The Profound King brought his full strength to bear with his first move. The command seal of Hopeless Major was an ultimate treasure that exceeded the limits of kinghood. It could fully control the major, and Violetgrave had taken it with her when she left.
Though the faction cultivators knew of its existence, they’d never seen it with their own eyes. Qing Yu had become the eminent ruler of Hopeless Major simply because she’d brought it back with her. Upon Violetgrave’s departure, she’d left standing orders that whoever returned with the command seal would be the ruler of the faction.
Sadly, she’d been gone for so long that disciples now didn’t even know of her existence. The Profound King forcing Qing Yu to abdicate really did speak of a rebellion.
……
Rumble—
Nine magnificent dao rules exploded from the Profound King and shook the skies of Hopeless Major. Alarming amounts of Hongmeng qi gathered from all directions and solidified on the rules, forming a hand as large as a world that slammed down on Qing Yu.
Not only was Qing Yu and the command seal within its grasp, but so were Lu Yun and the little fox behind her.
The Profound King didn’t know who they were and he’d never seen them before. But they deserved death since they’d suddenly appeared with the Empyrean King. After he obtained the command seal, he would marry that blasted king off to Origin World and step on the other ninth step kings who’d defied him, refining all of the bastards into puppets.
“Hmph!” Qing Yu snorted when she saw that the Profound King included Lu Yun and the little fox in his attack.
She pressed forward and condensed a fearsome aura around her, releasing nine purple-golden dao rules from her body. They rammed upwards at the large hand like nine pillars running all the way to the heavens.
“How is this possible?!”
“Nine dao rules!”
“The Empyrean King is a ninth step king!” The sight took Hopeless Major by storm. Their eminent ruler was also a ninth step king!
She’d ascended to kinghood not that long ago and started her journey at eighth step king. That’d already caused a great sensation throughout the major and the Immortal Region, but now she was in ninth step kinghood!
When she’d become a titled king, everything had taken place in her body. Thus, no one knew that she’d broken one of her dao rules to retreat from ninth step to eighth step.
The Yin Yang, Soulmask, and Acclaim Kings were equally dumbfounded by the sudden display of power. They were loyal to Violetgrave and thus adhered to the rules that she’d left behind. However, Qing Yu’s strength had always been an underlying worry. An eighth step king would not be able to keep Hopeless Major in check; this kind of rebellion was a foregone conclusion.
The trio secretly put in enormous effort to retain a portion of control, thereby preventing the entire major from rising up against their liege when the Profound King demanded her abdication.
Who would’ve thought that Qing Yu would show them the strength of a ninth step king at this point!
The Hopeless Major disciples standing behind the Profound King began to waver. They aligned themselves against the Empyrean King only because she was an eighth step king. Though there was only one step difference between eighth and ninth, it was the difference between heaven and earth.
……
“You’re a ninth step king?!” The Profound King was dumbfounded when his hand slapped painfully at Qing Yu’s dao rules, but he quickly recovered and leered, “So what? You’re still going to step down from your position today!”
He was the strongest ninth step king in Hopeless Major, how would he possibly shrink away from clashing against a chit of a girl who’d just become king? It didn’t matter that she was also a ninth step king!
RUMBLE!!
His aura expanded forcefully from his fully refined dao rules; they came down on Qing Yu with overwhelming, destructive momentum. Purple-golden radiance flared from her rules and the Profound King’s hand proved unable to shake them.
“What? This isn’t possible!” The Profound King’s leer slid off and was replaced by disbelief. Though he wasn’t utilizing combat arts, deployment of his dao rules at full strength was enough to crush an ordinary ninth level king.
But currently, everything he did was having no effect.
“Nothing’s impossible,” Qing Yu mocked and looked at him calmly from the center of her dao rules.
“Die!” Infuriated by her equanimity, the Profound King withdrew his dao rules and deployed a boxing method, punching out at the girl. This move didn’t mean to capture her and take the command seal, it meant to kill her.
“How dare you!”
“Thieving bastard!” The Yin Yang and Soulmask Kings roared with fury and charged up to stop him.
“Stand down!” Qing Yu shouted and leapt forward with a punch of her own to meet the terrifying attack.
Booooom!
A part of the void collapsed, destroyed by their collision. Qing Yu stumbled three steps backward while the Profound King remained in place, staring at her with incredulity. The Empyrean King had been in poor positioning for that blow, but she’d only taken three steps back!
“You must be a spy from the Immortal Region, here to overthrow our Hopeless Major! You’ve killed the real Empyrean King! She would never be my match otherwise, not with only ten years of kinghood.” He bit his words out frostily and locked his gaze on Qing Yu. “Fellow daoists, work with me to take down the enemy!”
“No one shall move!” The Yin Yang, Soulmask, and Acclaim Kings uniformly stepped forward with a yell.
“No matter.” Qing Yu waved a hand. “Anyone who doesn’t wish for my rule can try whatever they wish today. I’ll beat all of you into submission! But, I will show no mercy if fellow daoists of Origin World join the fray.”
Her look at the Kaleidoscopic King felt like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head. He shuddered despite himself.
He dared covet her for a dao partner when she was an eighth step king; it didn’t matter if he took her by force. But now that she was a ninth step king and could go toe-to-toe with the Profound King, he didn’t dare think twice about her anymore.
That would simply be nursing a death wish.
“Die, spy of the Immortal Region!” The Profound King leapt into action and stuck firmly to his story that Qing Yu was a spy.
Having been titled the “Profound” King, his methods were complex and abstract. Brimming with endless mysteries, his combat arts and techniques were the peak of perfection.
“This spy sent our founding treasure, the Netherdark Formation, to the Immortal Region and now wants to consign us all to death. I will reveal your duplicity to all today!” His ferocity increased as he spoke.
“Get her!” The Ruin King locked eyes with certain people and made their moves as well.
Some of the remaining ninth step kings in their camp hesitated. Their primary concern all this time had been the Empyrean King’s lack of strength. Now that she was a ninth step king and possessed the command seal, she absolutely had the right to be their eminent ruler. There was nothing to be gained in being enemies with her.
It wasn’t an unforgivable crime that she’d lost the Netherdark Formation; the Major’s true foundation was the command seal. It meant far more to the faction than a formation.
As for the Profound King’s claim that she was a spy… Well, she was a spy if he won, and he was a joke if he lost.
The Ruin King and two others stepped forward to join efforts with the Profound King. Four ninth step kings occupied the cardinal directions and their power shook the heavens, ripping through the void to create spatial storms.
These storms were more terrifying than Earth Light Magneticus since they could crush an eighth step king to pieces. Ninth step kings, however, wouldn’t be affected. Dao rules intersected by their side and projected one great combat art after another. They careened through the turbulent void and attacked everything they encountered.
Qing Yu was no match for four kings acting in concert. Continuously forced back, she nonetheless remained calm and methodical, refraining from falling into disorder.
“Fellow daoists, do you see this? The Empyrean King shows no weakness when attacked by four kings. She’s not like a newly ascended king at all, she’s definitely a spy from the Immortal Realm!” the Ruin King suddenly cried out.
This swayed many more people and the intention to join the fight spread throughout the crowd. The Yin Yang and Soulmask stood like door guards, firmly preventing the situation from boiling over. Their liege was at her absolute limit; she would immediately fall if another ninth step king fought against her.
“Since you say I’m a spy of the Immortal Region, I’ll use the power of Hopeless Major to defeat you! Netherdark Formation, rise!”
Hummm.
