! Publicly Holding the Empress's Little Hand~

"Brat, you are begging for death!"

Chou Rang snorted coldly. A heaven-destroying halberd materialized in his palm, and he hurled it viciously at Chu Chen.

Boom!

Wherever the halberd passed, the Great Dao collapsed, the void ruptured, and the power of rules rippled outward.

In an instant, Chu Chen felt entirely isolated from the world, his mind plunging into absolute stagnation.

Simultaneously, the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar within his body, began to hum. The mottled sword marks and scars etched across its surface seemingly came alive.

It forcibly yanked Chu Chen's consciousness back from the void, instantly restoring his clarity. Goosebumps erupted across his skin, and a chill raced down his spine.

Clang!!

"Shatter for this old man!"

At the juncture of life and death, Qi Lao'er swung his walking stick once more, knocking away the deadly halberd just inches from Chu Chen's eyes and averting the crisis.

However, after this single strike, Qi Lao'er began panting heavily.

"Qi Lao'er, do you truly intend to make enemies of us?"

Chou Rang's true fury was ignited. With a clench of his fist, another halberd materialized in his palm. His biting Killing Intent surged ever higher, looking ready to charge forward and fight Qi Lao'er to the bitter end in the very next breath.

"This old man..."

Qi Lao'er furrowed his brows. He looked at Chu Chen, then at the united front of the four Branch Palace Masters, momentarily caught in a bitter dilemma.

Swish!

Just as Qi Lao'er was at a loss, Chu Chen extended his hand, summoning a longsword into his grasp.

Everyone assumed Chu Chen was about to charge forward and risk his life, but unexpectedly, he reversed the blade, pressing it directly against his own throat:

"Master, if I cannot save the woman I love, I..."

"My Dao Heart will surely be obstructed, breeding an Inner Demon! My future cultivation will be unable to advance a single inch!"

"I would rather die!!"

"......."

Qi Lao'er was stunned, instantly abandoning his backup plan of knocking Chu Chen unconscious and dragging him away.

His body, which had been subconsciously preparing to retreat, forcefully took a step forward instead. He stared down the four Branch Palace Masters, bracing for a head-on clash.

Under Chu Chen's extreme coercion, he no longer had any way out.

Truthfully, Chu Chen wasn't foolish. He knew that even if Qi Lao'er threw his life away to protect him, the old man was absolutely no match for the four Branch Palace Masters in a real fight.

Regardless of whether Qi Lao'er could drag one or two of them down to the Yellow Springs, the moment blows were exchanged, he, Empress Lin Shuwang, and Zhang Ke'er's group behind him would die without a doubt.

He had no other choice, yet he didn't panic either.

If it truly came to blows, he, Chu Chen, still possessed a trump card.

This trump card was to summon the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, from within his body and hand it over to his cheap master, Qi Lao'er.

As a fellow Saint King Realm expert, Qi Lao'er was outmatched by the combined might of the four Palace Masters. But what if he wielded an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon?

The situation would completely reverse! Offense and defense would instantly swap!

Just how terrifying was an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon in the hands of a Saint King Realm expert?

A full-powered strike could sink the entire Divine Flame Emperor Palace, and even the entirety of Shenhuo City!

It would erase them completely from the world, as if they had never existed.

Slaughtering Geng Yan, Bai Yu, Chou Rang, and Tuoba Kuang would be as effortless as butchering pigs and dogs!

However, handing the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar to Qi Lao'er would bring endless disasters.

He feared that no one in the entire Divine Flame Emperor Palace would be able to suppress this old lunatic. He and the Empress would merely fall into an even greater crisis.

But if they were about to die anyway, why worry about the aftermath?

If Chu Chen couldn't even survive, why should he care if torrential floods drowned the heavens or if millions perished?

Just as the Saint King battle was on the verge of erupting.

Just as Chu Chen was about to awaken the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar.

And just as that peerlessly magnificent figure inside the Empress's Palace was about to shatter the void and descend with overwhelming might...

......

"Cough, cough! Cough, cough!"

Accompanied by a fit of coughing, the void before them shattered, and a hunched old woman slowly stepped out from the Boundless Void.

"Palace Masters, grant this old woman a sliver of face."

"Let us all step back, how about it?"

The speaker was a member of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace's Elder Council.

Supreme Elder Weng Su.

A Saint King Realm powerhouse!

Finally!

Finally!!

The absolute zenith of combat power within the Empress's Elder Council, capable of matching the five Branch Palace Masters-Supreme Elder Weng Su had appeared!

Seeing her arrival, Geng Yan, Bai Yu, and the other Palace Masters exchanged wary glances. Their brows furrowed deeply, but they ceased their attacks.

Qi Lao'er completely relaxed. If he hadn't been leaning on his walking stick, he probably would have collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

The blood qi within his body was practically drained dry, and his lifespan was at its absolute limit. Fighting one-on-one was already grueling, let alone one against four.

Weng Su's appearance proved that the Elder Council would not simply sit by and watch a palace coup unfold.

Even in a two-versus-four scenario, their odds were slim. But with this old hag Weng Su taking the heat in front, if they couldn't win, Qi Lao'er could secretly scoop up Chu Chen and slip away~

Shameless?

Selling out a teammate?

Heh~

So what!

With his Saint King Realm cultivation, even if he fled the Divine Flame Emperor Palace, he could still live a carefree life outside. It just meant Chu Chen's cultivation journey would be slightly more arduous, but he, Qi Lao'er, had the patience to wait...

"Greetings, Elder Weng Su!"

Although Qi Lao'er was already plotting his escape internally, on the surface, he acted as if he was ready to advance and retreat together with her, sharing in life and death.

He had no choice. Who asked the precious disciple he took in to be utterly love-struck?

But this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. No matter how foolish Qi Lao'er was, he could see that his disciple's feelings weren't unrequited; it was a mutual devotion with the Empress.

Once his own grand plan was complete, then, hehe~

Thinking of this, Qi Lao'er suddenly felt as though a withered tree had met the spring, as if he were living a second life, returning to the hot-blooded impulsiveness of his youth.

"Rest assured, Elder Weng Su! I, Qi Lao'er, am a man of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace in life, and a ghost of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace in death!"

"Even if I have to throw away this old life today, I will absolutely guarantee the Empress's safety!"

"If anyone wishes to harm the Empress, they will have to step over the corpses of this old man and his disciple!"

The moment these words left his lips, not only were Geng Yan and the other Palace Masters startled, but even Supreme Elder Weng Su knitted her brows, staring at Qi Lao'er in sheer disbelief.

What in the world had gotten into this old fossil lately?

It was well known that Qi Lao'er never intervened in the political strife between the Empress and the Branch Palace Masters. No matter which side attempted to rope him in, he completely ignored them.

The reason was simple: to a dying man, what use were fame and fortune?

Yet now...

"In that case, this old woman thanks you on behalf of the Empress."

After a brief silence, Weng Su cupped her hands and bowed slightly to Qi Lao'er. Only then did she turn around to face the four Branch Palace Masters, speaking coolly:

"If you step down now, this old woman will pretend nothing happened today, and I will not wag my tongue in front of the Empress."

"Four Palace Masters, what is your decision?"

As she spoke, an utterly terrifying surge of Saint King Realm Pressure erupted from Weng Su's body. Taking a deep breath under Chu Chen's silent urging, Qi Lao'er simultaneously stepped forward, releasing his own Saint King Realm Pressure to signify their united front.

Geng Yan and the others wore exceptionally ugly expressions, yet they did not panic.

As fellow Saint King Realm experts, it was still four against two; the overwhelming advantage remained theirs.

However...

However, despite Qi Lao'er and Weng Su being ancient and having little time left to live, once a Saint King battle truly ignited, these two old monsters would have absolutely no problem dragging two of them down to the grave before dying.

Furthermore...

Geng Yan and Chou Rang exchanged a glance, both spotting the deep-seated anxiety in each other's eyes.

Bai Yu was the Empress's most devoted simp. If Empress Lin Shuwang appeared at the critical juncture of the battle and tossed Bai Yu a casual promise, there was a massive chance he would instantly defect.

Meanwhile, Tuoba Kuang was a simple-minded, brawny fence-sitter. The moment the tides turned against him, he was highly likely to stab his allies in the back...

They absolutely could not force a head-on clash, at least not yet!!

In just a few short years, once these two old fossils, Qi Lao'er and Weng Su, crumbled to ash, and Empress Lin Shuwang had yet to break through to the Saint King Realm, then...

"Elder Weng Su, we have not come here today to force an abdication!"

Although they had already decided to retreat in their hearts, Geng Yan refused to simply admit defeat.

Since martial force wouldn't work, they would resort to words.

Sometimes, seizing the throne didn't require mindless slaughter.

"Rather, we heard rumors that the Empress's cultivation has plummeted, consecutively dropping several minor realms."

"As you well know, our Divine Flame Emperor Palace has been declining in strength over the years. If the Empress delays her breakthrough to the Saint King Realm any longer, she will be unable to obtain the acknowledgment of the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon housed within our Divine Flame Emperor Palace..."

"Cultivating the Dao is like rowing a boat upstream; if you do not advance, you will be pushed back. If the Empress has truly fallen several realms, it means she is no longer worthy of her mantle and completely incapable of wielding our Divine Flame Emperor Palace's Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon. Since that is the case, I believe it would be better to..."

Boom!!

Before Geng Yan could even finish her sentence, the void before them violently detonated. Massive waves of crimson flames surged out from the Boundless Void, incinerating everything in their path as the temperature skyrocketed.

As the flames dispersed, the white-clad, celestial beauty, Empress Lin Shuwang, slowly stepped out from the spatial rift.

With a light sweep of her elegant brows, her imperial aura fully unleashed. The oppressive Pressure unique to a sovereign monarch crashed down on Geng Yan and the others like overwhelming mountains and overturning seas.

"Palace Master Geng, who told you that This Emperor's cultivation has plummeted several realms?"

Her vermilion lips parted slightly, her voice echoing like a celestial melody.

The Empress's voice was melodious, yet at this moment, it carried the biting chill of a billion miles of frozen glaciers, causing everyone to shiver involuntarily and tremble in fear.

Boom!!

Without giving Geng Yan a chance to speak, Empress Lin Shuwang's aura skyrocketed. A Pressure so immensely powerful that it practically touched the threshold of the Saint King Realm pierced straight into the heavens!

Ninth Heaven of the Great Saint Realm!!

"No... no! This is impossible!"

Geng Yan staggered backward. Bai Yu, Chou Rang, and Tuoba Kuang also lost their composure, their eyes brimming with absolute horror:

"You clearly stripped away the... How is this possible? How can this be?!?!"

The Ninth Heaven of the Great Saint Realm! She was merely a single step away from the absolute peak of the Tenth Heaven.

Once she reached the Tenth Heaven, with the Empress's heaven-defying talent, stepping into the Saint King Realm would merely be a matter of time. And when that happened...

Offense and defense would swap completely.

Would she still have any path to survival?

All color drained from Geng Yan's beautiful face in terror. But right at this critical juncture, a maddened thought surged within her mind.

If she staked everything on a life-and-death struggle right now, there was still a sliver of hope to flip the board and win.

If she waited any longer...

"Wifey! You've finally come out of seclusion! I've missed you to death!!"

But just as Geng Yan and the others hesitated over whether to preemptively strike, the previously silent Chu Chen suddenly spoke up.

Not only that, but he shamelessly trotted right up to Empress Lin Shuwang. Catching her panicked and flustered gaze, he boldly grabbed her delicate little hand, rubbing and squeezing it, all while loudly chanting, "Wifey~ Wifey~"

Being publicly grabbed by the hand and affectionately called 'wifey', Empress Lin Shuwang's face instantly flushed as red as a ripe apple, completely losing every shred of her former aloof and haughty majesty.

"You... let go~"

Blushing fiercely, the Empress turned her head away, instinctively trying to shake off Chu Chen's grip.

But in the very next instant, the terrifying Imperial Realm Pressure contained within an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon violently erupted from within the Empress's body.

It crushed down madly toward Geng Yan and the others...