghost, his aura impossible to trace, with eyes as cold and desolate as death.

"Have you found Ye Chen?" Yin Ming asked indifferently.

The black-clad figure waved his hand, summoning a jade slip and crushing it on the spot. Within it appeared a vision of a domain gate passage, revealing Ye Chen's figure.

If Ye Chen were here, he would be astonished at their capability. They had actually tracked him.

"Excellent. Spare no effort to eliminate him." Yin Ming snorted coldly, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. His once relaxed demeanor instantly turned ferocious, more twisted than any demon.

The black-clad figure departed, accompanied by hundreds of others. All peak quasi-emperors, elite assassins of the same caliber as those under Silent Extermination Immortal Sovereign, each one terrifyingly formidable.

Ye Chen emerged from the domain gate into a dim world shrouded in blood mist, with corpses strewn everywhere and a thick, nauseating stench of blood in the air.

In the distance loomed two vast, dark oceans.

One was the Man Niu Clan, spread like a black carpet across the vast plains and filling the skies, their war banners fluttering fiercely, each warrior brimming with unyielding spirit.

The other was Songshan Sect, positioned atop a range of mountains, their formations ready, war banners waving in the wind, each soldier radiating killing intent.

Both sides had ceased fighting, one holding the plains and the other the mountains, locked in a standoff.

This was due to Ye Chen's earlier words. Both were waiting for confirmation on whether Songshan Zhangjiao had been kidnapped.

"Ordinary soldiers, fall back. I only kill the hall masters." Ye Chen strode through the sky, his black robes billowing, the Dinghai Shenzhen staff in his hand trembling with a buzz, unleashing a chilling aura that devoured heaven and earth, causing the skies to rumble.

"Ye Chen?"

"Ye Chen?"

The Man Niu Clan raised their eyebrows in surprise, while Songshan forces also spotted him. Though they couldn't see his face clearly, they recognized the Dinghai Shenzhen staff. That iron rod was notoriously dominant, having smashed countless immortal monarchs and heavenly soldiers in the upper realms.

"Blast him to pieces for me," snorted the Seventh Hall Master of Songshan, standing atop a mountain peak and pointing at Ye Chen.

"Blast him to pieces for me."

His command echoed as if in response. There wasn't just one hall master here. Of Songshan's nine great hall masters, six were on this battlefield, deploying their full forces.

At his order, countless magical artifacts soared into the sky, arrays activated, and soldiers drew their bows, launching a barrage that blanketed the heavens.

Ye Chen sneered, donning a layer of armor he had taken from Taishan Zhangjiao. Every piece was forged from immortal iron, etched with immortal patterns and gleaming with divine light, offering extraordinary defense.

"Brat, are you seeking death?" Man Niu Wang bellowed. Even if one person was strong, they couldn't face an entire army head-on, let alone from the front.

Ye Chen said nothing, charging like a divine ray toward a mountain peak. He relied on his armor to withstand attacks and his profound evasion techniques to dodge, while hurling flying daggers from his body.

These daggers were no ordinary weapons; they weren't meant to strike enemies directly but to swap spatial positions with him. With the Flying Thunder God technique suppressed by heavenly restrictions, this method allowed him to mimic its essence. Not exactly Flying Thunder God, but similar.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The onslaught shattered the heavens and earth, but while some hits landed on Ye Chen, they had little effect. His spatial swaps were incredibly agile.

"Suppress him for me," the Seventh Hall Master snorted coldly. Before Ye Chen could reach the front lines, he summoned his life-bound weapon, a golden divine mirror radiating immortal light in all directions.

Ye Chen huffed coldly and swapped positions with a flying dagger, evading the fatal strike, then swung his staff to shatter the mirror with a thunderous crash.

Pfft!

The Seventh Hall Master spat blood and staggered back, his face filled with horror. He knew Ye Chen was powerful, but not to this extent. His mirror, forged from Nine Heavens Divine Iron and refined over endless years, was like a divine artifact—yet it couldn't withstand a single blow.

"Hall Master, step back. I'll handle him." An elder charged forward, wielding a crimson immortal sword with an air of supreme elegance.

Ye Chen didn't even glance at him, swinging his staff to smash the elder's body into a pulp of flesh and blood, then stomping his escaping primordial spirit into dust. You old fool, you've lived for thousands of years in vain. If even your hall master can't hold up, what gave you the confidence?

"Kill him! Kill him for me!" the Seventh Hall Master roared hoarsely, retreating while ordering his subordinates to charge as cannon fodder. With his life-bound weapon destroyed, he needed time to recover.

His orders were effective. Hordes of figures swarmed from everywhere, and soldiers from other peaks joined the assault. The five other hall masters arrived with surging vital energy, each wielding weapons and radiating divine glow, like five blazing suns in the night.

"Anyone who blocks me dies." Ye Chen's shout echoed through the skies as he swept his staff across the horizon, clearing swaths of soldiers in blood. Even quasi-emperors couldn't endure it, let alone those at the Great Saint level.

"Suppress!" Magical artifacts rained down from the sky, their energies linked, inscribed with sealing secrets and destructive forces, aiming to overwhelm Ye Chen through sheer numbers in a massive formation.

Pfft!

Blood sprayed, but the one destroyed wasn't Ye Chen. It was the Seventh Hall Master's commander, who had his position swapped and was obliterated by friendly fire.

"Dammit, seal the space!" Many commanders chanted seals in unison, sending pillars of light soaring upward and weaving profound array patterns into the void. That chaotic realm was instantly locked, cutting off Ye Chen's spatial swaps.

Unfortunately, they underestimated Ye Chen's tenacity. He summoned a quasi-emperor artifact without a second thought and detonated it, shattering the seal and blasting Songshan soldiers into the air. Many were vaporized on the spot.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Without the spatial seal, Ye Chen's movements became even more erratic. Gripping his bloodstained staff, he charged and slaughtered, felling groups of figures. The already ruined mountain range collapsed peak by peak.

The Songshan forces were in utter disarray because of him alone, with people falling everywhere and no one able to stop his advance. Anyone who rushed forward was mowed down in droves.

Gulp!

The Man Niu Clan on the opposite side watched in stunned silence, swallowing hard. That guy was a monster, nearly a million troops, and he had them in complete rout.

"What are you waiting for? Attack!" Man Niu Wang roared, charging with his battle-axe, his forces surging like a tidal wave behind him.

With Ye Chen leading from the front and the Man Niu Clan attacking from behind, the already chaotic Songshan army fell into total disorder. The onslaught buried them in waves, turning the mountain range into a bloody nightmare, with rivers of fresh blood flowing.

"Kill! Kill for me!" the Seventh Hall Master howled, still retreating, his eyes now filled with terror. He had only heard of Ye Chen's fame before, but now he truly believed it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ye Chen snorted sharply, swapping positions with a dozen people in the blink of an eye, appearing like a phantom.

"You..."

The Seventh Hall Master's eyes bulged, his body turning ice-cold as if plunged into the depths of the underworld.

"Have a good journey." Ye Chen's words were like a death sentence. A divine light shot from his brow. It was the Ninefold Divine Calamity fused as one, dominating heaven and earth.

Pfft!

The Seventh Hall Master's brow was pierced on the spot, his divine sea shattered and primordial spirit exploded, his defenses proving utterly futile.

"Dammit!"

Angry shouts shook the heavens as the other five hall masters descended from all directions, each clad in armor and gripping war spears, enveloped in divine radiance with strands of Dao principles emerging, like five suns in the night.

"Dammit!"

Over a hundred commanders followed, all radiating divine light and surging killing intent. If the hall masters were like proud suns, they were like brilliant stars, illuminating the dark night.

"Standing too high isn't always an advantage."

Ye Chen smirked slightly, transforming his staff into a Dao sword and pointing it at the skies. Instantly, ten thousand divine swords rang out, their shadows soaring upward.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The scene in the heavens was terrifying. The hall masters and commanders, who had just arrived, hadn't even attacked before colliding with the Ten Thousand Swords Formation. Caught off guard, they were pierced one after another, plummeting like falling meteors.

"It's not over yet."

Ye Chen sneered coldly, cracking his neck. His Dao sword vanished, and he fused immortal fire with the Dao Sutra to form a divine bow, while blending emperor essence with his origin to create a divine arrow. He drew the bow to full moon, targeting Songshan's Second Hall Master.

Zing!

The emperor essence origin arrow shot skyward, carrying destructive power and glowing brightly.

Pfft!

Songshan's Second Hall Master was pierced through on the spot, his body spraying blood, but his primordial spirit and true form were already obliterated. In his final moments, his eyes held utter disbelief. He, a genuine quasi-emperor at the peak, had been slain by a single arrow.

Zing! Zing! Zing!

The twanging continued as arrows of emperor essence and origin fired one after another, picking off targets. Each arrow claimed a life, whether hall master or commander. By the time they fell, they were already corpses.

In return, Ye Chen paid a heavy price, struck repeatedly by Songshan experts. His armor was battered and broken, his tough body covered in bloody gashes, a ghastly sight.

"Get back!"

Ye Chen roared, summoning his staff again to sweep away a swath, focusing on killing quasi-emperors. With the hall masters wiped out and most commanders dead, he turned to the lesser ones, showing no mercy to anyone in sight.

Before coming, he had resolved to hurt Songshan deeply. They wouldn't behave otherwise. He needed to eliminate their leaders completely to force a retreat, creating a sea of corpses and blood.

The Tenth Emperor of Great Chu was in full battle glory, wielding his bloodstained staff and rampaging, striking indiscriminately with every swing, felling groups with each blow.

Because of him alone, the entire Songshan army was routed. With all hall masters gone and few commanders left, they were leaderless, reduced to scattered rabble.

"Kill!"

The Man Niu Clan's forces were no less fierce, following Ye Chen and pressing the attack, showing no quarter. It was rare to see the enemy in such disarray, so they struck with all their might.

Songshan forces were doomed, retreating from the mountains to the valleys, then from the valleys to the forests, and from the forests to the vast seas, unable to hold their ground.

"How... how is this possible?" came a voice of disbelief from Songshan Grand Hall.

It was Songshan Zhangjiao, staring at the shattering primordial spirit jade plaques, his eyes wide with shock. These belonged to the six hall masters and various commanders. Within mere moments, they had exploded one after another.

Beyond that, more jade plaques shattered in waves. Not just a few, but entire batches. From quasi-emperors to saints, the explosions were relentless, each one signaling a death that couldn't be stopped.

"Zhangjiao's handiwork is quite the spectacle," the Songshan Grand Elder remarked flatly, watching the plaques break while his heart bled, his old eyes filled with suppressed grief and fury, his aged body trembling.

"What do you mean by that?" Songshan Zhangjiao snapped coldly. Already furious over the massive losses, he couldn't tolerate this jab.

"If you understand, why play dumb?" The Grand Elder didn't even glance sideways, his tone calm. "They didn't have to die. It was you, our lofty Songshan Zhangjiao, who sent them to the battlefield. How could the grand Wuyue Immortal Sect stoop to being dogs for Tian Ting?"

"You..."

"Yin Ming seeks to unify the upper and lower realms. It's obvious even to a three-year-old. How could you not see it?" The Grand Elder snorted coldly. "Huashan was destroyed, and the other four peaks will follow. Our Songshan's eternal legacy will be ruined by your tyranny. The deaths of the six hall masters today are a bloody retribution."