Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

As dawn broke, the exit of the treacherous mountain path finally appeared before the boy's eyes.

Chen Qinghe stood at the end of the last section of the plank road, gazing at the capital city that was gradually emerging in the distance.

"Is that the capital?"

As that corner of the outline became clearer, a faint golden halo enveloped the capital city in his vision. That should be the protective formation that the Immortal Venerable had mentioned beforehand.

Beneath that halo, in the deeper depths, there was nothing but tranquility...

"The city wall is thirty-six zhang high, with seventy-two arrow towers, and the moat is fed by fresh water."

Ye Xuan recounted the structure of the capital city as if it were his own treasure, information that he already knew perfectly well through his sensory perception.

"There are currently forty-three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators in the city, two of whom are at the Foundation Establishment Perfection stage, while the rest have varying levels of cultivation."

Chen Qinghe swallowed hard. "So many..."

"Scared?"

"No!"

The boy immediately straightened his back, wiped the tension off his face, and strode after Ye Xuan.

The two descended the mountain path and stepped onto the official road leading to the capital. At this time, there were few pedestrians on this official road, and the few carriages that occasionally passed by hurriedly with their curtains tightly closed, not daring to stop.

"Imperial Decree! A false immortal has recently wreaked havoc throughout the land and has already reached the vicinity of the capital!"

This sentence should still be posted on notice boards throughout the city, and the closer the two got to the capital, the more oppressive the atmosphere became.

When they reached a point three miles from the city gate, two squads of armored soldiers suddenly appeared on both sides of the road ahead. These soldiers were all dressed in heavy black armor, carrying royal halberds, and their steps were perfectly synchronized, instantly blocking the road.

A leading general rode out, his voice booming:

"By order of the King, those who falsely claim to be immortals and cause chaos in the world shall be killed without exception!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers behind him immediately formed a battle formation, and dozens of weapons were instantly pointed at Ye Xuan and Chen Qinghe.

At the same time, dozens of powerful crossbows were simultaneously pulled back from the arrow towers on both sides of the official road. The arrowheads gleamed with an eerie blue light in the sunlight, clearly indicating that they had been coated with a drug.

Chen Qinghe subconsciously took a half step back, but Ye Xuan could tell at a glance that these people had no cultivation and were just ordinary armed soldiers.

He patted Chen Qinghe on the shoulder, signaling him to follow closely behind him.

The next moment, the air within a ten-zhang radius of Ye Xuan suddenly solidified, and the crossbow bolts that were originally aimed at the two of them were suspended in the air the instant the bowstrings were released.

The armored soldiers wielding halberds on the ground dared not move upon seeing this, feeling an invisible pressure surging in like a tide.

The two teams of nearly a hundred armored soldiers were frozen in place as if under a spell, their eyes still able to move...

Ye Xuan led Chen Qinghe and strolled leisurely through the army formation.

As they passed the last armored soldier, the power that had been lingering in the air quietly dissipated, and the men collapsed to the ground with a sense of relief, having little strength left.

"My lord, what kind of magic is this?"

Chen Qinghe couldn't help but turn around and look, his eyes full of curiosity. He had only mastered two "immortal techniques" at the moment: Spiritual Qi Transformation into Flame and Nourishing Life Technique. Even his Lightning Finger Technique was not yet proficient.

"It's not magic, just a simple application of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

When your cultivation reaches a certain level, you will naturally understand.

As he said, Ye Xuan had merely drawn upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to use it for his own purposes, applying pressure to these ordinary people; it was hardly a skill.

Chen Qinghe nodded silently, and the two continued on their way, finally arriving at the city gate of the capital.

The towering vermilion city gate, three zhang high, was tightly closed. On the city tower, banners fluttered and figures could be vaguely seen moving about.

Ye Xuan looked up and saw several people standing on the city wall, but apart from the high priest of the ancestral hall, he could not see the current emperor, Li Chong.

Behind the high priest stood several cultivators with powerful auras, including royal retainers and temple ritual practitioners, all of whom were at around the seventh level of the Foundation Establishment stage.

"It's finally here."

The high priest's voice echoed through the city tower via the array, his tone devoid of emotion. Ye Xuan did not respond, but simply looked at him calmly.

The high priest then stepped forward, holding the bloodless jade pendant in his hand, and said in a deep voice:

"You've destroyed my ancestral halls and killed my protectors all the way here, and now you dare to come to the capital in person? Do you really think the immortals are blind?"

Ye Xuan smiled upon hearing this. He wondered if the high priest standing on the city wall knew how the immortals he was worshipping were acting in the Realm of Immortality.

"Immortals?"

If you truly have the protection of immortals, I should have perished in Shuitian Village long ago.

Ye Xuan finally spoke, his voice carrying clearly to the city tower. He didn't believe that the timid immortals who could only peek into the short-lived world through the statues in the ancestral hall had much ability.

"Hmph, arrogant brat, blaspheming against the immortals! Today I'll teach you a lesson!"

The high priest roared, and the jade pendant in his hand suddenly lit up with a blood-red light.

At the same time, forty-two bronze mirrors rose up around the city gate, reflecting sunlight and weaving together in the air to form a huge golden net of light.

This light net is several times larger than the one in Jiangning County, covering the entire city gate area, but it is still not the main defensive formation of the capital.

However, Ye Xuan remained unhurried. Facing the light net that was about to form in the sky, he simply kept activating the Lightning-Inducing Finger.

In an instant, thick thunderclouds gathered over the entire capital city, covering an area of ​​a hundred miles...

The thunderclouds only appeared in the sky above the capital, blocking out the sun, but no thunder fell. As a result, the cultivators in the city who were holding bronze mirrors had no light source to reflect their reflections.

Seeing that the ancestral hall's formation had failed, the high priest's eyes flashed with light. Today, he had witnessed firsthand the divine might of this immortal venerable.

"Let's do it!"

At the high priest's command, five figures leaped down from the city wall at the same time, their auras exploding.

Five worshippers and ritual performers appeared together. These experts, all at the late Foundation Establishment stage, released their spiritual energy, causing the earth to tremble.

Two of them made hand gestures, and a black tortoise, representing royal auspiciousness, slowly appeared at the city gate.

Until the phantom grew several meters tall, Chen Qinghe, standing in front of this phantom tortoise, was only the size of a single scale on its shell.

The Xuan Turtle suddenly roared fiercely, and spiritual energy rushed towards the two of them like a tsunami. Even Ye Xuan needed to activate his health cultivation technique to stand firm, let alone Chen Qinghe, whose cultivation was only at the Qi Refining stage. He was immediately blown several meters away.

He divided his spiritual power, using a portion to protect Chen Qinghe behind him. The young man was now somewhat regretting that he had insisted on following the Immortal Venerable to the capital...

"Focus on health preservation exercises."

Ye Xuan stopped speaking and instead activated his Daoist robe. The surrounding spiritual energy was instantly drawn to him, and the blue and white energies flowed out from the robe, intertwining into a dazzling halo in the morning light.

Upon seeing this, the two retainers immediately manipulated the illusory image of the Xuan Turtle and rushed towards the two of them.

"..."

At the same time, a sudden change also occurred in Shuitian Village, which was thousands of miles away from the capital.