Chapter 1187 – Invitation to Battle
Ye Qingyu was surprised but he was not afraid or terrified.
Because he had expected this to happen.
The fact that the Sky Fox clan had thrown their support behind King Zhenyuan and even lent him an Emperor weapon showed their intense desire to kill Ye Qingyu. Ye Qingyu did not know why the Sky Fox clan had such enmity for him, but he would never retreat.
He recalled the countless battles that he had experience and each time he faced an unbeatable opponent, he ultimately managed to gain the upper hand to emerge victorious. He had accumulated so much experience that he now had the ability to face a Martial Emperor, so he was not afraid at all.
"If you want to condemn somebody, you could always trump up charges against them," Ye Qingyu said in a dignified manner. "Since I assumed the position of the [Military Judge of the Nine Swords], everything I've done was for the sake of the camp and I've acted within the confines of the martial law. I've swept the skies and cleansed this place of evil in accordance with the law that the wise Great Emperors have put in place, so don't you think it's unreasonable to call me an 'evil being'?"
"Haha, you might not have committed any evil deeds yet, but in the future, you will definitely bring harm upon the camp and ignite a terrible massacre that will cause widespread destruction. Therefore, I have to get rid of the root of evil today in order to prevent these things from happening in the future," the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan said gravely. "If you're truly acting for the good of the camp and if you sincerely care for the millions of living creatures within the camp, then don't resist me. This will be the greatest blessing you can bring upon this land."
Ye Qingyu burst out laughing at his words.
He looked at the phantom figure in the void and said clearly, "If I hadn't heard this from a Martial Emperor myself, I would have thought that these words were from the mouth of a lunatic. I would have thought that you were joking since you're condemning me to death on the basis of such groundless charges."
"How dare you speak to a Martial Emperor in this manner?" someone yelled fiercely in the void. Then, the figures of several elite experts flickered. It was none other than the clan elder of the Sky Fox clan and several other elite experts from his race.
The top-level experts of the Sky Fox clan had shown up together at once.
This clearly had been planned beforehand, as it could not have been something that was put together in the spur of the moment.
Two rays of divine radiance as sharp as two divine swords suddenly shot out from Ye Qingyu's eyes then swept the surroundings, while his divine sense surged like an abundant ocean. The clan elder of the Sky Fox clan and the ten other experts that were with him were immediately so struck with terror that their faces were drained of all color, as though they had seen a savage monster.
"Who do you think you are? How dare you interrupt my conversation with the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan?" Ye Qingyu said sharply as he unleashed his matchless aura. He sounded like he was admonishing a junior martial artist. "Get lost now. Do you really think that your skulls are harder than the King of Zhenyuan's?"
Murderous spirit exploded so violently out of him that it was as though it had taken on a solid form.
A chill ran down the spines of the clan elder of the Sky Fox clan and the others.
They were all Quasi-emperors, but when Ye Qingyu flew into a rage, all of them shivered in fright like they were in the presence of an elder of their race.
"You may leave. Since Military Judge Zhang Longcheng refuses to eliminate his own evil, I have no choice but to do the deed myself," the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan said, speaking with absolute authority.
The clan elder of the Sky Fox clan waved his hand and retreated with the Quasi-emperors of his race.
"Zhang Longcheng… Haha, I should just call you by your name instead. I'll give you one last chance. If you refuse to die, I could spare you but only if you swear fealty to the Sky Fox clan and hand over that sword in your hands," the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan said slowly and grimly as he suddenly changed his stance.
"Hahahaha…" Ye Qingyu laughed maniacally. "I was still trying to understand why you were trying to kill me, but now I see that it is because you have taken a shine to my life weapon, and thus, you're resorting to such despicable means to take it from me. How shameless could you get? How could a lofty Martial Emperor like yourself resort to stealing another's possessions? Your Highness, you're lowering your status with your words."
The expressions of countless people in the void and in the Azure Cloud Square immediately changed.
The Azure Cloud Platform had yet to descend onto the square, so the Emperor qi still continued to project the scene on the platform. Thus, everyone could clearly see and hear Zhang Longcheng admonishing a lofty sovereign of this age. All the noblemen were completely stunned by Zhang Longcheng's actions.
They were even more shocked than they had been earlier when King Zhenyuan perished in battle.
The Quasi-emperors of the Sky Fox clan in the sky immediately became enraged.
"How dare you?"
"You must be courting death!"
Two Quasi-emperors of the Sky Fox clan yelled angrily and immediately attacked. The fake Emperor weapons in their hands shot across the air, and the air was filled with the power of Dao laws that surged toward Ye Qingyu.
Ye Qingyu scoffed coldly and his eyes hardened icily as the [Blood Drinker Sword] appeared in his hands once again. He slashed out with his sword, and the sword will of the Life Sword charged through the air. Countless thin silver formation chains merged together to form a sword radiance that exploded like a bright sun moving across the sky.
"Oh no…" the clan elder of the Sky Fox clan exclaimed in shock.
The next instant, the sword radiance completely absorbed and destroyed the two Dao forces from the two Quasi-emperors. And at the same time, it also absorbed the fake Emperor weapons in their hands as well as their bodies.
Everything dissolved into wisps of smoke and ash.
The two Quasi-emperors of the Sky Fox clan were instantly turned into dust and vanished from the face of the world.
The clan elder of the Sky Fox clan was both shocked and livid as he sputtered, "You… How could you… You… actually dared to kill the experts of my race! Do you know, you…"
Ye Qingyu scoffed coldly then said, "Moron, stop repeating these nonsensical words in front of me. The Sky Fox clan was already destined to be my enemy from the very moment you decided to support the King of Zhenyuan. Are you trying to tell me that you're the only one who could try to ambush me, and I'm forbidden from retaliating?"
The clan elder of the Sky Fox clan and the other experts were completely dumbfounded.
How could King Zhenyuan be compared to them? They were a supremely powerful race with a living Martial Emperor at its helm, so whoever dared to pit themselves against their race would definitely be courting death. After so many years, was there ever a time when someone had dared to say such audacious words in front of them?
King Zhenyuan himself, who was known to be the most powerful person of the camp with the exception of a Martial Emperor, whose Yuan clan had made significant contributions to the camp for generations and who had such outstanding military exploits, would have to bow deferentially when he spoke to the Sky Fox clan.
Indeed, they had gotten used to being the ones who schemed against and bullied others and did not expect any resistance from their opponent while doing so. The Sky Fox clan had lent their [Samsara Disc of Nine Opposites] to King Zhenyuan in a bid to kill Ye Qingyu, but unfortunately, this plan had failed. Nonetheless, they assumed that even if Zhang Longcheng survived, he would naturally understand the intent of the Sky Fox clan and would thus try to grovel for his life or curry their favor to change their opinions of him. They had never imagined that he would resort to such violent means…
"We… The sovereign of my race will never let you off. My sovereign…" a Quasi-emperor of the Sky Fox clan sputtered even while he trembled in fear.
"Shut up." Ye Qingyu immediately cut him off.
His gaze swept across the remaining few experts of the Sky Fox clan and looked at them with contempt and disdain as he said fiercely, "Your sovereign is all that you ever talk about. Haha, don't you know that your sovereign is not the only person who exists within this camp? Do you truly think that your race has the right to rule over the entire world? Haha, as a Martial Emperor, the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan cultivated bad values and failed to strengthen the Sky Fox clan. Instead, he raised a bunch of short-sighted and uncouth creatures like yourselves, so how are you any different from the maggots of the underworld? You have all been hiding under the protection of the sovereign of your race and have long lost the true heart of a martial artist. None of you will be able to truly challenge the status quo and all of you lack the courage to attack a true expert—all you've been doing has been bullying the weak. What a joke. Your actions are simply ludicrous. The Sky Fox clan seems powerful but in fact, it is weak inside. Despite all of you being Quasi-emperors, you all behave no differently from pigs and dogs. Get out of my way. Otherwise, don't blame me if I don't show you mercy. I could kill all of you and completely destroy the Sky Fox clan."
Then, Ye Qingyu ignored the Quasi-emperors of the Sky Fox clan, who were like flowers in a greenhouse, and turned his sword toward the half-black, half-white phantom figure with long hair.
"Sovereign of the Sky Fox clan, first, you made use of King Zhenyuan in an attempt to kill me, then you slandered my good name and even tried to steal my life weapon from me. This enmity and grudge between us will not end until one of us is dead. Do you dare to face me in battle?" Ye Qingyu asked.
Thunder and lightning suddenly appeared in the sky as though this phantom figure was responding to him.
"He's gone mad, absolutely mad…" The clan elder of the Sky Fox clan looked like he had been struck by lightning and stumbled backward in the void while he stared at Ye Qingyu in horror as though he had just seen a crazed demon.
Did he truly dare to challenge a Martial Emperor?
How could he?
A Quasi-emperor challenging a Martial Emperor was the most insane and fastest way to die. Ever since the Sky Fox clan Martial Emperor had shown the world that he was invincible, no one throughout history had ever dared to challenge a at the Quasi-emperor level to battle.
Was Zhang Longcheng truly not afraid of anything?
Everyone on the Azure Cloud Square along with the elderly sovereign, who was keeping an eye on this scene in the ancestral shrine of the Sun clan on the other end of Royal City, were all stunned.
What is he trying to do?
This was the first thought that popped into the sovereign of the Sun clan's mind.
However, he soon realized that the Zhang Longcheng he knew was definitely not a reckless person. This was just like when he had made use of the power of the [Samsara Disc of Nine Opposites] earlier on the Azure Cloud Platform to refine his own life Emperor weapon earlier. Everyone had thought that he must have lost his mind and found his actions ridiculous, but this had been part of Zhang Longcheng's plan all along.
Because he had taken the initiative to challenge the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan to a battle, does that mean…
The sovereign of the Sun clan started to mull this over.
…
"Very well," the half-black, half-white figure in the void responded.
His voice rumbled like thunder that caused everyone's hearts to quake intensely, as though it had the power to shatter their hearts.
The sovereign of the Sky Fox clan had actually agreed to Ye Qingyu's challenge instead of scoffing disdainfully.
What did that mean?
Did the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan truly think that Zhang Longcheng was a worthy opponent? A Martial Emperor would only agree to a match if he had met a worthy opponent.
The entire Royal City also started to quake gently as yuan qi that was so powerful that it was without rival arose from the Sky Fox clan residence located several hundred kilometers away to descend upon the world.
This was the true power of the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan.
The phantom figure that had appeared in the void earlier was merely an energy hologram.
It hadn't been the true power of a Martial Emperor.
This was also why the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan had been unable to stop Ye Qingyu from killing the two Quasi-emperors earlier. Now, as the aura that originated from the Sky Fox clan residence swarmed toward it, the phantom figure's yuan qi grew more powerful and more realistic.
An authentic Martial Emperor was about to appear.
