Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1434 The Cold Palace's Jade Pot Overturns

After Yu Chibin reached mid-air, a flash suddenly appeared before his eyes, indicating that another spiritual impact was rushing towards him.

Although he did not witness Chen Chuan's attack firsthand, he could roughly deduce that the previous two attacks were made by the spirit, while this one should be made by Chen Chuan himself.

Furthermore, its power may be even greater than before. If he cannot block it, even if he is not injured, he will likely be restrained or even forced to fall back to the ground.

This means that the opponent only needs to keep launching spiritual attacks to suppress him, and then the others can come back to encircle and annihilate him after they have dealt with their respective opponents.

Therefore, his attack rhythm absolutely could not be interrupted at this moment. A faint light flashed on the long horn on his head, and then, in the next moment, his body became ethereal and dreamlike.

This is another of his special abilities, called "Chengxiang," which allows his body to vanish into nothingness in an instant, thus avoiding any external attacks.

In order to avoid being restricted, he even used a defensive artifact to ensure that he would not be controlled by the artifact on the other side for that instant.

He emerged unscathed from the spiritual shock, and only then did he truly realize that he might have a slight chance of winning.

After the spiritual impact is released, if it is done by the main body, it also means that the other party may be slowed down, which is the opportunity for him to get close!
So at this moment, he held back, mustered all his strength, gripped his long axe tightly, and charged towards Chen Chuan in front of him.

However, before he could even swing his axe, all three of his heads flew off at the same time.

At this moment, Chen Chuan appeared behind Yu Chi. It could be seen that his appearance had now merged with his true form.

He glanced behind him, and with a slight movement of his five fingers, the three heads instantly turned to ashes.

When he used the artifact to investigate, perhaps because Yu Chi Bin was relatively close to him, or perhaps because the artifact used for interference on the other side was slow to activate, he not only learned what the visualized god or demon was, but also learned some secret information.

This person possesses a rather troublesome innate supernatural power. Unless three heads are severed at the same time, he cannot be easily killed. Even if he is reduced to ashes, he can regenerate in an instant.

Conversely, if three heads are severed, the person dies instantly and will never recover.

Now that he knew all this, his choice became simple: lure out the man's three heads and then sever them.

To accomplish this, constant pressure must be applied to the person. The appearance of the other two heads is beyond their control; they will grow on their own once the pressure becomes too great.

But this is not the end. Once the three heads are revealed, he will have to face an opponent with three times the strength. Although the opponent may not have improved overall, their strength and speed alone are not to be underestimated.

And if nothing unexpected happens, the opponent may have some special power or lost items to avoid being attacked from the outside after exposing his weaknesses, which would make him even more difficult to deal with. Out of respect for this opponent, he chose to merge with him and cut off his three heads as quickly as possible.

As the head turned to black ash and scattered, the massive body seemed to lose its master, falling from mid-air and crashing heavily to the ground. Then, billowing smoke rose from its body, turning it into an ordinary headless corpse.

Chen Chuan could sense that the body was devoid of life, but out of caution, he turned his mind and clusters of Xuan Kong Fire fell behind him, enveloping the remains and burning it to ashes in no time.

A flash of light appeared on his body as he withdrew his spiritual form. Looking at the drifting black ash, he realized that the old general was actually quite powerful. In fact, if he hadn't had prior knowledge of the situation, a series of tests would have been inevitable, and it would have taken much more effort to deal with him.

Comparing him to his previous opponents, in terms of raw strength alone, this person might be on par with Yuan Congye, but he has a wealth of combat experience. If it were to be compared between the two, he would favor the former.

He then looked at the others; it was almost over.

All those who came this time were top-notch soldiers from the military. In order to ensure the success of this war of annihilation, almost every Dongxuan fighter present carried a relic suitable for himself as the war progressed smoothly.

Many of them were already familiar with each other, and with their cooperation, several of them took on one person, preventing the opponent from leaving their assigned area. It was a crushing battle, so the fight was resolved in a very short time.

A few breaths later, he saw loud rumbling sounds erupting from several directions, and the buildings there were visibly collapsing. Thus, the secret instrument centers located in those directions had also been breached.

By this time, the remaining black fog had completely dissipated, and a unique place located in the southern direction came into view, only to be shrouded in a white fog.

He glanced at it a few times, and realized that it must be the Anye Palace where Emperor Wenguang was located.

Everything in the palace was done by the imperial family's secret ritual masters, not by the faction that supported the emperor. It was a self-contained system, so they still faced the final hurdle.

He then slowly rose to a higher position, and the other Dongxuan Temple fighters present also floated up, echoing his movements. At this moment, the Dongxuan Temple fighters waiting behind them rushed over to join him.

Ming Chengzi arrived at this moment as well. Upon approaching, he bowed to Chen Chuan and said, "Xuanji, although the various secret rituals of Anye Palace were not laid out by me, Fulong, I can still break them."

As he spoke, he bowed to Chen Chuan and said, "I am willing to lead the way."

Chen Chuan glanced at him, nodded, and said, "Then I'll trouble you, esteemed Master."

Ming Chengzi perked up and immediately took the lead. After exchanging a few words with the others, Chen Chuan followed.

As they passed over Youdu, a powerful aura emanated from the area, causing the Youdu soldiers below to collapse to the ground, unconscious, wherever they went.

Chen Chuan stared ahead, his mind racing. Leaving aside Emperor Wen Guang's schemes, the early stages of the war had actually progressed smoothly. However, there was one thing he couldn't understand, or rather, something strange. None of the ancient gods had appeared, not even a single one. At most, they had only been seen with scattered traces of their presence. This situation was somewhat unusual.

The old imperial family had a large number of believers in the gods. Did those ancient gods not care about these believers anymore?
He didn't know the exact number of people in the old imperial family, but it must have been hundreds of millions. Could such a large population be abandoned so easily?

Or is there some special circumstance?

Just as he was pondering, Wen Mingzhong, with the help of others, transmitted a message to him in his mind:
"Commander, I just tried, but I couldn't get the 'Diners' to be placed in Youdu."

Based on our assessment, either the ritual here is still in effect, or there is a massive anomaly or ritual existing here. I personally believe it is the latter.

In front of the Changyi Pavilion, Grand Secretary Hong was still waiting. He stared at the pavilion without moving, and even as the thick fog in the sky dissipated and the explosions behind him grew louder, his expression did not change much.

At this moment, a young eunuch walked slowly into the hall and bowed to him: "Grand Secretary, His Majesty invites you to come in."

Grand Secretary Hong stood up from his seat, straightened his slightly wrinkled robes, and said in a deep voice, "Lead the way."

The young eunuch bowed and said, "This way, please, Grand Secretary."

Grand Secretary Hong followed him forward, stepped onto the stairs, and entered the main hall. Palace attendants lifted the layers of jade curtains in front of him, and then the sound of music and dance came out from inside.

He couldn't help but frown.

When he entered the inner hall, he found that there were many actors singing and dancing. Some of them had their faces covered with white powder, some wore masks, and some were crawling and twisting, looking strange and sinister.

Emperor Wenguang sat in the main seat, enjoying the song and dance performance, and leisurely tapping his feet to the beat.

Grand Secretary Hong felt a surge of anger, but he still maintained the proper etiquette between ruler and subject. With a stern face, he walked to the steps, bowed to the person above him, and said, "Your Majesty and your people are fighting a bloody battle abroad, yet Your Majesty is indulging in singing and dancing here. The country is in grave danger. Does it not deserve Your Majesty's attention?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wenguang did not appear angry. Instead, he said, "Grand Secretary Hong has arrived. Bring him a seat. Grand Secretary, please join me in watching the songs and dances. I will give you further instructions later."

Grand Secretary Hong refused to sit down. He said in a deep voice, "No need. The nation is on the verge of collapse. Are we going to abandon the hundreds of millions of people in the country?"

Emperor Wenguang replied matter-of-factly, "This empire belongs to me, so what if I abandon it?"

Upon hearing this, Grand Secretary Hong's face flushed, and his lips trembled. "A ruler can abandon his people, and the people can abandon their ruler. Without the people, what is left of Your Majesty?"

Emperor Wenguang smiled and said leisurely, "All things under heaven belong to me. How can they abandon them?"

He glanced outside.

"Come, Consort Teng, pour me some wine."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A soft, gentle voice rang out, and Tengfei slithered out from a corner of the palace, her serpentine body moving with incredible speed. She reached the table, stretched out her slender arm, lifted a jade pot, and filled an empty cup.

Looking at this scene, Grand Secretary Hong shook his head, stopped advising, and turned to walk outside.

Emperor Wen Guang said, "Where has the Grand Secretary gone? Guards, quickly invite the Grand Secretary to sit down and enjoy the banquet."

"Yes."

Two palace guards immediately stepped forward and blocked Grand Secretary Hong's path, saying together, "Grand Secretary, please return to your seat."

Grand Secretary Hong frowned, glanced coldly at Emperor Wen Guang a few times, then returned to his seat and remained silent.

Emperor Wenguang picked up the wine cup on the table and drank it all in one gulp, then said, "Consort Teng, when will all the immortals and gods come to fetch me?"

Consort Teng smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the auspicious time is just around the corner. Can't you see it?"

"Oh?"

Emperor Wenguang looked outside, and just then, a long, resonant bell rang out outside the palace.

……

……

(End of this chapter)