Chapter 665: The Overlord Returns

From the battlements of Azure Cloud Imperial City, looking into the distance, the sky to the southwest was a dark mass. It was nearly twenty thousand flying profound beasts, each carrying at least one Divine Phoenix soldier. These profound beasts were mostly Spirit Profound Beasts, but there were also a few Earth Profound Beasts, and the leading few clearly exuded the aura of the Sky Profound Realm.

Below, galloping Flame War Colts were no slower than the flying profound beasts above. These Flame War Colts were also Spirit Profound Beasts, possessing not only immense speed and stamina, but also a terrifying charging force that struck fear into enemies, making them a nightmare on the battlefield.

"Such an astonishing lineup of profound beasts... it could probably rival Azure Cloud's army of hundreds of thousands!" Xiao Yun gasped, drawing a sharp breath.

"Clearly, to quickly investigate, the enemy has spared no expense in utilizing the speed of these profound beasts," said Heaven Profound First calmly. "Moreover, with the strength of tens of thousands of profound beasts, they can face even major unforeseen circumstances with ease."

Hasty footsteps sounded behind them. Cang Yue approached quickly, followed by Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang, both of whom looked exceptionally grim. Below, the city gates were wide open, and the Azure Cloud army, which had been standing by, filed out, quickly forming ranks and building a sturdy defense in front of the city. However, as they watched the vast swarm of flying profound beasts in the distant sky, shock and terror appeared on their faces.

"Your Majesty, please try a few more times," Dongfang Xiu said anxiously. "Even with just fifty thousand Divine Phoenix soldiers, our Azure Cloud army cannot possibly resist, let alone this terrifying profound beast horde. If Yun Che cannot return immediately... the consequences are unimaginable."

Hearing this, Xiao Yun and the other two turned around. Xiao Yun immediately asked, "Has something gone wrong?"

Cang Yue held a sound-transmitting jade, slowly saying, "I just tried to transmit a message to my husband several times in a row, but each attempt failed."

"Ah?" All three were startled. Xiao Yun hurriedly exclaimed, "Message failed? How... how is that possible! Big Brother is so powerful, nothing could possibly happen to him!"

"No, a failed transmission doesn't necessarily mean the other party's sound-transmitting jade was destroyed," Heaven Profound First said calmly. "If one is in a place with a special barrier or isolating force, it can also prevent transmission. Brother Yun must be in the latter situation; he is likely in a place where he cannot communicate with the outside world."

"Then... what do we do?" Xiao Yun began to panic.

"Of course, we'll block them!" Heaven Profound First declared, waving an arm, profound energy surging throughout his body. "Why must Brother Yun rush back? Are the three of us incapable of stopping a mere few tens of thousands of Divine Phoenix soldiers?" Heaven Profound First looked deeply at Xiao Yun, his voice growing stern: "Xiao Yun! I can understand your unwillingness to get your hands bloody. But when you encounter even a slightly significant difficulty, your first thought isn't to solve it with your own strength; instead, you're ready to rely on Brother Yun! You're married now, and to my most cherished sister at that! If you want to become a true man, you don't have to stain your hands with blood, but at the very least, you must be someone your closest loved ones can rely on... instead of habitually relying on others!"

Heaven Profound First's words shook Xiao Yun's entire body. He then bit down hard and nodded forcefully: "I... I understand."

"Big Brother, you can't talk about Brother Yun like that! Brother Yun is naturally gentle, and I don't want him to change," Heaven Profound Seventh said, pulling Xiao Yun's arm with a displeased expression.

Heaven Profound First's eye twitched; he could only turn away, looking vexed. Just then, the massive Divine Phoenix profound beast horde was less than five li away, and a heavy pressure clearly emanated from the distance, engulfing Azure Cloud Imperial City in immense panic once more.

Heaven Profound First whispered, "Don't be intimidated by this display. Remember, this isn't our Demon Imperial City! This is a place with a relatively low profound energy level. Opposing us are merely some fragile Divine Phoenix soldiers and low-level profound beasts. You two have also reached the Tyrant Profound Realm. With the combined strength of the three of us, as long as there's no expert on the other side capable of suppressing us, we can stop them even if there were twice as many!"

As Heaven Profound First finished speaking, a jade-green longbow appeared in his hand. As he held the bow horizontally and drew the string, twelve jade-green profound arrows materialized on it. Once fired, these twelve profound arrows would not merely destroy the lives of twelve targets; they would inflict twelve horrifying penetrations upon the entire vast army within sight, piercing from the front of the formation all the way to the rear.

Just then, an extremely unusual profound energy fluctuation emanated from the south, followed by Heaven Profound Seventh's cry of alarm: "Ah!! Look! What... what is that!!"

In the southern sky, a tiny golden speck suddenly appeared. Though small, it was as dazzling as a star in the night. Its speed was incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, the golden speck magnified tenfold in their vision, then tenfold again. Before a single breath was complete, it had already transformed from a tiny speck into a colossal outline, entirely golden, a hundred zhang long and dozens of zhang wide, with complex golden patterns floating around its body.

As it neared Azure Cloud Imperial City, its speed suddenly decelerated, and the golden profound light it emitted rapidly faded. Concurrently, a tempestuous airflow, imbued with a mysterious and extremely heavy pressure, roared in from the south, sweeping all the unprepared Azure Cloud guards off the city walls and sending them flying far away.

"Is that... a profound ark?" Heaven Profound First exclaimed, raising a hand to block the oncoming turbulent air. Its appearance and the profound energy fluctuations it generated during flight proved it was a unique profound ark. However, the speed this profound ark had just displayed astonished him, even with his extensive knowledge, because in terms of speed alone, it far surpassed the strongest profound ark of their Heaven Profound clan.

What shocked him most was not the golden profound ark itself, but the person riding it! To possess such an astonishing profound ark, the individual's status must be extraordinary! If it were an enemy, then things would be terrible!

Gasps of astonishment spread throughout Azure Cloud Imperial City; everyone stared dumbfounded at the golden profound ark high in the sky. Not only the people of Azure Cloud Imperial City were startled by this ark; the quickly approaching Divine Phoenix army also turned their attention to the suddenly appearing golden profound ark. The spiritual pressure released from this ark made them instinctively slow down, until they came to a complete halt.

"What is that?" Han Xingchao frowned, "Could it be... a profound ark?"

As he spoke, he looked at Feng Hengjiang's face, only to find his eyes and facial muscles twitching and trembling incessantly. Alarmed, he hastily asked, "Elder Fifty-Two, what's wrong!!"

Feng Hengjiang stared fixedly at the golden profound ark. He raised a hand, his lips trembling for a long moment before he finally managed to speak: "Heav... Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark!"

"Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark?" Han Xingchao looked bewildered. "What's that... Is it something very, very terrifying?"

Feng Hengjiang took a sharp breath: "The Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark... it's the exclusive profound ark of the Sacred Emperor, the supreme ruler of the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary!"

"Wh... wh... what!!" Han Xingchao felt as if struck by lightning, nearly tumbling from the flying profound beast beneath him. He had never heard of the Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark, but who hadn't heard of the "Sacred Emperor"? His name resounded like thunder! He was the master of the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, the foremost of the Four Sacred Grounds, a supreme being who overlooked the entire Profound Sky Continent! He was, without a doubt, the number one person in the Profound Sky Continent!

He said in shock, "Elder Fifty-Two, could... could there be a mistake! How could someone like the Sacred Emperor possibly come to... this kind of place."

"No mistake! The Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark is unique in all the world! When I accompanied the Sect Master to visit the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary back then, I was fortunate enough to see it once; it's impossible to misidentify it." Feng Hengjiang's body and voice trembled. As an Elder of the Divine Phoenix Sect, he was a figure who could command respect in the Seven Nations of the Profound Sky. But before the prestige of the "Sacred Emperor," he simply could not control his body's trembling: "Moreover, the Sacred Emperor cherishes the Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark immensely and never lends it to others; even his adopted sons are not qualified to pilot it privately. Therefore, once the Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark appears... it must be the Sacred Emperor himself!"

Just then, the golden profound ark came to a complete stop, its light and profound energy fluctuations almost entirely fading away. The golden ark floated silently in the air. On its right side, an ark door slowly opened. Han Xingchao and Feng Hengjiang held their breath, but before they could even discern the figure emerging from the door, they were locked onto by an incredibly terrifying and volatile aura, pinning them down as if by a ten-thousand-zhang mountain, making them unable to move.

A tall, imposing figure stepped out of the ark door, then slowly drifted down, his gaze fixed intently on the dark mass of Divine Phoenix soldiers and profound beasts to the southwest. He wore a plain gray robe that was quite ordinary, even a little tattered. His physique was so muscular it could almost be described as "enormous," at least four or five times the size of an average adult. Standing there, he resembled a small mountain of flesh.

Han Xingchao and Feng Hengjiang's pupils dilated; their bodies twitched and recoiled uncontrollably. What terrified them was not this person's extraordinarily mighty physique, but the rage and killing intent emanating from him. The anger in the aura that locked onto them was like explosive, churning infernal lava. Simply being under this aura, they felt as if their bodies could be torn apart at any moment. The flying profound beasts beneath them and the Flame War Colts below were all trembling violently, even whimpering in fear.

"Th-that person... what a terrifying aura!" Heaven Profound First exclaimed. In the very first instant, he knew that this person's aura far surpassed his own at the eighth level of the Tyrant Profound Realm; it was clearly the power of an Emperor Profound Realm expert!

Moreover, in terms of aura intensity, it seemed no less than Yun Che's when he was enraged!!

Who is this person... Isn't Azure Cloud Nation the country with the lowest profound energy level on the Profound Sky Continent? Why would an Emperor Profound expert appear here?

However, what relieved Heaven Profound First amidst his shock was that this person's terrifyingly intense rage was directed at the Divine Phoenix army, and not at Azure Cloud Imperial City.

"So... so huge... There's actually someone that big," Heaven Profound Seventh said, wide-eyed.

As for Cang Yue, she had already tightly covered her mouth. After a long moment, she cried out, "Yuan... Yuanba! It's Yuanba!!"

Unseen for five years, Xia Yuanba's appearance hadn't changed much in her sight, but his body had become much taller and more robust than she remembered. His gaze and aura had undergone earth-shattering changes, making it impossible for her to connect him with the Xia Yuanba she knew. However, what made her gasp out "Yuanba" was the gray robe he wore, which had become somewhat tattered!

Back when Yun Che first entered the Azure Cloud Profound Palace, while she personally sewed training clothes for him, to conceal her feelings for Yun Che, she had also sewn a set for Xia Yuanba. Xia Yuanba had cherished it as a treasure, often happily wearing it. Five years passed, and he still hadn't discarded it, even though it was torn in many places and could no longer fully cover his much larger body. Yet, he was still wearing it...

"Yuanba... Wh-which Yuanba?" Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang were baffled. Under no circumstances could they connect this person, who controlled a golden profound ark and emitted a terrifying aura, with the Xia Yuanba they knew from back then—a person with extremely low talent, only at the Elementary Profound Realm, who had suffered endless bullying at the Azure Cloud Profound Palace.

... Cang Yue said nothing, already on the verge of tears from excitement. Yun Che had returned, and now, Xia Yuanba had returned too. Everyone was safe and sound; it was truly wonderful... truly wonderful...

"You... who are you!" Feng Hengjiang asked, holding his breath. His chest felt as if a steel plate was pressing down on it; he couldn't even breathe if he wanted to. The person before him was not the Sacred Emperor, yet compared to the Sacred Emperor's deterrence, the rage and killing intent unleashed by this individual caused his heart and soul to tremble even more. That golden profound ark was undoubtedly the Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark! Why could this person control the Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark, which the Sacred Emperor never allowed others to touch!

"The one who will send you to hell!!" Xia Yuanba slowly raised his head, his gaze, like that of a demon from hell, locked onto all the Divine Phoenix soldiers and profound beasts ahead.

Three years ago, the day after he left the Divine Phoenix Empire with True Master Gu Cang and returned to the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, he entered seclusion with deep-seated hatred. As he grew stronger, he increasingly clearly felt an immense power hidden within his profound veins. To avenge Yun Che, he was determined to unleash this power from his profound veins at all costs.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye. On the day he emerged from seclusion, he heard the terrible news of Azure Cloud Nation being trampled by Divine Phoenix. He piloted the Heavenly Sacred Divine Ark, with its astonishing speed, directly to Azure Cloud. Upon entering Azure Cloud's borders, he saw a land riddled with scars, his compatriots displaced and fleeing like headless flies, cities occupied or even burned, and corpses scattered everywhere...

Endless rage and resentment almost made his chest burst.

His eyes were bloodshot, but he never paused, flying desperately towards Azure Cloud Imperial City, hoping that this core region of Azure Cloud had not been breached.

And now, he had finally arrived. Azure Cloud Imperial City showed no signs of being occupied within his sight, and the fury that had boiled for several hours finally found an outlet. The crimson armor on the people in front of him confirmed their identity as Divine Phoenix soldiers, and also made the rage he had suppressed so tightly burst forth uncontrollably.

Bang!!

With an explosion of air like a clap of thunder, Xia Yuanba's arm suddenly swelled to double its size. His already muscular arm became even thicker than a normal person's torso, and the air around him became several times more volatile. In the face of this terrifying pressure, Feng Hengjiang, who possessed some strength of the Tyrant Emperor, couldn't muster any thought of resistance. He stammered in fear, "W-wait a moment! Senior from the Absolute Monarch Sanctuary... We are... from the Div... Divine Phoenix Sect... Is there some... misunderstanding..."

"It's you... you beasts of the Divine Phoenix Sect... that I'll kill!" Xia Yuanba's eyes widened, his teeth clenched, every word imbued with enough hatred and rage to make the earth tremble. His arm, swollen to the point of nearly bursting, slammed violently forward: "All of you... die!!!"

"W-wait... wait... Uwaaaahhh..."

BOOM!!!!

The instant his arm struck out, Xia Yuanba's entire body turned a blinding pure gold. The golden profound light released from his arm instantly enveloped the entire Divine Phoenix army, including all the flying profound beasts and Flame War Colts, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.

The earth trembled, and the entire Azure Cloud Imperial City shook. Within the golden light, space violently collapsed; thousands of spatial cracks and black holes emerged, interwoven, tearing apart and devouring everything that could be destroyed.

In the very first instant of Xia Yuanba's power burst, all living beings enveloped by the golden light were mercilessly pulverized. Even someone as strong as Feng Hengjiang only lasted for a single breath before shattering. In the next breath, he was reduced to blood-foam as fine as dust.