The entire battlefield remained silent after the Crimson War Goddess casually smacked Su Chen on the back of his head.
No one dared to speak.
Not the heavenly armies.
Not the twenty Immortals.
Not even the Sea Sovereign.
Because everyone had just witnessed something impossible.
The woman who had killed an Immortal with a single spear strike had treated the man carrying the Primordial Emperor's inheritance like a younger brother who had returned home late.
Su Chen rubbed the back of his head before looking at the woman standing in front of him.
Her silver hair danced behind her in the violent winds while the crimson battle armor she wore carried countless scars. Every scratch upon that armor represented a battle against heaven itself.
The spear resting casually on her shoulder released a pressure that even the Heaven Slaughter Sword acknowledged.
For several seconds they simply looked at each other.
Then Su Chen finally spoke.
"You've been waiting all this time?"
The War Goddess snorted.
"What do you think?"
She folded her arms.
"You left everyone behind, disappeared for ten thousand years, and the first thing you ask is that?"
The Sea Sovereign couldn't hold himself back anymore.
His loud laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"Hahaha! I haven't seen anyone talk to His Majesty like this since the old days."
The Pavilion Master slowly shook her head.
"Only General Mu would dare."
Lin Yanyan quietly watched everything.
She noticed something immediately.
Unlike everyone else…
The War Goddess never once called Su Chen the Emperor.
She called him "you."
Not His Majesty.
Not Your Excellency.
Simply you.
The difference seemed small.
Yet it carried enormous meaning.
The War Goddess finally turned toward Lin Yanyan.
Her sharp golden eyes observed the young CEO for several moments before a faint smile appeared.
"So you're the little phoenix."
Lin Yanyan calmly met her gaze.
"And you are?"
The woman planted her spear into the sky.
The surrounding space instantly stabilized.
"My name is Mu Xue."
"I was once the Commander of the Crimson Legion."
"I also happened to save that idiot's life more than three hundred times."
Su Chen sighed helplessly.
"It wasn't that many."
Mu Xue immediately glared at him.
"It was four hundred and seventeen."
The Sea Sovereign laughed even harder.
"I remember every single one!"
"You kept charging into impossible battles while we cleaned up behind you."
Even the usually expressionless Pavilion Master showed the faintest trace of amusement.
"It was actually four hundred and twenty-one."
Su Chen looked speechless.
"You all counted?"
Mu Xue crossed her arms proudly.
"Of course we counted."
"You nearly died every other month."
For a brief moment…
The battlefield didn't feel like a battlefield anymore.
It felt like old friends meeting again after an incredibly long separation.
The first Immortal watched everything with an increasingly dark expression.
"You still cling to meaningless emotions."
His cold voice interrupted the moment.
"They were your greatest weakness ten thousand years ago."
Mu Xue slowly turned toward him.
The smile disappeared instantly.
Her golden eyes became colder than the void itself.
"Weakness?"
She slowly pulled her crimson spear from the air.
The weapon released a low humming sound.
"I'll show you what those emotions created."
BOOM!
A terrifying crimson aura erupted from her body.
The battlefield instantly transformed.
Mountains of corpses appeared behind her.
Broken heavenly palaces.
Fallen dragons.
Countless destroyed worlds.
It wasn't an illusion.
It was battle intent so powerful that it manifested history itself.
The Immortals immediately became serious.
The first Immortal narrowed his eyes.
"Your cultivation…"
Mu Xue smiled coldly.
"Surprised?"
"You imprisoned yourselves inside heaven for ten thousand years."
"I spent ten thousand years hunting every heavenly dog I could find."
The heavenly armies immediately became restless.
One Executor stepped forward.
"Lies."
Mu Xue disappeared.
BOOM!
The Executor's head exploded before anyone realized she had moved.
His body remained standing for a second before collapsing toward the earth.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Another Executor…
Dead.
Killed instantly.
The remaining Executors retreated instinctively.
Fear finally appeared within their golden eyes.
The Sea Sovereign whistled.
"You've gotten stronger."
Mu Xue shrugged.
"I had ten thousand years with nothing better to do."
The first Immortal finally stepped forward.
His silver eyes burned with killing intent.
"You have exceeded the limits of a Sovereign."
Mu Xue pointed her spear directly at him.
"And you've grown weaker."
The Immortal frowned.
She continued calmly.
"Ten thousand years ago, one of you could fight three of us."
She took one step forward.
"Now?"
A terrifying smile appeared.
"I think I can kill five."
The heavens shook violently.
The twenty Immortals spread out across the battlefield while endless heavenly laws descended toward the mortal world.
At the same time…
Golden lights began rising from every hidden corner of the planet.
The awakened descendants of the Ancient Court were arriving.
Thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
Then hundreds of thousands.
Ancient clans that had hidden for generations finally revealed themselves.
Hidden sects opened their gates.
Forgotten families awakened sleeping ancestors.
For the first time in ten thousand years…
The forces opposing heaven were no longer scattered.
They had gathered beneath one banner.
The Heaven Slaughter Sword in Su Chen's hand suddenly released a brilliant golden light.
One ancient command echoed throughout every awakened cultivator's soul.
"The Ancient Court rises once more."
The response came instantly.
Millions of voices.
Young and old.
Powerful and weak.
From every corner of the mortal world.
"We answer the summons!"
The heavenly armies looked down at the countless cultivators rising into the sky.
The war had changed.
This was no longer the Immortals hunting the last survivor.
This was the rebirth of an empire.
And standing at its center…
Su Chen slowly raised the Heaven Slaughter Sword toward the heavens.
His calm voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Today, the mortal world belongs to its people."
"And heaven…"
Golden sword intent erupted into the sky.
"…will learn what defeat feels like."