Imperial God Emperor

In an instant, the expressions of both the mysterious thin and tall expert and Hon Kong, along with everyone else on the ground, changed greatly.

The reason why both of their expressions had changed was completely different from that of the others. 

The instructors and students of the academy, along with Qin Lan and the others, had seen the King of Birds, whose body was ten thousand meters long, and felt the terrifying pressure that emanated from it. The mysterious expert and Hon Kong completely ignored the huge King of Birds, since they sensed the Emperor qi circling in the void; the owner of the power was a far more terrifying presence compared to the King of Birds, which was a mere steed.

"I'll protect them. Go!" Lan Tian growled in a low voice.

He held a huge sword with both hands and leaped up into the air. He then split a looming skeletal ferocious eagle-like beast into two, causing shattered bones to burst in the air like snow.

At the same time, many instructors of White Deer Academy also attacked the vicious beasts that were supposed to be scouts and now swooped down toward them.

A battle broke out in that instant.

This battle was fiercer and more intense than any other battle than ever before.

As the beast scouts growled angrily as they battled, another group of black beasts surged out from the skies in the distance. Since these black beasts were able to fly, they quickly crossed the Boundless River and charged in their direction. It was evident that everyone had been locked in as targets, and they were about to face a terrifying siege.

Hon Kong had no choice but to show his hand.

His level of cultivation was already at peak Great Saint realm. The power of laws surged when he attacked and dozens of beast scouts were reduced to white bone and blood in an instant, as they exploded mid-flight and plummeted to the ground.

"Kill!"

Dazzling divine radiance burst from Hon Kong's body, and he seemed to have turned into a bright, glaring Sun. His immense yuan qi surged out of his body and up into the skies, enveloping half of the sky with his own power; he was trying to buy time for the others.

"Leave!"

He shouted for the others to leave quickly.

The mysterious skinny expert grabbed hold of Lan Tian, who was still intent on charging toward the enemy, and told him, "Now is not the time to show your bravery." He then arranged with Qin Lan and several other academy instructors to bring everyone deeper into the grassy plains. He wanted to lead them out of the battlefield and use the cover of the sea of grass to shake these vicious beasts off their trail.

After Hon Kong made his move, countless vicious beast scouts were felled by him.

Everyone was about to leave the battlefield thanks to Hon Kong but suddenly, a strange cackle rang out through the skies. This strange laughter did not release any terrifying sound waves but contained a frightening magical power that made everyone feel dizzy. It was as though their souls were so shaken by the sound that they were about to escape from their bodies. Then, a ray of black radiance appeared from behind the King of Bird's back like a demonic saber, slashing through the sky and reaching Hon Kong's body.

"Puff!" Hon Kong's blood arced through the sky and a blood arrow spurted from his mouth.

The divine radiance on his body immediately dimmed and he fell from mid-air.

"Sir!"

"Mister Hon Kong!"

Horrified cries could be heard from down below.

A figure leapt up to the sky and caught Hon Kong.

It was none other than Lan Tian.

No one noticed the flash of bright light that crossed the mysterious expert's eyes and his fingers clenched tightly together for a second, but after a moment of hesitation, he ultimately loosened his grip slightly.

"You're just a bunch of crickets and ants. It's time to put an end to this," an authoritative and overbearing voice boomed loudly in the sky; the voice was so powerful that it brooked no defiance.

It was only a voice in the sky, but everyone froze on the spot as though they had been frozen by a paralysis spell; their souls seemed to have left them after his words. This was an instinctive reaction; they could not summon up any resistance against the owner of this voice. They would have killed themselves without any hesitation if that voice had told them to do so.

The countless vicious beasts all around them were also silenced by this voice. None of them dared to move—these violent creatures that lacked a mind of their own were clearly controlled by this man.

"Could it be him?" Lan Tian couldn't help but wonder.

He was overcome by a strange and unprecedented feeling. That feeling was utter terror.

"Ye Qingyu's family must die," the voice said once more, as though he had the power to determine who was guilty and worthy of punishment in this world.

At the same time, several rays of black flowing light shot out from the King of Birds' back. These rays of black flowing light moved at a moderate speed, like a soft incoming wind, and headed straight for Qin Lan, Xiao Cai, Qing Qing, and the others, but the killing intent and murderous spirit they contained was evident. Time seemed to slow down and death drew closer to the group. Qin Lan and the others were unable to resist at all and clearly felt the torturing mental agony of witnessing death as it descended upon them.

The person who attacked was clearly and deliberately torturing Qin Lan and the others.

"No," Lan Tian let out an anguished cry. He handed Hon Kong who was drifting off into unconsciousness to another instructor; he wanted to rush over and use his body to prevent this attack from reaching Qin Lan and the others. He had interacted with Ye Qingyu on several occasions and admired his character and achievements, so he didn't wish to see his family die in front of him.

However, the mysterious expert beside him reached out and gripped him tightly.

Lan Tian struggled with all his might but to no avail. He couldn't break free from the grip at all.

The others at the academy were also completely helpless to do anything about it.

As death approached Qin Lan and the others, another voice suddenly rang out at this critical juncture to say, "You're just a defeated dog who was chased out from the Dark Realm. Trying to exert your authority here is truly laughable."

Several rays of mysterious sword light, so sharp that it was as though they could destroy the word, appeared along with this voice.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

A mysterious sound that resembled a metallic ringing was heard.

The sword light appeared after the rays of black flowing light but reached their destination first and destroyed them before they slowly reached Qin Lan. Then, both rays of light were destroyed in the void.

It was as though nothing had happened before that.

Everyone saw a blinding flash of light and they didn't even know when a black-robed black-haired young man had appeared in the sky above them. This black-robed man was also tall and slim, standing so upright in the void that his spine seemed like a peerless treasured blade, drawn from its hilt. He had long, black hair, and carried a black sword scabbard on his back. The sword hilt was also black in color and an elusive black sword qi swirled around him.

The moment this black-robed man with a sword appeared, everyone felt the terrifying pressure vanish instantly, and the authoritative force field that the owner of the menacing voice had spread across the area had also disappeared. The sensation they had felt, as if their souls were attempting to leave their bodies, also disappeared. Everyone exhaled in relief, their bodies feeling much lighter.

A strange phenomenon had also appeared in the air.

The sky seemed to have been split into two, and the southern part of the firmament with the black-robed swordsman in its center seemed to have been destroyed by his piercing sword will, turning into a cosmic spatial void while the northern part of the firmament with the King of Birds at its center seemed to have turned into a living hell swirling with black, evil mist.

These were two highly-skilled experts with two completely different firmament backdrops behind them.

This was the true battle amongst top-level experts.

The entire world turned silent and solemn in that instant.

Qin Lan and the others gasped for breath after they were barely pulled from the jaws of death. They had truly felt the shadow of death descending upon them earlier, and even the lifesaving divine artifacts that Ye Qingyu had given them could not be activated, for these artifacts had been completely overpowered by the strange forcefield earlier. It was evident how terrifying that person on the King of Birds' back was.

Everyone from White Deer Academy felt as though they had barely escaped death.

Countless pairs of eyes looked at the black-robed figure with a sword in the sky. It was clear that the man was an extremely powerful expert and no one could detect the limits of his cultivation. Otherwise, this black-robed person would never have been able to fight the man on the King of Birds' back. He had truly come in the nick of time.

Who could this man be?

Could he be part of the reinforcements that the Empress had sent over?

There were only a handful of experts who were as powerful as the black-robed figure, so which one was he?

Could he be the Demon King Yan Buhui from the Northern Demonic Court? That didn't make sense since there was no demonic aura surrounding him. Moreover, his hair was not silvery-white, so that ruled him out. Could it be the [Heaven Wasteland Saber King]? It seemed unlikely since Qin Zhishui was well-versed in saber techniques, while this black-robed person was carrying a black sword, so this didn't match with Qin Zhishui's description. Could it be Li Shui, the leader of the Crepe Myrtle Sect who had risen to fame over the past few years? It was said that Li Shui was the sect leader of the Crepe Myrtle Sect, and Ye Qingyu had personally given him advice and held him in high regard. He could even almost be considered a disciple of Ye Qingyu; his cultivation on the sword martial way as astounding...

Many students and instructors of White Deer Academy secretly tried to figure out his identity.

They ran through the list of possible suspects and it seemed like only Li Shui of the Crepe Myrtle Sect seemed to fit the description of the black-robed figure with a sword in the void.

After all, Li Shui was one of the few swordmasters of the empire.

Hon Kong who had regained some strength was the only one who was not of the opinion that it was not Li Shui. He was sure that despite how much Yan Buhui's, Qin Zhishui's, Li Shui's and the others' cultivation had surged over the past few years, they most definitely couldn't match up to that figure on the King of Bird's back. These top experts of the Heaven Wasteland Empire's martial way were indeed very powerful, but they had not become Emperors, and he could detect an evident Emperor qi swirling around that figure, which marked him as someone more powerful than a Quasi-emperor. Since the black-robed figure with a sword had managed to contend against that figure with Emperor qi, it showed that he was more powerful than a Quasi-emperor.

When had such a terrifying presence emerged from the Heaven Wasteland Domain or the Vast Thousand Domains?

Hon Kong was not as critically injured as he appeared. He secretly turned back to glance at the mysterious tall and skinny expert who silently stood guard by Lan Tian's side. He saw that the mysterious tall and skinny expert was also looking in his direction. They could see the confusion reflected in each other's eyes when their eyes met, and... traces of relief.

"Who exactly are you?" the figure on the King of Birds' back finally spoke. He no longer sounded confident and overbearing but there was now a trace of doubt in his voice.

"I'm from the Heaven Wasteland Domain," the black-robed figure with a sword said. his voice sounded like the clashing of swords and it was full of murderous and destructive intent.

"Impossible, how could a tiny domain such as the Heaven Wasteland Domain produce an Emperor?" the figure on the King of Birds' back asked in disbelief. "I can sense the aura from the Dark Realm on you... You're not Ye Qingyu, but I can't believe that someone other than Ye Qingyu could possess such powerful cultivation... you... are you someone who was groomed by His Highness? How dare you defy the will of His Highness? How could you be so audacious? Are you trying to court death?"

"A frog in a well does not know the great ocean," the black-robed swordsman's voice dripped with contempt as the said, "That man is a rebel himself and can't possibly predict everything in this world with accuracy. You're merely a dog reared by him, so what do you know?"