Chapter 1864: Truth

Xu Yang sneered, observing the ruler-level expert of the Labyrinthine Mountains before him, who appeared to be losing emotional control. Xu Yang, who had initially intended to engage in a calm discussion, was visibly angered by the expert's presumptuous behavior. His sword-like eyebrows furrowed sharply. The next moment, Xu Yang unhesitatingly unleashed the Divine Artifact of Residual Emotion. The two divine swords manifested in the air, splitting and directly piercing the massive plant-based protective barrier of the ancient tree, hovering precisely at the creature's eye level. Xu Yang declared the expert was too presumptuous.

Xu Yang stated that he had shown respect because he wanted to uncover the truth and avoid any misunderstandings, but the expert's temper truly needed to be reined in.

As Xu Yang spoke, the towering ancient tree, despite being the absolute ruler of the Labyrinthine Mountains, was compelled to calm itself in the face of Xu Yang's enraged authority.

Otherwise, it knew very well that if Xu Yang unleashed his full power, even if he couldn't severely wound the colossal tree in a single round, blinding it would be an effortless task.

Finally, the ancient tree, confronted by Xu Yang's domineering and sharp intensity, chose to temporarily regain its composure. Its previously aggressive, claw-waving posture quickly softened.

Xu Yang said it was good, that now the expert finally looked like someone with whom a calm conversation could be had. He continued that since his three companions and he dared to come to the Labyrinthine Mountains, they could not possibly fear the expert's strength. If it came to a forceful confrontation, the expert would gain absolutely no advantage against him. What truly piqued his curiosity was the emperor's face on the expert's body and the identity of the middle-aged woman the expert had just mentioned as the empress. Xu Yang affirmed that his three companions and he had indeed visited the imperial palace and met the old emperor. Ultimately, it was by undertaking his mission that they entered the three forbidden zones; this was a transaction between him and the old emperor. However, upon seeing the face on the expert's body, which was different from the emperor's, he realized there must be some hidden truth that they had not known before.

Hearing Xu Yang's words, the ancient tree, which had gradually regained its composure, slowly spoke again. The tree conceded, saying that since Xu Yang spoke this way, it seemed he and the old scoundrel were not colluding. It had originally thought the three of them were merely pawns sent by the old emperor. The tree then revealed that it was, in fact, the true emperor of the empire. The "dog" Xu Yang referred to was actually its twin brother, who had colluded with hidden assassin factions in the darkness to usurp the throne and then used special means to seal the empress and itself within this forbidden zone of the Labyrinthine Mountains. The form Xu Yang now saw was the result of its physical body being forcibly transformed after being sealed, allowing it to barely survive in this place. The accursed individual, to suppress it, had bound the soul of its beloved empress to the Stele of Return. That stele was, in fact, the central hub connecting the entire earth vein seal. Simply put, the treacherous "dog" had used the soul of its beloved as a shackles, imprisoning it forever behind this Gate of Hell.

Hearing the towering ancient tree's words, Po Xiao immediately realized the consequences of what the three of them had just done. Po Xiao murmured, asking if that meant Long Kun's punch had just shattered the middle-aged woman's soul imprint. This would be equivalent to releasing the seal on the tree, but in doing so, the middle-aged woman would have been annihilated.

Long Kun, standing nearby, then spoke. He said it was no wonder that when he delivered his punch in the final round, he had channeled all his power into his palm, yet the woman had not made any move or used any power to stop him. It now appeared she had deliberately lured them into attacking her to shatter the shackles of the prison that held the tree captive. In essence, she had sacrificed herself to free the tree.

Xu Yang sighed softly, observing that it was another deeply devoted person. He mused that their unintentional discovery of the truth had come at the cost of sacrificing a pair of lovers. Reflecting on the middle-aged woman's actions on the battlefield earlier, Xu Yang couldn't help but sigh with emotion, feeling a profound sense of lament for her fate.

At this moment, the towering ancient tree, having revealed its true thoughts, spoke again, its voice sharper. It told them to ask any other questions they had clearly. This was the only request it could fulfill, as it wouldn't want them to leave this world as ignorant spirits.

Xu Yang smiled noncommittally, yet he genuinely thought of a new question and proceeded to ask his final question to the expert. He asked if, as the ruler of this area, the expert possessed anything like purple jade crystals.

This time, the emperor's face embedded in the towering ancient tree decisively shook its head. It stated that it had heard a little about the item Xu Yang mentioned. If its guess was correct, it should be in the hands of that "dog" in the imperial palace. It explained that it had been tricked by him into this place and subjected to an incredibly powerful ancient formation as a seal. Neither its strength nor the empress's could contend with the power of that formation, which was why it had been forced into dormancy here for tens of thousands of years. Originally, it had not wanted the empress to lose her life because of it, and thus had never considered forcibly breaking the formation with its own strength. It would have willingly lived in obscurity here for an entire lifetime. At least with her by its side, it had peace of mind. But now that her soul had been completely shattered by them, it had lost its last shred of hope for this world. Now, it had no more attachment to anything in this world. The only thing it wanted to do was to bury the three of them here forever, so that it could join the empress's remnant soul in eternal slumber. Truthfully, the human's strength exceeded its imagination, and it was not confident it could defeat Xu Yang. However, with its power, if it recklessly burned all of its martial essence, permanently sealing the three of them here was entirely achievable. Therefore, in this battle, they should not hope for a third outcome: they would either perish directly at its hands or fall into eternal slumber in this place.

Hearing the emperor's confident tone, Xu Yang simply smiled and shook his head. Xu Yang stated that things would likely not unfold as the emperor wished, because the emperor had chosen the least advisable opponent: him, Xu Yang.

This time, Xu Yang held nothing back in this forbidden zone, as the towering ancient tree he faced possessed strength comparable to a true Martial God-level expert within the entire empire. Limitless golden auras emanated from Xu Yang. In this battle, he had once again unleashed his complete Human Emperor Domain.