The demonic empress, Lin Shuwang, was the master of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace.

Without exaggeration, she was the most talented woman in the entire Desolate Ancient Continent.

Her figure was graceful, her visage exceedingly beautiful.

Yet she was also exceptionally aloof, radiating a peerless elegance.

She was like a snow lotus blooming atop a glacial peak-noble, gorgeous, and holy.

Her white dress was as pure as snow, unstained by mortal dust.

Like a dragon princess of the deep.

Like a fairy beneath the moonlight.

Or a Mysterious Maiden of the Nine Heavens.

An immortal banished to the mortal realm.

Transcendent and solitary.

Indescribably beautiful.

Even a distant glance felt like a desecration.

Even more terrifying was that the empress, Lin Shuwang, possessed the Undying God Phoenix Physique. She carried immense Providence and harbored a heaven-defying aptitude for cultivation.

Among her peers, aside from Chu Chen, no one could surpass her.

Qi Gathering, Essence Condensation, Sea Expansion, Heaven Opening, Spirit Communication.

Divine Flame, Great Saint, Saint King, Quasi-Emperor, Great Emperor.

The ten great secret realms of cultivation, a hundred heavens.

To the empress, Lin Shuwang, these were merely ordinary milestones.

At the age of twenty-one, she had already entered the Saint realm, becoming the youngest Great Saint on the Desolate Ancient Continent-one of only two.

To say she possessed the bearing of a Great Emperor was not praise or expectation; for her, it was the most commonplace statement of fact.

As long as Lin Shuwang did not perish, stepping into the Emperor realm and claiming the throne of a Great Emperor was merely a matter of time.

Yet, three years ago, this peerlessly elegant empress had been forcibly defeated, injured, and utterly suppressed by him-Chu Chen.

In that battle, to prevent the righteous and demonic paths from plunging the world into a catastrophic war, and to elevate the Ye family into an immortal aristocratic clan controlling the world's ninety-nine spiritual veins, Chu Chen had not hesitated to shatter his divine body. He destroyed his meridians and sacrificed his cultivation, completely degenerating into a mortal cripple...

He had won, but it was a tragic victory.

Strictly speaking, one could not even call it Chu Chen's victory.

He had employed a completely suicidal fighting style, severing all avenues of retreat.

In contrast, although Lin Shuwang had been defeated, she had preserved her foundation.

Now, looking across the entire Desolate Ancient Continent, no one among her peers could threaten her; they had all been left far behind in the dust.

The title of the youngest Great Saint on the Desolate Ancient Continent now belonged to Lin Shuwang alone.

As for Chu Chen?

He had long since degenerated into a useless cripple!

Chu Chen knew that if Lin Shuwang had also severed her own cultivation path and fought with her life on the line during that battle,

the outcome would have been mutual destruction. They would have perished together.

But regardless, in the eyes of the world, it was Chu Chen who had defeated Lin Shuwang, shattering the empress's undefeated myth.

This had inflicted immense damage upon her reputation and the dignity of the entire Divine Flame Emperor Palace.

So, who was the most hated person in the entire Divine Flame Emperor Palace?

If Chu Chen claimed second, no one would dare claim first.

......

Outside the gates of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace, several guards stared at Chu Chen. He had suddenly erupted with fierce Killing Intent, his face covered in frost and his aura terrifying, as if he were an entirely different person.

For a moment, they were all stunned, the arms holding their flying swords trembling slightly.

This person was clearly...

Clearly a mortal with no cultivation at all, so why did he exude such a suffocating sense of oppression?

Especially those eyes-deep as the vast starry sky, devoid of any emotion, cold as snow, and icy as a frozen spring.

"You... you're from the Ye family? You want to challenge our empress?"

"Ye... Ye Chu Chen! You are Ye Chu Chen!"

"It was you who defeated our empress three years ago! It was you!"

......

The public defeat of the empress, Lin Shuwang, was simply too shocking.

Therefore, almost every disciple within the Divine Flame Emperor Palace kept a portrait of Chu Chen, ready to stab it with a knife to vent their anger on sleepless nights.

After a brief moment of scrutiny, one of the guards identified Chu Chen, realizing he was not lying.

"You still dare to come to my Divine Flame Emperor Palace? You are simply courting death!"

"You have lost all your cultivation and are now a mere mortal, yet you still dare to challenge our empress?"

"My name is Zhao Shu, at the third heaven of the Spirit Communication Realm. If you want to challenge the empress, you must first pass me!"

......

"Stop! Didn't you hear he represents the immortal Ye family? He is here to deliver a challenge letter!"

"It seems the Ye family wants to go to war with our Divine Flame Emperor Palace. This matter is no small thing. Quickly report to the empress!"

"Yes, Senior Brother Li Wei!"

......

Under the reprimand of Senior Brother Li Wei, Zhao Shu and the other guards who wanted to strike Chu Chen backed down. Stepping onto their flying swords, they sped straight into the depths of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace to deliver the message.

Chu Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Claiming he was delivering a challenge letter to the empress was a bluff born of necessity.

If he hadn't done this, he feared he wouldn't even get to see Lin Shuwang, let alone accomplish anything else.

As for how to resolve this mess?

Heh, that was not something a dying man needed to consider.

If he angered the empress and the Divine Flame Emperor Palace, and they annihilated the Ye family in retaliation, so be it.

He was going to die anyway. Let the heavens flood and the earth shatter.

Of course, if this plan failed, Chu Chen had a backup.

If these guards still refused to let him pass, or directly attacked him, he would have no choice but to go all out.

These guards were only at the Heaven Opening or Spirit Communication secret realms. The supreme Emperor Weapon, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, would most likely not awaken against such weak foes, and with no spiritual power in his body, Chu Chen seemingly had no way out.

In reality, he still possessed a massive killing weapon: the Saint-level flood dragon swallowed by the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar.

The interior of the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar contained its own isolated space. That Saint-level flood dragon was not dead, merely sealed by the terrifying Pressure of the Emperor realm.

Chu Chen had achieved an initial refinement of the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar. Although he could not wield it directly, lifting the seal and releasing the Saint-level flood dragon was not a difficult task.

If pushed to the brink, he would directly release the beast to sweep through the Divine Flame Emperor Palace, slaughtering these guards and forcing the empress to show herself.

Of course, once released, the Saint-level flood dragon would attack indiscriminately. Everyone present, including Chu Chen himself, would become its prey.

Everyone could die.

Although Chu Chen had the supreme Emperor Weapon to protect himself, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar had only been initially refined, and he lacked any spiritual power.

In a life-or-death crisis, he was not confident the jar would awaken on its own to protect its master.

One misstep, and he would be thoroughly dead.

Therefore, this was a last resort.

Fortunately, some of these guards possessed a modicum of reason, saving him a lot of trouble.

Before long, the guard who had gone to deliver the message hurriedly flew back to the gate on his Dharma Treasure. Staring at Chu Chen with a hostile glare, he reluctantly said:

"Hmph. The empress has given her orders. Go in."

Chu Chen had no mood to bicker with these snobbish guards. He stepped into the Divine Flame Emperor Palace, walking toward the most majestic structure hidden among the mountains.

Because he had lost all his cultivation, he could not ride a Dharma Treasure. He had to rely on his own two feet.

But he was not in a hurry. The empress, Lin Shuwang, already knew he was coming.

Making the empress wait at a time like this...

Whose fault would that be?

The guards at the gate obviously did not realize this. They clearly wanted to see Chu Chen humiliate himself, so no one offered to help him.

"Hmph, let the brat be arrogant!"

"From the palace gate to the empress's palace, one must cross hundreds of great mountains. It is tens of thousands of Li away."

"Relying on his own two feet, he'll probably walk until he dies before he ever gets there, haha!"

......

Boom!!

The guards were still laughing heartily when an extremely powerful and majestic Pressure crashed straight down from the nine heavens.

In an instant, it crushed all the guards at the gate into the dirt, leaving them coughing up blood.

Immediately after, before Chu Chen could react, several divine lights shot out from the imperial palace, lifting his body and tearing through the air.

When Chu Chen's feet once again touched solid ground, he looked around and found himself standing inside the magnificent imperial palace.

Gently swaying red candles and gauze curtains met his eyes, alongside lush green potted plants.

Precious calligraphy, paintings, and intricate patterns were carved into the stone walls, radiating an antique and resplendent glory.

Flanking the stone pillars of the hall stood over a dozen black-robed elders. Their faces were gloomy, and their sharp, eagle-like eyes locked onto Chu Chen the moment he appeared.

Overwhelming auras and terrifying Pressure coiled within these elders, like tigers stalking their prey. At the slightest provocation, they would pounce from all directions and tear Chu Chen apart.

"Six peak Saint-level experts, four terrifying existences at the Saint King level. This lineup..."

Chu Chen took a deep breath, withdrawing his gaze from the black-robed elders, secretly shocked.

These dozen or so elders likely represented the peak combat power of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace. The strength of the leading elder was even above Ye Shanhe, the ancestor of the Ye family-he already had one foot stepping into the Quasi-Emperor level.

If they mobilized in full force, let alone Chu Chen being unable to stop them,

even the entire Ye family would be razed to the ground, unless they deployed their supreme Emperor Weapon, the Heaven-Reaching Mirror.

It seemed that upon hearing the Ye family was delivering a challenge letter to the empress, these old monsters couldn't sit still and had rushed to the imperial palace to witness it themselves.

His gaze followed the stone steps upward until it stopped on the white-clad figure seated upon the imperial throne.

That was the most powerful woman in the Divine Flame Emperor Palace-the empress, Lin Shuwang!

Swish!

With just one look, Chu Chen was completely stunned, his mind momentarily blanking.

Beautiful!

Too beautiful!

The empress, Lin Shuwang, was dressed in a white gown, her features peerlessly exquisite.

Her skin was as white as snow, her figure graceful, her eyebrows as fine as silk threads, and the touch of vermilion on her lips was as bright as a ruby.

Her temperament was as cold as frost. She was beautiful like a celestial fairy, entirely untainted by the mortal world.

Peerlessly elegant, yet...

Cold and aloof.

In his memory, this was only the second time Chu Chen had seen Lin Shuwang. The first time, naturally, was during the great battle three years ago when he had defeated and suppressed her.

Chu Chen had not expected that, after three years, the empress had...

Completely matured, with curves in all the right places, radiating an overwhelming femininity~

"Ye Chu Chen, it really is you!"

Her vermilion lips parted slightly. Lin Shuwang's voice was as beautiful as a babbling spring, melodious and flowing:

"I heard you came to deliver a challenge letter to me. It seems the Ye family wishes to start an all-out war with my Divine Flame Emperor Palace."

As her words fell, the atmosphere in the great hall instantly plummeted to a freezing point, becoming suffocatingly oppressive.

Killing Intent materialized and shot into the sky. The surrounding temperature plummeted sharply. The innate Pressure of the empress caused the dozen or so black-robed elders to unconsciously bow in submission.

"Chu Chen, you have some nerve!"

"Three years ago, you only barely defeated the empress of our Divine Flame Emperor Palace by severing your own cultivation path. Now that you are a useless cripple, how dare you come to our Divine Flame Emperor Palace to challenge her?"

"The empress must not be desecrated! Chu Chen, you are arrogant! The Ye family is arrogant!"

"Didn't you come to deliver a challenge letter? Didn't you want to challenge our Divine Flame Emperor Palace?"

"Fine! Today, this old man will lead all the disciples of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace, carve a path of blood to the Ye family, and slaughter your entire clan!"

......

Facing the verbal onslaught from over a dozen elders, the empress remained silent. Instead, she rested her cheek on one hand, her cold eyes fixed on Chu Chen.

She was deeply curious. Chu Chen was clearly crippled, without a single trace of spiritual power in his body. Why did he still dare to deliver a challenge letter to her?

Boom!!

"Boy, this old man is asking you a question!"

While Chu Chen was lost in thought, one of the hot-tempered elders unleashed a terrifying Saint King-level Pressure upon him:

"Aren't you here to deliver a challenge letter? Why are you staring at our empress?"

"Where is the challenge letter? Take it out!"

"......"

Under this terrifying Saint King-level Pressure, Chu Chen felt his bones groaning, his body on the verge of being crushed. The supreme Emperor Weapon within him, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, stirred restlessly.

Swish!

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Lin Shuwang waved her hand. The Pressure crushing Chu Chen instantly vanished into nothingness.

"Challenge letter? What challenge letter?"

Now free of the crushing weight, Chu Chen looked at the elders in confusion. He spread his hands, putting on a perfectly innocent face.

"Perhaps the disciples of your Divine Flame Emperor Palace passed on the wrong message. How could I, Chu Chen, a mortal who cannot cultivate, possibly challenge your empress?"

"......"

Not here to deliver a challenge letter?

Lin Shuwang furrowed her delicate brows slightly, and the dozen or so elders below the dais were even more baffled.

Could it be that Chu Chen had traveled thousands of Li just to...

To toy with the Divine Flame Emperor Palace???

"I do have a letter I wrote myself, which I have specially come to present to the empress."

As he spoke, Chu Chen brushed the Storage Ring on his finger and withdrew a piece of white paper:

"But it is not a challenge letter. It is a love letter written by me, Chu Chen, to the empress!"

"......"

Before anyone could process this absurdity, Chu Chen gazed up at Lin Shuwang with deep, exaggerated affection and began to recite in a dramatic tone:

"The world only knows you as the lofty empress, but in my heart, I prefer to call you by your name-Lin Shuwang."

Gasp-

"You are the brightest little star in the night sky."

"Your smile."

"Your eyes."

"Your every move."

"All of it deeply attracts me..."

Upon the imperial throne, Lin Shuwang, who had been casually resting her cheek on her hand, instantly went rigid. Her face filled with utter astonishment as goosebumps erupted all over her body...

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