Chapter 1440: Going to the Palace of the Unparalleled Empire

"Wait, we surrender."

Just as Ling Yao's incredibly powerful killing move was about to strike, the man among the two guardians decisively raised his right hand, looking at Ling Yao with a terrified expression. Then, he dropped to one knee, clasped his hands together, and bowed respectfully to Ling Yao, assuming a submissive posture.

"We choose to surrender. Your power far exceeds anything we could have imagined. So-called faith means nothing in the face of life and death. Perhaps abandoning resistance, as you suggested, is indeed the best choice for us."

It must be said that the male guardian was quite pragmatic in that critical moment. Ling Yao's lips curved into a subtle, perfect arc. Immediately after, the terrifying aura of frost surrounding her dissipated. She returned to her serene and beautiful self, slowly descending back to the ground.

"You don't need to beg me. Your lives are not in my hands. I am merely an executor of orders. It will take our leader, Xu Yang, to personally approve your fate."

Hearing Ling Yao's words, Xu Yang smiled and stepped forward. "Since you've decided to give up, cripple your abilities in front of us, and then answer a few of my questions."

The guardian couple exchanged a glance, then calmly nodded. They immediately began forming hand seals. Initially, Xu Yang and his three companions thought this was a necessary step for them to cripple their own powers. However, Xu Yang soon sensed something was amiss. Yet, he didn't immediately try to stop the couple's actions. He merely closed his eyes gently, shook his head, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Hmph," the guardian muttered, "did you truly believe we would simply surrender? For us, faith is far more precious than life itself. We were merely buying time, looking for an opportunity to activate our ability. Once we decide to leave, no one can stop us!"

The moment the guardian finished speaking, the two transformed into streaks of faint light and vanished instantly. However, before Xu Yang and his three companions could even finish a single breath and open their eyes again, Xu Yang saw the result he expected. Although the guardian couple successfully activated their ability, they did not appear in their intended escape trajectory. After the spatial teleportation ability was fully released, the two surprisingly found themselves back in their original positions.

"What? How is this possible?" The couple stared in utter disbelief. They had never dreamed that Xu Yang and his three companions had silently altered the spatiotemporal laws of the surroundings, rendering their most proficient spatial movement ability completely ineffective. Originally, with their power, once the teleportation ability had successfully activated, they would have been instantly transported a thousand miles away. That would have allowed them to evade Xu Yang and his companions' instant kill. But little did they know their clever trick was entirely observed by Xu Yang. He had effortlessly dismantled their abilities, which served as a harsh blow to the couple's pride and instantly robbed them of any courage or confidence to fight. The couple became utterly disheartened, collapsing weakly on the spot. Undoubtedly, their demise awaited them.

"I regret to say that I detest being deceived, and you two have precisely crossed my red line. Had you genuinely chosen to surrender, even if you lost your cultivation, I would not have taken your lives. Unfortunately, whatever you say now is useless. Demise is your only outcome." As Xu Yang finished speaking, he simply waved his long sleeve, and the guardian couple instantly disintegrated into dust.

Indeed, in Xu Yang's presence, any self-assured resistance appeared utterly ridiculous. The couple's will to survive was truly strong, but unfortunately, they encountered Xu Yang and his three companions. At that moment, their fate was no longer in their own hands.

After eliminating the guardian couple, Xu Yang, without hesitation, immediately led the rest of his team toward their next destination.

So far, Xu Yang's team had eliminated four of the twelve Guardian Gods of the Eye of Heaven Divine Path. The remaining eight were not within the territory of the Peerless Empire. However, Xu Yang had extracted a crucial clue from the memories of the recently defeated guardian couple: the Peerless Empire's imperial family seemed to hold secrets related to the main god level of the Eye of Heaven Divine Path. This particular secret was a forbidden topic within the couple's minds, making it impossible to directly extract from their deep memories.

Therefore, Xu Yang led his team directly to the Peerless Imperial Palace. He intended to find the Peerless Empire's emperor before leaving the empire and uncover the true secret about the main god sealed within the Peerless Empire.

Given their speed, it didn't take long for the four of them to reach the main hall of the Peerless Imperial Palace. The emperor, seated high on his throne, appeared to be a young noble, likely having ascended recently. Unbeknownst to many, this new emperor of the Peerless Empire, despite his youth, was a capable ruler who had worked hard to govern. Regrettably, he had done something he shouldn't have: he overstepped the guardian level and directly attempted to delve into main god-level secrets.

Little did he know, this very act was a crucial factor in his successful ascension to the throne of the Peerless Empire. This was because the knowledge from one of the three main gods of the Eye of Heaven Divine Path, a mysterious powerful being, was behind him, enabling him to gain his current imperial position in the Peerless Empire.

Xu Yang had a very clear plan: he had to make the new emperor of the Peerless Empire talk to uncover the true secrets about this main god-level powerful being.

"Who goes there!" Outside the imperial palace, hundreds of elite warriors in golden armor surrounded them. Xu Yang scoffed. It seemed he had run out of patience. He gently waved his sleeve, and an immensely powerful ability instantly manifested, transforming into a horrifying vortex that reaped human lives. Wherever the vortex swept, the warriors in golden armor swiftly lost their life force, turning into withered skeletons in an incredibly short time. Their remains, however, did not last long; as a cool breeze swept through, every skeleton crumbled into fragments and vanished instantly from the palace. Witnessing this scene, the imperial guard legions inside the Peerless Imperial Palace were utterly dumbfounded. They realized that the power of these four individuals seemed to have reached, or even surpassed, the main god level.

With just a flick of Xu Yang's finger, hundreds of golden warriors were annihilated. The other warriors then understood that these individuals were simply beyond their ability to contend with. More importantly, the Peerless Empire's only three guardian-level divine positions had already been completely eliminated by Xu Yang's team. They no longer had a sufficiently powerful team of cultivators to resist this terrifying wave of invaders. The emperor, seated high on his throne, appeared notably calmer than anyone else.