?

You could say the Empress was foolish, naive, and lacking in schemes.

But you absolutely could not say Chu Chen was naive; otherwise, you would be the true fool!

Having lived two lives, especially after being framed and killed by the Ye Clan, Chu Chen had long since seen through everything. His mind was incredibly mature, surpassing even old foxes like Qi Lao'er.

When Empress Lin Shuwang revealed her Great Saint Ninth Heaven cultivation, Chu Chen knew things had taken a turn for the worse! He sensed the imminent danger!!

Hope is a beautiful word.

But if you cannot give others hope, your own situation might very well plunge into despair.

Empress Lin Shuwang had cultivated for just over twenty years and had already broken through to the Great Saint Ninth Heaven. With her talent and aptitude, reaching the Great Saint Tenth Heaven, or even breaking through to the Saint King Realm, was merely a matter of time.

Furthermore, that time would absolutely not be long!

Once she broke through to the Saint King Realm, without needing any external assistance, the Empress, possessing the Undying God Phoenix Physique, would wield the power to fight above her realm and remain invincible among her peers.

By then, even without the acknowledgment of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace's Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon, Lin Shuwang alone would be enough to defeat veteran Saint King Realm experts like Geng Yan.

And once she obtained the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon's acknowledgment and completed the initial refinement, the Empress alone could sweep through the five Branch Palace Masters of the entire Divine Flame Emperor Palace.

No one doubted this fact.

Therefore, Geng Yan, who had originally harbored thoughts of retreating, was prepared to drop a few harsh words and leave in disgrace.

But as fate would have it, Empress Lin Shuwang, anxious to protect her husband, appeared and flaunted her Great Saint Ninth Heaven cultivation.

This snuffed out Geng Yan's final shred of hope, replacing it with unprecedented pressure and despair.

She hesitated: should she gamble and spark the war early?

Starting the war now would yield a higher chance of winning. If she waited any longer...

Time was on the Empress's side. The longer this dragged on, the more dangerous it would become.

Chu Chen saw through this immediately. He understood perfectly well that if a battle erupted now, even if the Empress won, it would be a pyrrhic victory.

He refused to let his woman get hurt. After a brief moment of thought, he devised a method to break the deadlock.

Without hesitation, he began calling the Empress "Wifey" while grabbing her soft, boneless little hand, playfully caressing it.

Doing this in front of so many people... to Empress Lin Shuwang, who possessed zero romantic experience, Chu Chen's move was simply... too advanced.

A complete novice like her simply couldn't handle it~

She immediately blushed, wanting to shake off Chu Chen's hand. After all, with powerful enemies eyeing them like prey, even if they wanted to hold hands...

...they should at least wait until no one else was around~

But before the Empress could shake off Chu Chen's hand, in the very next instant, a unique Imperial Realm Pressure belonging to an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon surged from Chu Chen's broad palm into the Empress's body, and then violently erupted outward from within her.

Rumble!!

Empress Lin Shuwang's eyes instantly grew unfathomably deep. Within her pupils, terrifying visions of collapsing suns and moons, shattered stars, and sundering heavens and earth manifested.

An utterly terrifying Imperial Realm Pressure instantly shrouded the entire Divine Flame Emperor Palace. It swept toward the massive Shenhuo City, blanketing the four directions and shocking the ages.

The void continuously detonated, the Great Dao collapsed repeatedly, and the power of rules was shattered and reshaped over and over.

With every casual movement Empress Lin Shuwang made, it seemed as though stars orbited her. Deep, terrifying black holes surfaced behind her back, crushing stars and devouring heaven and earth. In this moment, the myriad stars of the heavens became the Empress's nourishment, extinguishable with a mere snap of her fingers.

"A... A Great Emperor?!"

"This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"

"You are clearly at the Great Saint Ninth Heaven! How could you possibly possess Imperial Realm Pressure?! How?!"

......

Geng Yan and the others shrieked in terror, their fox-like eyes locked dead onto Empress Lin Shuwang.

At this moment, her heart had turned completely ice-cold!!

Bai Yu, Chou Rang, Tuoba Kuang, and the rest stumbled backward several steps, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

In the face of a Great Emperor's Pressure, who cared if they were Saint Kings or Quasi-Emperors? None of them amounted to anything!

Because the Imperial Realm Pressure released by the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon was not the aura of a Quasi-Emperor, but the genuine Pressure of an ancient Great Emperor!

Qi Lao'er and Weng Su barely managed to keep themselves upright. Under this terrifying Pressure, they felt as insignificant as a lone leaf boat upon a vast, raging ocean, constantly burdened by a sense of powerlessness that threatened to capsize them at any moment.

"No! Although this Imperial Realm Pressure is immensely powerful, it..."

"...it is not the terrifying Pressure released by a living ancient Great Emperor! This... this is an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon!"

Bai Yu was the first to react. For some reason, although his strength and realm were not the absolute highest among the five Palace Masters, his perception was remarkably acute:

"Empress... Empress, could it be that you have already gained the acknowledgment of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace's Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon?!"

Uproar-

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of Geng Yan and the others drastically changed.

If she could mobilize the power of the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon, the Empress alone could fend off at least two Saint King Realm experts.

Add Qi Lao'er and Elder Weng Su to the mix, and... how could they possibly fight this?!

"Insolent! Does This Emperor need to report to the likes of you whether I have obtained the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon's acknowledgment?!"

Facing Bai Yu's interrogation, Empress Lin Shuwang furrowed her brows, and the terrifying Imperial Realm Pressure intensified even further:

"Without a direct summons, no one may enter the Imperial Palace! This is the absolute rule of my Divine Flame Emperor Palace!"

"For you Palace Masters to forcibly intrude upon This Emperor's palace today... are you staging a coup? Are you attempting a rebellion?!"

Boom!!

Amplified by the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, the instant Empress Lin Shuwang spoke, an endless tide of Great Dao power surged violently toward Geng Yan and the others.

Massive expanses of the surrounding void shattered. Amidst the swirling and fading of stars, suns and moons sank, and heaven and earth cracked apart.

"Empress, we... we harbor no such intentions!"

Tuoba Kuang, normally the most arrogant and domineering of the bunch, was the first to cup his hands and submit under the crushing weight of the Imperial Realm Pressure:

"We merely heard that the Empress's realm had fallen and were deeply concerned for your holy well-being."

"We shall withdraw immediately! Immediately!"

Seeing this, Chou Rang, Bai Yu, and Geng Yan also realized the tide had completely turned. They hurriedly bowed their heads and bent their waists in submission.

"You come as you please, and leave as you please? Do you truly believe This Emperor's palace is a mere decoration?"

Empress Lin Shuwang snorted coldly. With a light wave of her pale hand, terrifying Formations condensed from the void one after another, completely trapping the four Palace Masters within.

Although these Formations were only at the Great Saint or Saint King tier, bolstered by the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon and the Imperial Realm Pressure, each one possessed the heaven-defying power to pluck suns, moons, and stars.

With so many Formations linked together, it seemed they could even suppress a Quasi-Emperor!

"You see This Emperor yet refuse to kneel! According to the palace rules of my Divine Flame Emperor Palace, the punishment is execution!"

The Empress's voice possessed a unique, magnetic cadence, echoing like a celestial melody. Yet, at this moment, it was ruthlessly frigid, plunging everyone into an icy abyss:

"Kneel and submit, or die!"

Boom!!

As soon as her words fell, the Imperial Realm Pressure grew exponentially heavier.

When a Great Emperor is enraged, the heavens collapse, the earth splits, and a million corpses blanket the ground.

It seemed a terrifying Imperial War was destined to erupt in the very next breath.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!!

......

Without a single sliver of hesitation or delay, Geng Yan, Bai Yu, Chou Rang, and Tuoba Kuang crashed to their knees almost simultaneously, heavily lowering their proud heads.

The sheer terror commanded by an ancient Great Emperor was etched deeply into the very bones of any cultivator; no amount of posturing could hide it.

Before a Great Emperor, there was only submission, or the path of death!!

"Get lost!"

Empress Lin Shuwang maintained an icy expression as she coldly glared down at the four Palace Masters kneeling before her.

Hearing this, Geng Yan and the others felt as though they had been granted a supreme pardon. Without daring to delay for even a second, they immediately fled in utter disgrace.

After the four had departed, the Empress turned around to face Qi Lao'er and Weng Su, her tone softening slightly:

"Qi Lao'er, This Emperor has seen your utmost loyalty."

"However, Elder Weng Su... isn't your Elder Council a bit... too far from This Emperor's palace?"

Boom!

At these words, Elder Weng Su's body trembled slightly, cold sweat instantly beading upon her forehead.

"This old woman arrived late to offer salvation! Please punish me, Empress!"

Without any hesitation, Weng Su shakily dropped to her knees, burying her head deeply between them, frightened half to death.

Weng Su knew that the Empress had seen right through her earlier wavering...

"If there is a next time, This Emperor will not hesitate to abolish the entire Elder Council!!"

Weng Su continuously kowtowed like pounding garlic, still not daring to rise from the ground:

"Yes, Empress!"

The Empress waved her hand and spoke coldly:

"All of you may withdraw. This Emperor has matters to discuss with Chu Chen."

Before her voice even faded, and before anyone could react, the Empress swept her hand. The void before them shattered as she brought Chu Chen directly into the Empress's Palace.

The dignified Empress, the supreme sovereign... actually had matters to discuss with Chu Chen?

Note: 'Discuss', not 'command'.

This...

Qi Lao'er, Weng Su, and over a dozen Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters, including Zhang Ke'er, widened their eyes and left their mouths hanging half-open in utter disbelief and shock.

Meanwhile, the very second the hand-holding Empress and Chu Chen entered the palace...

Chu Chen could no longer hold on. An intense wave of weakness crashed over his entire body, and he immediately collapsed headfirst into the Empress's embrace.

Right before losing consciousness, he made sure to aim his head perfectly, shamelessly rubbing it against the Empress's full chest again and again~

He had practically thrown his life away.

Rubbing against the Empress a bit to collect some interest wasn't too much to ask, right???