Saint Emperor Devourer of Heaven

Ning Wang had the seven assassins locked in the most heavily guarded dungeon of the border city. It was surrounded by garrisoned Rune-Armored soldiers and a magical formation, making it impossible for anyone to infiltrate silently.

"Who is this?"

Ning Wang looked at Xu Yanning beside Jun Wuxie, his expression quite displeased.

He had just announced to the entire city that he would betroth his daughter to Yue Wuxie.

Yet, this boy was already strolling intimately through the streets with another woman.

Although Ning Wang had guessed that their outing was a deliberate attempt to draw out the lurking assassins, he was still quite annoyed, feeling that his precious daughter had been wronged.

"My friend. Ning Wang, you know very well who she is," Jun Wuxie said, knowing that Ning Wang would have already found out everything. With his power here, what news couldn't he uncover in a very short time?

"Hmph!"

Ning Wang's facial muscles twitched slightly. This boy was even acting as if he was in the right.

Bringing another woman to stroll intimately through the streets today… What would people say? They would probably say that his Ning'er would have to be this boy's concubine.

Moreover, according to the news he received last night, this boy and this woman had shared a room.

Late at night, a lone man and woman… who knew what transgressions against propriety they had committed.

"Ning Wang, you'd better not put on your Ning Wang airs in front of me. In Anning's presence, I don't want to embarrass you too much. I hope you'll behave yourself," Jun Wuxie said forcefully, angering Ning Wang to the point that his chest heaved. He raised his hand several times, wanting to point at him, but Anning pressed it down.

She didn't want her father to clash with Yue Wuxie.

"I heard you were injured?"

Arriving at the main hall of the City Lord's mansion, Ning Wang glanced at Jun Wuxie.

"A minor injury."

Jun Wuxie turned and showed him his back. There, his clothes were torn open, revealing a broken sword embedded in his body, deep in his chest cavity. However, there was no blood flowing from the wound.

"You didn't heal your injury first, and instead ran here to talk to me about business?"

Ning Wang raised his eyebrows slightly. This was truly a ruthless person. A sword piercing his chest cavity… didn't it hurt? Yet, he was acting as if nothing was wrong, and his face showed no sign of pain.

"What's so strange about that? This little injury is nothing."

Jun Wuxie said casually. Seeing the looks of concern in Anning and Xu Yanning's eyes, he couldn't help but sigh and say, "Alright, don't worry. I'll take care of this broken sword in my chest cavity now."

After he finished speaking, the Six Yang True Fire and the Divine Fire within his body simultaneously incinerated the broken sword, and the Primordial Golden Body Art was activated, causing the Celestial Destiny Star to generate a powerful devouring force.

Then, Ning Wang, Anning, and Xu Yanning were all shocked to see the broken sword embedded in his chest cavity melting at a rate visible to the naked eye.

It wasn't melting into molten metal, but into energy, gradually shrinking until it completely disappeared in just a quarter of an hour.

With the broken sword dissolved, his wound healed rapidly.

Such a monstrous recovery ability left Ning Wang dumbfounded.

What kind of monster was this?

That was a broken piece of a high-grade, entry-level Saint Sword, yet he could directly dissolve it with his body.

The healing speed of his wound was even faster than sewing clothes. It was too outrageous. In the time it took to breathe, even the scar had disappeared.

"Now, let's talk business. I have some very unfortunate news to tell you."

Jun Wuxie sat down at the table in the main hall. Anning thoughtfully poured tea for him and Ning Wang. When she was about to pour tea for Xu Yanning, she smiled and took the teapot, saying, "Sister, I can do it myself."

"What unfortunate news?"

Hearing him say this, Ning Wang's expression turned solemn.

This youth's personality was extremely forceful and proud. For him to call something unfortunate, it must be something extraordinary.

"Currently, the one supporting the Wu'an Dynasty from behind is the Seven Killing Tower, one of the top sects in Hanzhou. Yes, these assassins today were disciples of the Seven Killing Tower. For the past half year, those who have been assassinating border generals on the battlefield have also been their people."

"What?"

Ning Wang stood up in shock, his expression uncertain.

This news had too great an impact on his heart.

A top sect from Hanzhou… Even if he had great ambitions, he felt powerless in the face of such an existence.

That was an existence that no force in Qingzhou could possibly contend with.

The top sects of Hanzhou all had inheritances of over 500,000 years, with the longest even approaching a million years.

Such sects had too deep a foundation, with countless Overlord Saints and even experts above the Half-Step Saint Emperor realm.

Qingzhou, on the other hand, with dynasties like the Great Qian, had only been around for over 200,000 years. The foundation was too different. Even with tens of millions of Rune-Armored soldiers, they were far from being a match for the top sects of Hanzhou. They were not on the same level.

"Where did you get this news?"

"Don't worry about where I got the news. With Wu'an's sudden attack on the border city of the Great Qian, and the appearance of those assassins, you should have had suspicions in your heart long ago."

"Indeed, I have long had suspicions, and have been secretly investigating. I just didn't expect it to be the Seven Killing Tower from Hanzhou! For them to go to the trouble of sending people to Qingzhou to interfere in the war between Wu'an and my Great Qian, there must be something they can gain from it."

"The Great Qian has something they want, probably an ancient artifact buried beneath the earth. Analyzing their behavior, they probably didn't know about this before, and only learned of it in recent years, which is why they launched the war. Ning Wang, think about it, does the Great Qian have any ancient legends?"

Ning Wang thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, "I haven't heard of any legends. If it really is the Seven Killing Tower supporting Wu'an from behind, things will be troublesome. If they continue to increase their support, then my Great Qian will have no way to contend with them."

Speaking of this, Ning Wang revealed a strange expression, "With the strength of the Seven Killing Tower, there is no need to achieve their goals through Wu'an. If they need to find something within the borders of my Great Qian, why don't they come directly? Their not coming directly to the Great Qian… could it be that they have some misgivings?"

As he spoke, Ning Wang's expression became increasingly ugly, and his mood became increasingly heavy.

"Indeed, Ning Wang's thinking is truly sharp," Jun Wuxie nodded, saying, "Their not coming directly is probably because the ones eyeing the Great Qian are not just the Seven Killing Tower. They have misgivings, but haven't given up, which means there are existences that are evenly matched with them. From this, we can deduce that they should also be top sects from Hanzhou."

"In other words, there are other top sects coveting the treasure hidden in the Great Qian, and there may be more than one top sect. They haven't made a move yet, probably because we can still hold on. Once we can't hold off the Wu'an army, they will come forward."

He couldn't help but laugh as he said this, "Ning Wang, your opportunity has come. If a top sect from Hanzhou comes forward, you can seize the opportunity to curry favor with them and have them help you deal with me."

"Hmph! I'm not that stupid!" Ning Wang was very clear-headed, saying, "In the eyes of the top sects of Hanzhou, the forces of Qingzhou are dispensable. People like me are just ants to them, and their status is probably not even as good as puppets. Even any disciple within their sect can flaunt their power in front of me. If that's the case, what's the point of sitting on the throne?"

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Anning beside him.

There was another sentence in his heart that he didn't say, which was that Anning's beauty was too eye-catching.

If the top forces of Hanzhou came, what if some of their disciples developed evil intentions towards his daughter?

It would be fine if some genius really took a fancy to Anning, but what if they just wanted to play around?

As a father, it would be the greatest tragedy to be unable to protect his daughter in this matter.

Therefore, he didn't want the forces of Hanzhou to directly intervene in the Great Qian Dynasty, even if it was to help the Great Qian resist Wu'an.

"Yue Wuxie, you previously vowed that you could repel the Wu'an army. Can you really do it?" Saying this, Ning Wang added, "I mean, if you repel the Wu'an army this time, will you still have the confidence if the Wu'an army comes again in the future?"

He suddenly realized with sorrow that he could only place all his hopes on this youth who wanted to use him and then kill him.

Facing the Wu'an Dynasty, which had the help of the Seven Killing Tower, and facing the top sects of Hanzhou, who might directly intervene after the Great Qian was defeated by Wu'an, he had no way to deal with it.

"Of course I have confidence, otherwise, what would I be doing here at the border city? What is the situation with the Wu'an army outside the city now? When will they likely organize another attack?"

"The scouts I sent out have learned that the Wu'an army has regrouped, but their morale is low. The psychological shadow you cast on them that day was too great. According to reliable news, Wu'an is mobilizing other troops. It is estimated that they will have to wait for the later troops to arrive before launching a siege. In terms of time, it will probably take at least half a month."

"Half a month… should be enough…"

Jun Wuxie pondered, then said, "If the border city wants to be defended, we must open up the passage for reinforcements to come. I will personally handle this matter. Within half a month, reinforcements will arrive. By the way, Ning Wang, give me the Rune-Armor Formation Diagram of the Great Qian's strongest Rune-Armored army."

Ning Wang took out an old scroll from his spatial ring and placed it in front of him, "This contains the highest-level Rune-Armor Formation Diagram of my Great Qian. Are you really confident that you can open up the reinforcement passage within half a month? I'm very curious, what are you going to do?"

"What else can I do? There is no shortcut in this matter, and with the limited time, there is no room for using tricks. Only using force is the fastest and most direct way."

He unfolded the scroll and glanced at it. It depicted dense rune diagrams, interwoven with millions of strands of rune traces.

This was clearly a massive project. He wondered how many Rune Masters it took and how long it took to research such a special Rune-Armor Formation.

"Also, give me your Tiger Seal."

Hearing this, Ning Wang hesitated slightly before throwing the Tiger Seal to him.

"Yan Ning, come with me. Anning, stay here. Before I return, you are not allowed to leave the City Lord's mansion or go out into the streets. Prince Ning, send two strong individuals to protect her in secret. The border city is not peaceful right now. Even with heightened security, we can't necessarily prevent assassins from the Seven Kill Tower from infiltrating."

After saying this, he put away the tiger seal, not waiting for Anning and Prince Ning to respond. He glanced at the war sand table in the middle of the main hall, memorized the areas where the reinforcements were blocked, and quickly left with Xu Yan Ning.

"Young Master Yue, Sister Yan Ning, be careful."

Anning followed them to the entrance of the main hall and shouted loudly at their backs.

Prince Ning looked at his daughter standing at the entrance of the hall, gazing into the distant sky, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Ning'er, is it him or no one for you in this lifetime?"

Prince Ning came to her side and said this, his voice somewhat low, filled with deep helplessness and worry about the future.

"Father, what are you talking about?"

Anning came back to her senses and retorted, lowering her head slightly.

"Ning'er, your mother passed away early, and I raised you single-handedly. Do you think I can't see your thoughts? Yue Wuxie is very outstanding, a true dragon among men. It's understandable that you like him; it's only natural. Any outstanding person will always have a unique charm that attracts those around them. But I didn't expect you to fall so quickly."

Prince Ning sighed inwardly. Although he didn't know the details of their interactions, after careful analysis last night, he roughly understood why his daughter had fallen so quickly.

Ning'er is very proud, always has been.

Over the years, no one has caught her eye. Coupled with her outstanding intelligence, she has orchestrated plans and strategies, pushing her confidence and pride to their peak.

But it was precisely at this time that Ning'er met Yue Wuxie.

She started with curiosity about him, gradually stepping into the trap he set. She was defeated in the field of strategy she prided herself on, and Yue Wuxie even grasped the handle that determined the life and death of the Ning Wang Mansion.

Such a blow to a confident and proud strategist is very heavy, enough to break through all her defenses, to shatter her Dao heart.

Although the collapse of the Dao heart is only temporary, in that very short time of collapse, a mark has already been planted in Ning'er's heart.

Women are naturally inclined to admire the strong, and every girl has her own dreams.

Yue Wuxie, who shattered his daughter's pride, is no different from the stronger and more outstanding man than her that shouldn't exist in her dreams coming to reality.

Moreover, that Yue Wuxie also displayed unbelievable talent in martial arts!

A martial arts practitioner in the Mythic Domain!

He is also a talisman master!

Such a person, cultivating both martial arts and talisman arts, with extraordinary intelligence.

How could Ning'er withstand that?

"Father, Ning'er almost can't remember Mother's appearance anymore..."

Anning's eyes dimmed. Her mother's appearance was very vague in her memory.

She was too young at the time, only three years old.

It hasn't been long, only twenty-two years.

"Do you hate me?"

Sadness and self-blame appeared in Prince Ning's eyes. In the year his consort passed away, he was depressed for a long time, even wondering if he had taken the wrong path, which led to her death.

If it weren't for assisting him, how could his consort have been ambushed and killed by the experts sent by the Emperor?

That time, he launched a bloody revenge against the Emperor, sending more than a dozen experts at the Great Sacred Extreme Heaven Realm to infiltrate the imperial city with the determination to die, killing the Emperor's most beloved prince, and killing more than a dozen of the Emperor's beloved imperial concubines.

Although all the experts he sent died in the imperial city in the end, the losses were heavy.

But from then on, the Emperor dared not touch the people he cared about anymore.

The Emperor was afraid, afraid that he would retaliate like a madman, regardless of any consequences.

Anning turned around and leaned into Prince Ning's arms, sobbing softly.

"Ning'er, don't cry. You must be strong, understand? That Yue Wuxie, you must strive to have a place in his heart in the future. Don't be his puppet. It's best if you can be his woman, understand? Over the years, I'm a little tired. What imperial ambitions are, in the end, just fleeting clouds in the face of the threat from Hanzhou."

"Father..."

"Ning'er, if I'm not by your side in the future, you must live happily and joyfully. For thousands of years, I have been biding my time, painstakingly developing power, in order to control my own destiny and protect you. When I was weak, I couldn't even protect my own children, so I vowed at that time that I would never repeat the same mistake! In the future, if you can become the Empress of Qingzhou, with Yue Wuxie as your backing, I will be relieved."

"Father, you will always be by my side!"

Anning understood what her father meant, and her eyes were filled with tears.

Why, after so many years, even though she didn't agree with some of her father's methods, she still wholeheartedly shared his burdens.

Because she is Prince Ning's daughter, and the reason why her father, Prince Ning, is like this is because thousands of years ago, when her father and mother had just married and had a son, they were involved in the struggle for the position of crown prince.

At that time, her father had no ambition at all, but he still became the target of others.

That night, her father and mother were seriously injured, and the guards and experts around them were killed and wounded. Her brother, whom she had never met, died as a result.

Fortunately, her father and mother survived, dragging on until dawn.

Later, the Emperor found out about this, but instead of pursuing the matter, he drove her father and mother out of the imperial city, gave them a very small city, and issued an imperial decree to the world, ordering her father never to set foot in the imperial city.

The imperial family rarely has any affection or fairness to speak of.

...

Jun Wuxie and Xu Yan Ning quietly left the border city, both using concealment techniques.

They left the city and entered the mountains, then revealed themselves.

He summoned Lan Lan, held Xu Yan Ning, and sat on it. With an order, Lan Lan sped away like lightning.

Lan Lan's speed was too fast, especially since Jun Wuxie had broken through to the Saint King Realm, and Lan Lan's realm followed suit and broke through to this realm.

His speed, even without using the Supernatural Technique, reached more than ten times the speed of sound.

You must know that Jun Wuxie can only reach this speed now by using the Word Secret and Talisman Dao double supernatural powers.

Many experts in the Great Saint Realm are only at this speed.

Most Saint Kings are usually below five times the speed of sound.

Jun Wuxie can be so fast because the energy in his body has surpassed many Great Saints.

"It's been a long time since I rode Lan Lan, hee hee ~"

Xu Yan Ning smiled like a flower, which reminded her of the past in the Lower Realm. Smiling and smiling, suddenly her eyes were a little moist.

Over the years, she really wanted to go back to the Lower Realm to see, that was her homeland, there were many people or things there that she missed.

After coming to the Upper Realm, whenever she faced loneliness, she was most likely to miss the Lower Realm, and miss the Jun God who should still be in the Lower Realm at that time.

Every time she thought of the days in the Lower Realm, and thought of those beautiful memories, she couldn't help but cry secretly.

"Yan Ning, why are you crying again? You're almost a crybaby."

Jun Wuxie let her lean on him, his forehead pressed against the hair on top of her head, and said softly, "Do you miss the Lower Realm? If there is time in the future, I will take you back to the Lower Realm to see."

"Yeah." Her eyes flickered with tears, crying and laughing, and said, "I don't miss it so much now. At that time, I thought you were still in the Lower Realm, so I especially missed it. Now you are by my side, wherever you are, I will go there, and I will never be alone again..."

"Silly girl, as long as you want, you can stay by my side for as long as you want, I won't drive you away."

"Then what if I want to be by your side for a lifetime?"

She turned her head and stared at him with a delicate and charming baby face, her big, flickering eyes filled with hope.

Jun Wuxie's lips trembled slightly, looking at her pitiful eyes, his heart softened, and he couldn't help but said with a smile, "It depends on your performance. If you always seduce me like last night, that won't work."

"Ah, Jun God, you're so bad, don't mention last night ~"

Xu Yan Ning blushed with shame, burying her whole face in his arms.

Jun Wuxie smiled, gently hugging her, stroking her silky smooth hair.

"Lan Lan, use the Supernatural Technique appropriately, but don't overdraw your energy."

He instructed, and the map position on the war sand table appeared in his mind, secretly guiding Lan Lan in the direction.

Then, ignoring Xu Yan Ning, who was nestled in his arms, he took out the scroll given to him by Prince Ning, which depicted the Talisman Armor Array.

The Primordial True Eyes and the Talisman Dao pupil technique were activated at the same time, and he stared at the scroll carefully, memorizing all the talisman diagrams on it.

Putting away the scroll, he began to observe with his primordial spirit, secretly studying it, and even in the Talisman Dao Cave Heaven, he began to learn to simulate the array diagram with talisman diagrams, and in this process, he studied the mysteries and rules.

In fact, this kind of talisman array is not profound, but it is too complicated.

After seeing it, Jun Wuxie vaguely felt that this Talisman Armor Array should be able to be simplified without reducing its power, and it might even be possible to improve its power because the simplification removed the extra complicated traces of talismans, making the energy flow and connection between the other traces of talismans smoother.

However, this process is not so easy.

Although the talisman diagrams are not profound, the number of talisman traces inside is terrifying, with millions of them.

These are just basic talismans, and these basic talismans will evolve between each other, so the number is in the hundreds of billions.

"In the future, if I leave Qingzhou, the dynasty will have to rely on the Talisman Armor Army to resist existences like the top sects of Hanzhou."

Jun Wuxie thought that if the Talisman Armor Array patterns could be refined and their level improved, so that the power of the Talisman Armor would increase dramatically, then relying on the number of Talisman Armor Army, there might really be hope to trap and kill Overlords.

"Hmm, just having high-level rune armor isn't enough; I also need an army with corresponding realms. It seems I need to purchase a large quantity of first-grade and second-grade resources to nurture soldiers at the Saint and Saint King realms. When the time comes, they can wear the improved high-level rune armor, which will better unleash the armor's power."

Jun Wuxie pondered, planning to build a top-tier army in the Upper Realm, just like the Xuanjia Army in the Lower Realm—the best of the best. The source of soldiers could be elites from the army or disciples from Qingyun.

Also, in the future, all soldiers must cultivate the Battle Saint Method.

Rune armor plus the Battle Saint Method, complementing each other, will definitely make the army stronger, and their group combat ability will be even greater.