Immortal Martial Emperor

In the void.

Dozens of war chariots thundered forth, a vast and imposing sight.

Though not great in number—only a few dozen—their terrifying presence surpassed that of a mighty army.

An army of chariots like this, if unleashed in the outside world, would be an absolute weapon of conquest.

They would be invincible on the battlefield.

"Haha, with such powerful war chariots, breaking through the City of Dawn will be a simple matter!"

"Once we’ve taken the City of Dawn, I’m going to rip Yeban’s head off," Emperor Xiahuang Wudi sneered, his face a vicious mask.

A cold glint appeared in Bai Luoxue’s eyes. "What’s so special about Yeban? Joining forces to kill Hong Yu is the real prize!"

"Kill Hong Yu? Well, he’s on pretty good terms with my Fifth Prince. If we kill him, the Fifth Prince might blame us later..." Emperor Xiahuang Wudi said, hesitating.

Long Qingfeng sneered, "Tsk tsk, surely Brother Wudi doesn’t think he’s less valuable to the Fifth Prince than some random Hong Yu, does he?"

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi’s expression changed.

He was one of Xiahuang Shang’s three most trusted confidants and absolutely loyal. Glaring at Long Qingfeng, he snapped, "You, with the surname Long, you’re just a citizen of a duchy. I only call you ’brother’ out of courtesy. If I didn’t give you face, you wouldn’t even be worthy of carrying my shoes. Stop your damn whining!"

"You..."

Long Qingfeng’s face alternated between green and white as he stared back in fury.

Just as a fight was about to break out between them, Xiao Shilang, who had been silent until now, said calmly, "You two can settle your issues after we’ve taken the City of Dawn."

"Hmph, with our chariot legion, the pathetic City of Dawn will be ours for the taking!" Long Qingfeng said arrogantly.

The others fell silent.

The chariot legion Venerable Xiahuang had acquired was indeed formidable, an unparalleled weapon for sieging cities and conquering territories.

’Even Xiao Shilang was secretly calculating how to defend against such a weapon in the future.’

They were already thinking about how to divide the spoils and the power plays that would follow the battle. In their eyes, the City of Dawn stood no chance against such a powerful chariot legion. Its fall, and the death of its people, was an absolute certainty.

However, the smug confidence on their faces soon turned to stunned disbelief.

"What is that?"

"Looks like firework tubes?"

"Fireworks? Don’t tell me Feng Xue Xin and the others have already surrendered and are setting off fireworks to celebrate our victory?"

Everyone was puzzled.

But Xiao Shilang’s expression changed drastically. "Firework tubes? No, those are Soul Crystal Cannons!"

"What Soul Crystal Cannons?"

"Dammit, how do they have something like that...?"

Bai Luoxue’s face contorted with shock.

Any expert who knew of the Soul Crystal Cannons wore a look of utter horror.

Bai Luoxue shrieked hysterically, "Come back! Get the chariots back, now!"

But the war chariots were already charging forward with unstoppable momentum, reaching the City of Dawn at extreme speed. How could they possibly turn back now?

BOOM!

A crimson light suddenly erupted from the top of the city walls.

The light was like a blazing red sun.

It radiated a terrifying glow from the walls before surging outward like a flood bursting through a dam.

At first, it was only the size of a torch flame, but as it left the barrel of the Soul Crystal Cannon, the red light grew larger and larger. After traveling just ten meters, it had already expanded to cover a five-hundred-meter radius.

SWOOSH!

The beam of light released by the Soul Crystal Cannon carried a terrifying power.

The mere fluctuations of energy radiating from it were enough to make even an expert who had just entered the Primordial Spirit Realm tremble, to say nothing of these experts who were only at the Primordial Embryo Realm Level.

RUMBLE!

Crushed, annihilated, utterly obliterated.

The dozens of Ancient War Chariots were crushed into dust by the crimson glow unleashed from the Soul Crystal Cannon.

Completely destroyed, completely annihilated.

Not a single trace was left behind.

HISS!

A wave of sharp intakes of breath stirred up gusts of cold wind.

The wind was bone-chilling. Even though it was the height of summer in the True Dragon Battlefield, everyone felt a cold dread rising from the base of their spines.

GULP!

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the floor.

Xiao Shilang’s face held an inscrutable expression.

Long Qingfeng’s and Bai Luoxue’s expressions were the most peculiar of all—shifting between green and white, a mix of anger, resentment, and, above all, utter disbelief.

They couldn’t believe that their ultimate weapon, the mighty war chariots, an unparalleled tool for conquering cities, had been so effortlessly destroyed.

"How is this possible? How could they... how could they have Soul Crystal Cannons? If... if we still try to attack the city now, isn’t that just suicide?"

"Damn it! So what if they have a Soul Crystal Cannon? After so many years, it’s a miracle even one of these powerful artifacts survived. You don’t really think they have more, do you?"

"That’s right! Soul Crystal Cannons need precious Soul Stones for energy. Soul Stones are rare, so that must have been the only shot they could fire!"

"Then what are we waiting for? We have to attack now!"

Bai Luoxue and Long Qingfeng, their faces ashen, waved their hands, preparing to send out another team.

But just then, a thunderous noise erupted from the City of Dawn.

RUMBLE!

One after another, Soul Crystal Cannons rose up from the city walls.

Hong Yu stood atop the gatehouse, a calm expression on his face. "Let’s put on a little firework show for them."

"Yes, sir!"

Ten experts wore excited expressions.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With ten consecutive shots, the terrifying Energy Beams from the Soul Crystal Cannons shot into the sky, crashed into the earth, or slammed into a thousand-meter-high mountain peak...

Wherever they struck, the earth sank, mountains collapsed, and brilliant shockwaves that lit up half the sky erupted high in the air.

A magnificent display of ten blasts in total!

GULP!

"Oh my god..."

"Who... who the hell said they could only fire once? These... these animals are using Soul Crystal Cannons like fireworks! How could they possibly have only one shot?"

"Who the hell came up with that stupid idea just now? Are you trying to get us all killed?!"

The crowd roared in anger.

Xiao Shilang, who had just asserted that the Soul Crystal Cannons couldn’t be fired multiple times and that Hong Yu’s group lacked enough Soul Stones, was now red-faced with embarrassment.

Bai Luoxue and Long Qingfeng’s faces shifted between green and white, their expressions indescribably complex.

Hong Yu was clearly slapping them in the face!

So you were sure we couldn’t fire our Soul Crystal Cannons more than once? Then I’ll set them off like fireworks just for you to see!

With his actions alone, Hong Yu had delivered a resounding slap to their faces!

The experts on Xiahuang Shang’s side, in particular, began to grumble, "It’s all their fault for forcing out Yeban and Feng Xue Xin. Otherwise, the City of Dawn would be ours by now!"

"Isn’t that the truth? If they hadn’t been driven away, with these ten Soul Crystal Cannons guarding the city, we wouldn’t have to be sleeping out in the wilderness!"

"Aside from the Fifth Prince, the rest of the Xiahuang Family really are a bunch of useless idiots. They’re more of a hindrance than a help!"

Listening to the discussions among his subordinates, Emperor Xiahuang Wudi’s face turned dark and livid.

’Wasn’t I the one who forced out Young Master Yeban and Feng Xue Xin?’

’So now *I’m* the one who’s "more of a hindrance than a help"?’

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi clenched his Iron Fists, his knuckles cracking. His gaze was as cold as a blade’s edge as he stared at the City of Dawn with immense hatred. ’Bastards, how did they get so lucky? No, I absolutely cannot back down. If I can’t take the City of Dawn, my prestige will take a massive hit.’

At this thought, Emperor Xiahuang Wudi looked to Xiao Shilang for help.

Xiao Shilang gave a wry smile. "Don’t look at me. A direct assault is obviously out of the question now."

"Then what do we do? Don’t forget, you were also involved in forcing out Feng Xue Xin and the others!" Emperor Xiahuang Wudi said angrily.

Xiao Shilang’s expression darkened. After a moment’s hesitation, he said in a low voice, "A direct assault won’t work. We can only try to outsmart them."

"Outsmart them?"

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi was taken aback.

Xiao Shilang said, "There are two methods right now. The first is to appeal to reason and emotion. We can use the friendship between the Fifth Prince and Hong Yu to persuade him to rejoin us. That way, the City of Dawn can still return to our hands."

"I doubt that’ll work, will it?" Emperor Xiahuang Wudi said hesitantly.

He thought about all the dirty tricks he’d pulled to force out Young Master Yeban and Feng Xue Xin, and even he felt his face flush with shame.

"I also know the chances of success are slim, but it’s the most optimistic solution. After all, the ones I offended were Feng Xue Xin and the others, not Hong Yu directly. Besides that..."

Xiao Shilang paused, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes. "The second method is to lure Hong Yu out. Then we can seize the opportunity to subdue him. Once we have him, we’ll have a chance to use him to threaten Feng Xue Xin and the others into handing over the City of Dawn."

"Lure him out? Do you think Hong Yu is an idiot? If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t come out," Emperor Xiahuang Wudi said, frustrated.

Xiao Shilang gave a sinister smile. "Hong Yu prides himself on acting with integrity and honor. If you challenge him to a proper duel, all you need to do is keep him occupied for a short while. We’ll naturally have a way to subdue him then!"

"Alright. Keeping him occupied will be incredibly easy."

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi nodded. "I’ll try the gentle approach first, then resort to force!"

With that, Emperor Xiahuang Wudi flew forward, hovering in front of the City of Dawn at the same height as the city walls. He said coldly, "Have Hong Yu come out and speak!"

"Who do you think you are?"

"You think you’re worthy of speaking to Brother Hong?"

The people in the City of Dawn jeered.

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi’s face darkened. He roared, "Hong Yu, you ungrateful bastard! Our Fifth Prince helped you so much in the Imperial Capital, yet not only are you not grateful, you even stole the City of Dawn, which the Fifth Prince valued! You even took the experts under the Fifth Prince and betrayed him! You ungrateful, treacherous villain, don’t you even have the courage to speak with me?"

On the city walls, the crowd was furious. Yeban even rolled up his sleeves, ready to fire a Soul Crystal Cannon and blast the shameless scoundrel to bits.

The City of Dawn was first discovered by Jian Chen and his two companions.

’How did it become the Fifth Prince’s property?’

And...

’From the very beginning, it was Emperor Xiahuang Wudi who had forced us out. How was that a betrayal?’

"Wait!"

Hong Yu stopped Yeban.

He narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Let me deal with him."

He then walked to the edge of the wall and stared at Emperor Xiahuang Wudi. "You’re Emperor Xiahuang Wudi, right?" Hong Yu said flatly. "I’m right here. What is it you want to say?"

"Good. You brat, daring to stand up and speak with me. I’ll give you that, you have the guts of a man."

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi crossed his arms, speaking in a commanding, condescending tone. "Hong Yu, for the sake of your good relationship with the Fifth Prince, I am not willing to make things too difficult for you today. As long as you hand over Yeban and Feng Xue Xin, apologize to me, and return the City of Dawn to us, we will let this matter drop. Otherwise..."

He wanted to add a threat, but Hong Yu was already narrowing his eyes. "Otherwise what?"

"Erk?!"

Emperor Xiahuang Wudi froze, forced to swallow the lines he had prepared. He said coldly, "It seems you won’t give up until you’re faced with utter despair. Fine. Today, for the Fifth Prince’s sake, I’ll give you one more chance. Fight me in a fair duel. If you win, I’ll pack up and get the hell out of here. If you lose, you will immediately hand over the City of Dawn."

Looking at Emperor Xiahuang Wudi’s arrogant expression, Hong Yu felt his fists itching, overcome with the urge to rush forward and beat him to a pulp. He then nodded...

"Fine. I’ll fight you."

[Power was out for a day, just came back on. Sorry, there’s one more Chapter coming!]