Immortal Martial Emperor

"Whoever dares to touch her, I’ll make your entire family pay with their lives!"

The furious cry rolled in like thunder, surging up from the foot of Celestial Essence Peak.

The voice thrummed with immense power, and a terrifying momentum soared into the sky. Even from thousands of meters up on Celestial Essence Peak, everyone could still feel the heaven-storming rage and chilling killing intent.

Every guest in attendance sat bolt upright in shock.

Who was this person?

Who on earth was this? Who would dare to be so arrogant and domineering at the gate of the Guiyuan Sect?

After all...

Everyone present was a titan in their own right. For someone to make such a clamor was a blatant slap in the face to the Guiyuan Sect, delivered right in front of the assembled powerhouses of the Southern Ten Nations!

"Bastard. Who is it?" Wang Ba’s eyes glinted as he let out a cold snort.

Xue De’s expression flickered. An image of a figure flashed through his mind, and his heart skipped a beat. He whispered, "Grand Elder, I think it’s Hong Yu!"

"What? Are you sure it’s him?"

A cold glint flashed in Wang Ba’s eyes.

Xue De nodded. "I remember his voice!"

"Is that little bastard a cockroach or something?"

Wang Ba’s voice became extremely grim and cold.

Raging flames and terrifying killing intent surged in his gaze. His twitching fingers were already gathering terrifying fluctuations of energy as he debated whether to strike the boy down himself.

Meanwhile, Tie Tongtian’s face stiffened for a moment, then broke into elation. He tugged on Old Sir Tie’s arm. "Grandfather, it’s Younger Brother Hong! Younger Brother Hong isn’t dead! He’s still alive!"

"Easy now."

A trace of excitement also touched Old Sir Tie’s face, but he gestured for Tie Tongtian to be quiet.

Tie Tongtian was stunned, but then he saw that Old Sir Tie’s gaze was fixed on Wang Ba, and he instantly understood. Old Sir Tie was guarding against Wang Ba making a move himself.

On another side, Tang Long also looked surprised. ’Didn’t the Guiyuan Sect say Hong Yu was killed by the Thousand-Year Tai Sui? How is he still alive? This won’t do. I heard that old man Tie got some kind of advantage from him; his Artifact Refining techniques have improved by leaps and bounds lately. I can’t let old man Tie have an opportunity like that all to himself!’

With that, Tang Long also glanced toward Wang Ba.

As the Grand Elder of the esteemed Guiyuan Sect, Wang Ba was incredibly powerful, and his Perception was exceptionally keen.

He easily perceived that both Old Sir Tie and Tang Long were watching him warily. ’Damn it,’ he cursed internally, ’those two old foxes!’

Wang Ba knew that if he acted personally, those two would surely use it as a pretext to interfere. The only solution was...

A cruel smile appeared on Wang Ba’s face as he looked at Qi Tianbao. "Tianbao, take some men down the mountain and see who dares to cause trouble at my Guiyuan Sect! If the person doesn’t know what’s good for them and dares to fight, I permit you to use the Sect’s Mountain Protection Array to kill them on the spot!"

"This disciple obeys!"

Qi Tianbao’s face lit up with excitement as he eagerly accepted the command.

In truth, he had recognized Hong Yu’s voice from the furious roar.

The memory of his battle with Hong Yu in the Tianmu Mountain Range—especially the fact that Hong Yu had survived the Yama Shuttle—filled his heart with dread and panic.

But now, hearing he could use the Mountain Protection Array, Qi Tianbao’s eyes surged with excitement and unrestrained killing intent!

Immediately, Qi Tianbao gathered two hundred Guiyuan Sect Inner Sect Disciples. All of them were radiating killing intent, weapons in hand, as they rushed down the mountain.

***

「At the foot of Celestial Essence Peak, before the Grand Life Gate.」

Ten Guiyuan Sect disciples stood with their arms crossed, glaring at the youth outside the Mountain Gate with a mixture of anger and arrogance. One of them shouted, "You there, listen up! Today is a joyous occasion for our Guiyuan Sect, and I’d rather not see blood, so I’ll let you off the hook. But if you don’t know what’s good for you and try any more disrespectful stunts, I’ll use the Mountain Gate’s Array to kill you on the spot!"

The Qin Kingdom was known as the "Refining City" of the Southern Ten Nations, and with the Guiyuan Sect as its National Guardian Sect, their proficiency with Arrays was naturally formidable.

This Mountain Gate was inscribed with over a hundred Spirit Array Runes.

The weakest were Tier One Spirit Array Runes.

The strongest reached the level of Tier Three High-Level Spirit Array Runes. The Mountain Gate alone was comparable to an Earth-Level Primordial Weapon!

Hong Yu stood quietly. His travel-worn face was taut, his eyebrows like two crossed swords, giving him a grim and imposing air.

Ever since he learned that the Guiyuan Sect was forcing Beichen Tianshuang and Sister Qin to marry Zheng Tian and Qi Tianbao, Hong Yu had rushed to the Guiyuan Sect at top speed, finally arriving just in time.

The moment he arrived at the foot of the mountain, without even a chance to catch his breath, Hong Yu’s keen Perception spread out to search for Beichen Tianshuang. He happened to sense the exact moment her assassination attempt failed and she was furiously slapped to the ground by Qi Tianbao.

Rage!

Uncontrollable rage!

Never mind Beichen Tianshuang’s feelings for him!

Just the fact that she was willing to risk her life to assassinate Qi Tianbao to avenge him was reason enough for Hong Yu to protect her with all his might!

Besides...

This kind, silent girl had, without him realizing it, already found a place in Hong Yu’s heart.

It was this fury that made Hong Yu’s eyes fill with a bloody light. He scanned the arrogant Guiyuan Sect disciples within the gate and sneered, "Deactivate the Defensive Array and let me in! Otherwise, I’ll make every last one of you regret it!"

"Such arrogance! In all the vast Southern Ten Nations, no one has ever dared to speak so wildly before the Guiyuan Sect’s gate!"

"If you’ve got the guts, then try it! I’d like to see how you break through our Mountain Gate and how you’ll make us regret it!"

All ten men wore expressions of disdain.

In their eyes, it was clearly impossible for Hong Yu to break through the Mountain Gate’s defenses!

"Since you insist, I’ll break it down for you to see!"

Hong Yu took a deep breath, cold lightning crackling in his eyes.

Although the Mountain Gate’s Array was powerful, it was focused on defense. With Hong Yu’s understanding of the *Initial Understanding of the Dao of Artifacts*, he could easily find the nodes of the Defensive Array and break it with force!

"Break!"

He gathered his power into a fist, and with a BOOM, a storm-like Fist Force blasted out.

This punch wasn’t particularly powerful.

But it was extremely clever.

Every ounce of Fist Force was utilized to its limit, controlled with exquisite precision, and each strike landed on one of the Mountain Gate Array’s critical nodes.

VMMMM!

However, the Mountain Gate truly lived up to its reputation of being comparable to an Earth-Level Primordial Weapon. Fist Force alone was not enough to destroy all the nodes.

"Hahaha..."

"That’s hilarious! From the way he postured, I thought he might actually have some skill. Turns out he’s all show and no substance!"

The ten men had seen Hong Yu’s confident attack and had thought he truly had the power to break the Mountain Gate. Although they looked disdainful on the surface, they were actually very anxious and worried inside.

Now that they saw Hong Yu’s attack fail, they naturally began to mock him relentlessly.

Hong Yu glanced calmly at the ten men, the corners of his lips curling up into a roguish arc.

"This time, let’s see if you can still laugh!"

The words had barely left his lips...

Hong Yu spread his legs into a solid stance before the Mountain Gate. His eyes gleamed with a sharp light as he took a deep breath, and scorching flames erupted from his palms.

Ever since breaking through to the Peak of the Celestial Soul Realm and raising the *Primordial Gang Fighting Technique* to the First Layer Peak Realm, the advantages of Hong Yu’s Fire Spirit Body had begun to truly manifest.

With his current strength, combined with the Fire Spirit Body’s perfect control over his internal Elemental Power—as easy as moving his own limbs—his combat prowess had once again been elevated!

"Three Flames Palm!"

A Mountain Gate comparable to an Earth-Level Primordial Weapon couldn’t be broken by brute force alone. Since his probing attack had already located the Array’s nodes, what Hong Yu needed to do this time was shatter the gate completely in a single strike.

Nine Flaming Long Dragons condensed and coiled in his palm.

As Hong Yu thrust his palm forward, the nine Fire Dragons roared and twisted their flaming bodies, charging toward the Mountain Gate.

Under Hong Yu’s precise control, each of the nine Fire Dragons shot toward one of the nine critical nodes on the Mountain Gate’s Array.

Inside the Mountain Gate...

The ten Guiyuan Sect disciples stood with their arms crossed, looking unimpressed. "This guy must be an idiot, right? Doesn’t he know this Mountain Gate was refined by the Grand Elder, comparable to an Earth-Level Primordial Weapon? Even a Primordial Core Realm expert would find it hard to break."

"You call him an idiot? Isn’t that an insult to idiots?"

"Exactly! No matter how stupid an idiot is, he wouldn’t run to the Guiyuan Sect to cause trouble and get himself killed!"

"The commotion here has probably already attracted attention within the Sect. Some Inner Sect senior brothers should be here soon. Then there’ll be a good show to watch!"

The men were completely confident that the Mountain Gate, refined by the great Tier Three Intermediate Spiritual Craftsman Wang Ba, was absolutely indestructible!

However...

Just as they finished speaking, just as they confidently declared that the Mountain Gate could not be broken, a sharp CRACK froze the smug, self-assured expressions on their faces, which then crumbled away.

The ten men stared at the Mountain Gate in horrified disbelief.

On the stone pillars carved with dragons and phoenixes on either side of the massive, twenty-meter-tall, thirty-meter-wide gate, cracks had actually appeared.

Under the assault of the nine Fire Dragons, the cracks were constantly spreading.

The cracks spread faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, the entire magnificent, stately Mountain Gate was covered in a spiderweb of fine fissures.

"H-How is this possible?"

"That kid actually destroyed the Primordial Weapon Mountain Gate refined by the Grand Elder?"

"Impossible... This is absolutely impossible... I must be seeing things..."

In their eyes, the Guiyuan Sect was supreme, an absolute authority.

As the Grand Elder of the Guiyuan Sect, with Yuan Cang in seclusion for many years, Wang Ba was already the strongest person in the entire Sect.

Whether in cultivation or the Artifact Dao, he was the strongest!

This idea was deeply ingrained in the minds of all the Guiyuan Sect’s experts. In their hearts, everything Wang Ba did was the strongest!

But now...

The Mountain Gate personally refined by Wang Ba, rumored to be unbreakable even by a Primordial Core Realm expert, had been shattered like tofu dregs by a young man, completely and utterly crushed.

This completely overturned their understanding of the world.

It even shattered the perfect, unshakeable faith these ten men held in their hearts.

In their state of shock and disbelief, the Mountain Gate finally exploded with a resounding BOOM! Boulders flew, and the grand, magnificent gate collapsed.

Amidst the rolling dust, Hong Yu strode forward, heading straight for the Guiyuan Sect’s main hall.

He could already sense hundreds of powerful auras descending from the mountain. Hong Yu took a deep breath, his face a mask of resolute determination, as the Godslaying Spear quietly appeared in his hand.

With a gentle twist of his wrist, the Godslaying Spear let out a humming cry, its sharp tip pulsing with a deadly light.

The path ahead was destined to be difficult, perhaps even flowing with rivers of blood, but Hong Yu would not be stopped!

On this path...

He would slay gods and slaughter buddhas; nothing would stand in his way!