"What? Lingyun managed to return alive?" Shen Lingzhi exclaimed in shock. He bellowed angrily, "Didn't we send men to kill him? How did he manage to come back?"

"Uh... I don't know," the messenger bowed his head deeply.

"You're completely useless."

Shen Lingzhi's heart blazed with anger and he was so livid that his body could have gone up in flames. The fact that the plan had almost succeeded but failed at the very last moment made him even angrier.

Deputy Commander Xie who held a courtesan in each of his arms rose to his feet and exclaimed in shock, "Lingyun? The Quasi-emperor who recently escaped from the Unmoving City of Darkness? He should have been sending himself to his death by traveling to Royal City. The n.o.blemen commanders at Royal City would have never let him leave the city alive. How did he manage to summon reinforcements and even single-handedly turn the tide of the battle? How is it possible?"

He no longer had the mood the enjoy the services of these beauties.

This surprising turn of events introduced several unpredictable variables to the plans that they had already laid out, so it was a huge blow to his morale.

"Let's go. I want to see who exactly is this almighty person who turned the situation around. Royal City would never send a powerful expert, so he might be a wanderer from the more remote outskirts of Central City. He must be courting death by meddling in our business. How dare he spoil Supreme Commander Yang Qinhu's grand plans? He's definitely going to pay for it with his life," Deputy Commander Xie said through gritted teeth.

Shen Lingzhi nodded grimly.

He refused to admit that their plans had failed. They absolutely had to get rid of Song Xiaojun's trusted subordinates this time. If the outlook wasn't good, he would even command the right army to kill the surviving forces of the bloodstained military adviser.

They issued a string of commands.

The main s.h.i.+p of the right army released a military signal, then the right army battles.h.i.+ps that had been observing the battle from afar for two whole weeks finally started to move and their engines roared as they shot toward the main battlefield.

They soon arrived at the s.p.a.ce above the battlefield.

"How could this happen?" Shen Lingzhi and Deputy Commander Xie stood at the helm of the s.h.i.+p and stared at the scene down below with their trusted subordinates. Everyone seemed incredibly astonished.

They had expected this battlefield to be littered with bodies and covered in blood, but it was completely covered by beautiful snow. The mountains, river, and marshlands were covered in pure white snow and there was no trace of the pungent stench of blood. They could see the icy cold wind and snow dancing through the air.

Shen Lingzhi was even more astonished by the fact that the front, back, and left battle divisions of the Unmoving City of Darkness was not weakened and exhausted like he had a.s.sumed they would be. More than half of the soldiers had survived the battle and every single soldier seemed to be in great spirits and completely unharmed. They looked exactly like battle-ready troops.

"Summon the Bloodstain Military Adviser to me," Deputy Commander Xie yelled from the helm of the s.h.i.+p.

This humiliating loss had angered him and he was unable to accept this reality. How had Song Xiaojun's closest and most trusted subordinates managed to avoid a complete annihilation?

Soon, w.a.n.g Jianru who wore her bloodstained mask and several surviving high-ranking military officers of the Unmoving City of Darkness arrived at the big s.h.i.+p.

"What exactly happened?" Deputy Commander Xie said in a roar.

"My lord, are you asking how we managed to kill all the Invaders who breached the Great Wall despite the fact that we lacked the support of the right army?" w.a.n.g Jianru asked with a cold laugh, the contempt in her voice clear as she continued, "You seem to be disappointed."

"Humph, cut the c.r.a.p," Deputy Commander Xie said sinisterly. "Even if you managed to wipe out all the Invaders, this is nothing to be proud of. The fact that the Invaders had breached the Great Wall is a serious crime itself and you will not be able to escape punishment for this crime. Men, lock them all up as we await further orders from the supreme commander."

"Yes, sir!" the n.o.blemen military officers who were already on standby came forward with their handcuffs and chains.

"You've gone too far," Lingyun couldn't help himself and stepped forward. "Do you really dare to capture us? If you've committed a terrible deed, others will inevitably hear about it. Humph, as for how the Invaders managed to breach the Great Wall, well, I'm sure you should know more than we do. I can't believe that such a shameless person like yourself exists in this world. You're worse than beasts."

"How dare you slander my good name?" Deputy Commander Xie was livid and said, "Men, behead him right now and cut off his tongue. This man's actions are absolutely outrageous."

"Wait," w.a.n.g Jianru who wore her bloodstained mask stepped forward and said, "Deputy Commander Xie, you keep insisting that the citizens of the Unmoving City of Darkness are all guilty of committing a crime. If we are going to be locked up despite giving our all in battle, then what about Shen Lingzhi? As a grand elder of the Unmoving City of Darkness, this old dog held the right army back, rejected military orders, and refused to lend help in battle. Isn't this man's crime more severe? Capture us if you will, but please kill this old dog before you do. Otherwise, your words fail to be convincing."

Countless pairs of eyes turned toward Shen Lingzhi.

This was especially true for the military officers of the four major battle divisions who stood behind w.a.n.g Jianru. Their eyes were as piercing as knives as though they couldn't wait to tear that traitor apart. If anyone still respected him as the grand elder of the city before the battle erupted, all goodwill they had toward him had completely vanished.

Shen Lingzhi's face was devoid of any expression. He acted as though this had nothing to do with him and ignored the hateful stares.

"Convincing?" Deputy Commander Xie said as he scoffed coldly, "Who cares whether you're convinced by my words? You're merely a bunch of lowly Sinners. Don't forget that the Sinners' blood flows through every single one of you. Hehe, Elder Shen Lingzhi only obeys Supreme Commander Yang Qinhu's words, so how dare you question his intentions? Men, capture them all and kill them if they resist."

Deputy Commander Xie was so enraged that he didn't want to reason with them any longer. He would use his status and position in the military to forcibly suppress them and selected the most violent method to make up for their losses.

The n.o.blemen experts of the Guardians who had been lying in wait quickly surrounded w.a.n.g Jianru and the others. The Sinners were enraged but they could not do anything about it because they were Sinners and occupied the lowest rung of society. They couldn't resist capture and if they injured a n.o.bleman expert, this would not only result in a death sentence for them, their friends and family would also be punished, resulting in extremely dire consequences.

"Hehe," Shen Lingzhi laughed coldly.

Deputy Commander Xie looked at them menacingly and said, "I'd strongly advise you to surrender without any resistance. Otherwise, there's no reason for the Unmoving City of Darkness to exist any longer..."

The military officers of the Unmoving City were extremely livid, but they did not dare to resist capture and they all looked incredibly miserable.

w.a.n.g Jianru was the only person who remained calm and stood quietly where she was.

"How dare you!" Lingyun yelled loudly and stepped in front of them. He raised his hand and revealed a token that shone brightly with silver splendor. "I'd like to see who would dare to attack us today," he continued with a cold laugh.

"Kid, are you courting death by defying orders?" Deputy Commander Xie hadn't expected anyone to brazenly go against him and barked out a cold laugh. He started to contemplate whether he should use leverage on this to kill the Bloodstained Military Adviser and the others on this wars.h.i.+p.

Shen Lingzhi attempted to fan the flames and said, "Hehe, defying the orders of a commander is equivalent to staging a rebellion. You must all be accomplices and deliberately let the Invaders into the city. This is a terrible crime and since all of you are full of sinister intentions, you should all be put to death..."

"Shut up, you old son of a b.i.t.c.h," Lingyun yelled disdainfully. "This token belongs to the new sovereign and it represents his presence and authority. As the n.o.blemen of the Guardians, why haven't you fallen to your knees to greet the new sovereign? Are you trying to defy his orders?"

The silver token in his hand released energy waves full of Emperor qi and the laws of Dao circulated. It was as though the authoritative presence of a Martial Emperor had descended upon this place.

Deputy Commander Xie's and Shen Lingzhi's faces turned pale.

"An Emperor token? Where did you get this?" Deputy Commander Xie yelled sceptically.

Lingyun raised the token high, barked out a cold laugh and said, "A new Emperor has emerged in Royal City. He killed Marquis Bloodbone, the King of Zhenyuan, Supreme Commander Skyreach, Supreme Commander Demon Feather, Supreme Commander Lofty Mountain, as well as the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan. His amazing feats have stunned the world but unfortunately, you lot who only ever cared about personal gain had yet to receive this news and are still unaware of the emergence of this new sovereign. The new sovereign was also the one who annihilated the Invaders."

"What?"

"How could this be?"

Deputy Commander Xie and Shen Lingzhi both turned pale with shock at Lingyun's words.

The emergence of a new Emperor?

They had indeed heard about this new sovereign and they also knew of the deaths of the King of Zhenyuan and the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan since news from Royal City would still reach the frontiers.

However, they hadn't heard about the deaths of Supreme Commander Skyreach and the other three Supreme Commanders. When did this happen? How could this be?

Moreover, why would the new Emperor travel all the way to the borders that were fraught with dangers? And how could a lowly Lingyun manage to receive a.s.sistance from the new Emperor who was known to be merciless?

Could this be a fake token?

However, the Emperor qi that circulated around the token in Lingyun's hand clearly carried the aura of an invincible expert. This expert must have been like a deity and the authority that this aura exuded brooked no resistance, so did that mean that Lingyun spoke the truth?

Deputy Commander Xie's heart suddenly raced and he became a little apprehensive.

"Impossible," Shen Lingzhi roared. "Why would the new Emperor hand his token to a lowly Sinner? This cannot possibly be true. You must be holding a false Emperor token in your hands. This has to be a lie. Otherwise, if the new Emperor were here, why hasn't he revealed himself?"

"The new Emperor has rushed to the battlefield in the stars to stand with our Emperor of Darkness. Together, they would kill those shady puppet masters manipulating the situation from the shadows. I'm sure he'll return soon... then, you'll be able to see him." Lingyun looked at them with distaste and sympathy, then continued, "I hope that Deputy Commander Xie will still be able to smile when he sees the new sovereign."

Shen Lingzhi and Deputy Commander Xie exchanged a look and they both saw the shock and uneasiness in each other's eyes.

They suddenly had a bad feeling about the situation.

In the vast outer s.p.a.ce.

After he smashed the barrier of the void and traveled to the highest point of the firmament, he finally arrived in the vast outer s.p.a.ce. Several lonely planets flickered in the distance of the dark and quiet s.p.a.ce. It was remote and icy cold, like a place of exile.

Ye Qingyu appeared in the void.

He traveled there without any hesitation and moved as quickly as he could once he received word of Song Xiaojun's whereabouts from w.a.n.g Jianru. His divine sense unfurled over the void like a wave and soon, he sensed a familiar energy in the void. It was a pure dark aura, the same dark aura that had been contained within her body when she last appeared at the Vast Thousand Domains.

He found her.

His eyes were filled with purple splendor, sweeping the s.p.a.ce and finally spotting her in a faraway distance. She was engaged in a fierce battle and her slender figure was completely surrounded by dozens of highly-skilled experts who attacked her from all directions.

"Girl, hang in there. I am here."

Ye Qingyu's figure transformed into the brightest spark and he charged toward the battlefield.