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Black clouds blotted out the sun. They gave rise to a dense, powerful sense of oppression. Beneath the cover of darkness, the citizens of Heavenly God City couldn't help but tremble, and they felt faint but sharp pricks of pain all over their skin.

Strangest of all was that, within the cloud cover, they could dimly discern a single blood-red eye.

The eye hovered in mid-air, as if it belonged to a mindless, bloodthirsty beast. Just one look, and the air seemed to fill with the dense smell of blood.

But it has to be said: beneath the cover of darkness, Xiao Ting was the most eye-catching of all.

He carried the Lightning Emperor's Scepter in one hand, and silvery white lightning serpents revolved around him. He was the only bright spot in this world of darkness. Everyone, from the ordinary citizens to Ye Zichen and his group, couldn't help but look at him.

"Lightning Emperor, it finally seems you can't keep hidden any longer!"

"Alliance Head Ye, whatever do you mean by that?" Xiao Ting stepped into the sky, thunder rumbling outward in all directions. "You led your people to attack my estate. If I didn't show my face, what dignity would I have left?"

"You know full well that's not what I mean," snorted Ye Zichen.

"Watch what you say. A loose tongue leads to disaster," Xiao Ting snorted right back.

"Ye-zi, what do we do now? Kill our way out, or kill him?" the Great Sage's voice rang out in Ye Zichen's sea of consciousness.

Ye Zichen knit his brows, then glanced at the nearby Upheaval Alliance Headquarters. "Don't worry about him! Fight your way out!"

The experts of the Upheaval Alliance heard that, then immediately started fighting, but Xiao Ting made no effort to stop them.

"Surely you don't think that, so long as you leave the Xiao Family, you'll be safe? If you can lead an attack on my estate, can't I lead an attack on your alliance?"

"You're welcome to try." Ye Zichen laughed indifferently, his subordinates continuously fighting through their encirclement.

Strangely, Xiao Ting made no effort to stop them even now. He simply let the Upheaval Alliance kill the outer sect members. He watched as blood spurted from his clansmen's bodies, and watched as his clan's blood died the estate red.

The remaining outer sect members were terrified. They shrunk back, too afraid to approach recklessly.

In their hearts, they were stunned. Why hasn't the emperor intervened even now? The inner sect elders are just standing there too. None of them show any signs of joining the fray!

Little did they know, it wasn't that the elders didn't want to help, but rather, that Xiao Ting wouldn't let them.

"Let me ask you one last time: have you made your choice?" Xiao Ting's question simultaneously appeared in the minds of every last elder. Their expressions all changed, flitting back and forth. Just now, Xiao Ting had thrown a nigh impossible choice at them, one they still struggled to believe.

Some of the elders were outside retainers, people who'd come thanks to the Xiao Family's reputation. However, after countless years of service, they considered this place their home, and they'd served the Lightning Emperor's estate loyally for generations.

Then, there were members of the Xiao Family proper, both the main family and its branches.

Regardless of their origins, the Xiao Family had always fought for the Lightning Emperor's Estate, as well as for the future of the God Realm.

But just now, the current Lightning Emperor Xiao Ting had told them that they were already in an alliance with yao and demons, and that he wanted to overturn the current leadership of the God Realm. Then, he'd asked if they were willing to join him in this or not.

Betraying the god race!

The elders didn't even dare imagine it. They'd been born in god race territory, and generations of their ancestors had fought and died for the sake of their race.

But now they were supposed to betray their own kind and join forces with the very demons and yao they'd fought for tens of thousands of years. The Lightning Emperor had always been loyal, and his estate had always taken maintaining order in the God Realm as its personal responsibility.

Xiao Ting's choice was tantamount to pushing the entire estate into an endless, inescapable abyss!

"Emperor!"

"Hmph, I know what you want to say! But history is written by the victors. Now, you might think me a traitor and a scoundrel, but if the God Realm truly falls, then the survivors and their descendants will think of me as their savior!"

Xiao Ting's eyes flashed, full of undisguised insanity.

"The Lightning Emperor's Estate has been under others' employ for far too long. I want to taste the power of a God Emperor too! Besides, the era has almost reached its end. Surely you don't think Zhou Wu can transcend and lead the god race to salvation, do you? He can't! But my alliance includes someone who can! The man destined to transcend!"

"Xiao Ting! This is nonsense! The LIghtning Emperor's Estate has been loyal for countless generations. We can't just sit back and watch as you lead us towards destruction." This time, the speaker was the Xiao Family's third elder, a member of the estate's older generation. In terms of seniority, he could be considered Xiao Ting's uncle.

"Hah? Then just don't watch."

Crack-a-boom!

A lightning dragon several meters thick came crashing down from above, swallowing the elder up completely.

The other elders watched, trembling from head to toe. Even after obliterating the elder who'd spoken up, Xiao Ting's eyes showed not even the slightest ripple of emotion.

"Make your choice!"

"Emperor, we'll follow your orders and act as you command us!

Compared to one's own life, loyalty was a frail, fragile thing indeed. People willing to throw their lives away for loyalty were rare; that was why future generations honored them in song and legend.

For most people, especially for cultivators like them….

The longer they lived, the stronger their thirst for life. Their youthful hotbloodedness had long since faded.

All they wanted now was to live. As for whether or not that meant betraying the god race, or whether they'd face eternal doom in the future, well, that was a problem for their future selves.

Right now, their only choice was to agree. Refusing…

Meant death!

"Excellent. As expected, you didn't disappoint me." Xiao Ting's transmission resounced in their seas of consciousness once more. The elders grimaced, but they nevertheless nodded repeatedly.

"Strange. Xiao Ting really isn't stopping us," said someone in Ye Zichen's party. The exit was coming right up. The outer sect members were just standing there, petrified, while Xiao Ting stood unmoving in the sky.

"Did you notice that just now? That person Xiao Ting killed just now was one of their higher-ups. Xiao Yan, do you know who that was?" asked the Great Sage.

"That was my third grandfather!" Xiao Yan gnashed his teeth.

Those around him froze in shock. Xiao Yan's third grandfather was by definition also Xiao Ting's third uncle, right?

Yet he'd killed him just like that!

Weren't they relatives?

"It seems Xiao Ting really has gone insane." Xiao Yumei bit her lip.

It wasn't just them; when the Xiao Family outer sect members saw this, they too looked up at the sky in terror and confusion. They couldn't understand why Xiao Ting had just killed the elder.

But what happened next only filled them with even more despair…

"What are you doing? Don't just stand there. Stop them!"

"Emperor, these people…"

Before the outer sect members could even finish their sentence, Xiao Ting coldly interrupted them. "Are you afraid? The Xiao Family has no need for cowards like you."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless streaks of lightning surged down from the heavens. At first, Ye Zichen assumed they were targeted and him and his subordinates, but to his shock, they landed on the outer sect members who'd just spoken up.

Even though they were his enemies, Ye Zichen's heart ached. He and his companions could only watch as the outer sect members, from the white-haired elders to the crying babies, had their bodies ripped apart by heavenly lightning….

Not a single one survived!

Ye Zichen's eyes reddened, and he tightly clenched his fists. "Xiao Ting…. What the hell are you trying to do?"！"