CHAPTER 881: STILL SO OVERLY PROTECTIVE

After the single word “Oh,” the world fell silent.

The white-haired old man only watched as the profound light that had just left his fingertips suddenly shattered, turning into a burst of fireworks that vanished in an instant.

Then the white-haired old man suddenly raised his head, but all he could see was a single boot coming down. With overwhelming force, it stomped him, the very same white-haired old man who had just displayed the bearing of a great cultivator, straight into the mountainside in the distance.

In an instant, the towering mountain split apart. Countless rocks tumbled down the cliffs, one crash following another, echoing like unending spring thunder, its sound extraordinary.

But this time, the magnitude of the noise was far greater than before.

Minutes later, a streak of flowing light shot out from the mountain. The white-haired old man did not hesitate in the slightest, he turned to flee, showing no intention of staying to fight another round.

But though that streak of light was fast, it was quickly intercepted by a tall man. His temples were slightly white, and what made the sight even stranger was that he wore an emperor robe.

The tall man blocked the white-haired old man’s path without a word. He threw a punch. The white-haired old man had no way to dodge and was struck squarely in the chest. Blood immediately spurted from his mouth.

That punch nearly destroyed half of the white-haired old cultivator’s cultivation. Yet even that was not the end. The man in the emperor robe reached out, grabbed the old man by the throat, and expressionlessly lifted him up.

It seemed that in the next moment, this peerless man would snap the white-haired old man’s neck in half.

Blood continued to spill from the old man’s mouth. His eyes showed some fear as he looked at the man before him and spoke with difficulty. “Whichever youngster here is related to you, this old man will withdraw. Whatever compensation is needed, we can discuss it.”

Although the white-haired old man had already yielded, the man in the emperor robe only shook his head and asked, “What was it you said just now? Of all things, he had to be a martial artist?"

Hearing this, the young great sword immortal Yu Xiyi, who had never dared believe his eyes, could no longer stand and collapsed onto the rubble. But even lying there, he could not stop talking. “Your Majesty, your entrance was grand enough, but must you smash a whole mountain each time you strike? You don’t have to pay for it?”

The man who had been away from the mortal world for far, far too long smiled casually. “It’s fine. It’s all mine anyway.”

At those words, Yu Xiyi froze, speechless. In truth, within the borders of Great Liang, every mountain did indeed belong to the man before him.

There was nothing wrong with this statement at all!

Yun Jianyue forced herself to bow and said with difficulty, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

Only the young martial artist, whose body was covered in wounds still bleeding, kept his head lowered. He did not look up at the sky, nor at that man.

If he did not look, then perhaps he could pretend the man had never come. Then there would be no need to speak of parting later.

If he did not look, then perhaps he would not feel aggrieved.

If he did not look, then perhaps the man would not see that he was already in tears.

This young man, when fighting desperately against others, had never felt aggrieved. Even when he was about to be killed here, he had not felt aggrieved. But when his elder came to stand up for him, only then did he feel utterly aggrieved.

Tears streamed down uncontrollably, flowing and mingling with blood until nothing could be seen clearly, until they could no longer be told apart.

The man who was without question the world’s strongest martial artist glanced at the young man who kept his head lowered. There was a trace of softness in his eyes. Perhaps, ever since his empress had departed, this emperor would only ever show such softness toward him.

When he lifted his head again, irritation flickered across his face. Seeing that the white-haired old man had yet to answer his question, he furrowed his brow and directly shattered over a dozen of the man’s acupoints with a surge of qi. ℞ÃŊΟʙĘ𝘴

The old man had already lost half his cultivation to that single punch from the Great Liang Emperor earlier. Now, with so many acupoints destroyed, even his Great Dao foundation was nearly damaged beyond repair.

Even so, the white-haired old man dared not utter a single threat, because he could clearly sense a faint but deadly killing intent lingering beside him. It was unclear whether it would thicken in the next instant or quietly fade away.

It might have seemed like a fifty-fifty chance, but the white-haired old man did not dare gamble.

He would not gamble on that “what if.”

This domineering martial artist had never showed up intending to “negotiate.” How could he possibly calm down so quickly?

"I..."

The white-haired old man took a long time to muster that single word. He was still wondering whether this man’s fury had come from that earlier insult -“had to be a martial artist”- or from his concern for the young martial artist himself.

Though Yu Xiyi had already spoken up earlier, the old man still believed that someone of such stature could not possibly be angered so simply.

But before he could say another word, before the second syllable could form, he could no longer speak.

The Great Liang Emperor had merely tightened his hand slightly. Just a little more strength - no more than that.

“Not interested in hearing it. Doesn’t seem all that important, either. In your next life... never mind. We will make sure that your soul will dissipate completely. It will be impossible for there to be a so-called next life.”

The Great Liang Emperor’s grip strengthened ever so slightly, and the white-haired old man’s acupoints began to collapse one after another.

Earlier, Daoist Wuyang had claimed he would destroy Chen Chao’s cultivation so that he could taste the agony of losing everything. But in truth, doing so was difficult even for him. Now, the Great Liang Emperor seemed to achieve the same effect effortlessly, as if it were nothing at all.

The white-haired old man howled in agony, his face twisting as his life force drained away.

“Chen Che! How dare you-!”

From far above the heavens, a voice filled with immense pressure suddenly descended. Though the speaker could not be seen, the sheer weight of that presence was unmistakable.

The Great Liang Emperor paid no heed. He simply tightened his hand further, crushing the white-haired old man’s throat and erasing every last trace of his vitality.

And, of course, he did not forget to destroy his divine soul.

From the heavens came a furious roar: “Good! Very good!”

The Great Liang Emperor remained unmoved, merely gazing into the distance. Farther away, in a place unseen by anyone, an aura rose.

“Actually, there are some words We want to say to you, but right now it’s a bit inconvenient.”

The Great Liang Emperor turned his head to glance at Chen Chao, and said telepathically, “We will be back soon.”

The latter did not lift his head.

The Great Liang Emperor was about to head toward the distance. But the moment he lifted his foot, he turned his head again and looked at the faint presence of Daoist Wuyang over there.

This former temple master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple no longer had his life force flowing away. He had long since been saved by the white-haired old man.

It could be said that surviving this calamity was a great fortune for Daoist Wuyang.

“What’s the point of you still being alive?”

As this voice rang out, the multicolored light that the white-haired old man had planted in Daoist Wuyang’s glabella suddenly shattered.

Daoist Wuyang spat out a mouthful of blood, his expression even more grim.

After that, the figure of the Great Liang Emperor flashed and disappeared, leaving for ten thousand miles.