Chapter 182: Who Is the Loser

"Hahahaha! How arrogant! The soldiers of my Yuanyang Empire have never known fear. Besides, the elders from all halls will arrive shortly. Do you really think you'll escape with your lives?"

Long Ju completely dismissed Xu Yang's words, a dismissal that sealed the fate of the impending crisis.

Xu Yang wasted no more words. He immediately shot into the sky, countless golden sword energy blades swiftly materializing behind him. Hundreds of sword lights hovered menacingly above the soldiers' heads.

"I'll give you one last chance: life or death? I demand a single, unified answer!"

Xu Yang hovered in the air, gazing down at the soldiers below like a merciful deity looking upon mere mortals, who could, at any moment, become his enemies.

The soldiers remained silent, but Long Ju demonstrated his stance through action.

*Whoosh!* He drew the sword from his waist, but in the end, it was merely an act to trumpet his bravery and loyalty as a renowned imperial general, at the cost of his soldiers' lives.

Countless sword lights descended from the sky...

Each sword light mercilessly claimed the lives of dozens of soldiers. The terrifying surges of sword energy unleashed a catastrophe, forcing the overconfident imperial soldiers to pay a dreadful price.

Long Ju, being a formidable expert of the Nascent Soul realm, soared into the air in a fit of rage and unhesitatingly lunged at Xu Yang with his long sword.

"Hmph, overestimating himself."

Long Kun witnessed the scene, shaking his head in helpless resignation.

*Thud!*

Xu Yang delivered a kick directly to Long Ju's face, completely shattering his protective aura. As Long Ju was sent flying backward, a sword light shot out from behind him, piercing through his body hundreds of meters away.

"Your mistake wasn't resisting us, but in allowing your soldiers to sacrifice their lives in vain. As such, you are unfit to be a general!"

Xu Yang's icy words reached Long Ju's ears. The sword light within him then violently exploded, utterly obliterating a complete Nascent Soul realm expert into nothingness before Xu Yang, without so much as a final sound.

"What?! This is impossible..."

The surviving soldiers below, along with the academy students who had led them, were utterly dumbfounded.

Xu Yang's newfound power completely shattered their understanding of what was possible.

Of course, these few students from the champion group had no prior knowledge of Xu Yang's true power. After his venture into the Imperial Mausoleum, his strength had ascended another tier, placing him even further beyond their comprehension or aspirations.

"Does anyone else wish to stop us? Make your move, quickly."

Xu Yang's words descended like a divine decree. The soldiers on the ground, trembling with fear, dropped their weapons one by one and scattered in all directions.

"Run!"

The three remaining members of the champion group also began to flee in disarray, not forgetting to push their team leader, who was paralyzed with fear. The staff in his hand, which he used to draw teleportation arrays, clattered to the ground from his trembling grip.

"You... are you even human?! How can you be this powerful? An exchange student? Hahahaha..."

The man appeared to be on the verge of a mental breakdown from sheer terror. Xu Yang wasted no time, instantly appearing before him and seizing him by the collar.

"Draw us another teleportation array to get out. This is your sole opportunity for redemption."

"Hahahaha! You're threatening me? Why would I need to redeem myself?"

The man, now raving like a madman, continued to laugh with a distorted expression, utterly oblivious to the terrifying pressure radiating from Xu Yang.

"He's gone mad."

Bai Lianxue gently shook her head and said, "Master, read his soul consciousness. Rather than letting him continue to suffer in this deranged state, it would be kinder to end him."

Bai Lianxue was correct. The man's descent into madness was directly caused by the sight of the corpses on the ground, a consequence of his own actions.

He had long known that the library harbored a shocking secret, and his initial motive for entering was purely selfish. He hadn't anticipated that Xu Yang alone would annihilate nearly the entire Dragon Guard, a force of several hundred, making them all pay for his greedy ambitions. The immense psychological pressure had caused him to completely break down.

This time, Xu Yang did not hesitate. He gently touched the madman's forehead, extracting the specific memories related to the teleportation array.

Simultaneously, to ease the man's suffering, Xu Yang erased all his memories of the battle.

After successfully replicating the teleportation array, Xu Yang ensured the madman was also brought out with them.

The back mountain of the academy! The very pond where magical beasts were previously kept turned out to be another hidden exit to the library!

"So that's it. I always wondered why such a large pond was inexplicably used to house magical beasts – it was a diversion!"

As soon as Xu Yang and his companions materialized, it took only a few breaths for the formidable experts dispatched by the imperial palace to pinpoint their location.

"There they are! Surround them!"

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

Over thirty experts at the peak of the Heaven-Cave realm appeared, a tier stronger than the academy elders they had encountered earlier in Stone Tower Number One!

However, after their ordeal in the Imperial Mausoleum, Xu Yang's team had grown so powerful that these new adversaries were no match for them.

"I'll leave these to you. I'm going directly to see Yuan Haotian."

Xu Yang spoke calmly. After receiving nods of acknowledgment from Bai Lianxue and the others, he ascended into the air with Xiao Tuantuan in his arms, transforming into a streak of light and streaking towards the imperial palace.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The leading elder, a Nascent Soul realm beginner, tried to make a show of force, raising his hand and striking out with a palm towards Xu Yang's receding form in the sky. To his embarrassment, Xu Yang didn't even spare him a glance, merely stomping his foot. The terrifying ripples caused the elder's technique to collapse back upon him, startling the old man and sending him scrambling sideways, barely evading a lethal counterattack.

"You overestimating old fool! With your mere Nascent Soul beginner realm, you dare try to touch our boss? Come on, let this young master play with you!"

"Attack!"

Bai Lianxue gave the command. The three goddesses of the team, along with Long Kun's surprisingly potent physical form, attacked simultaneously. Though only four in number, their combined combat prowess was so formidable that even they were astonished by its extent.

Long Kun's Black Tortoise Body Protection rendered him impervious to blades and spears. He single-handedly withstood attacks from over twenty Heaven-Cave realm experts for a considerable time, without even losing a single hair.

From behind, the three goddesses launched a counterattack. Powerful waves of sword energy swept through, instantly annihilating nearly a third of the cultivators in a single exchange, completely overwhelming them.

"Damn it, this won't do! Get reinforcements, quickly!"

Simultaneously, many overconfident students from around the academy also swarmed closer, eager to witness the spectacle.

"Huh! Isn't that Long Kun, the good-for-nothing? The one who brought several exchange students. How did he end up mixed in with that group?"

Hearing these remarks, Long Kun's face twitched. He instinctively felt the urge to prove himself.

"Hmph, you better clarify, who's the good-for-nothing!"

He unleashed a palm strike, instantly shattering a Heaven-Cave realm peak cultivator on the spot. Long Kun's display of power utterly terrified the loose-tongued individuals.

"You... you... how is this possible?!"