Chapter 832: Seven Imperial Brother

While such a statement would sound like pure bragging from anyone else on the continent, for Xu Yang, it was merely a small goal he was steadily working to achieve.

The Seventh Prince was completely dumbfounded. At that moment, his sole instinctive thought was to flee the battlefield.

However, Xu Yang would not give him such an opportunity. From across the void, he unleashed the true form of his Jade Bone Divine Sword, which sliced through the air and embedded itself three feet in front of the prince. The sword's immense power instantly petrified the Seventh Prince. A formidable Heavenly Martial Artist, he stood before Xu Yang utterly powerless.

“To think you are a demon from the desolate lands, possessing such terrifying power! I must return and inform the entire imperial family of this news. I want to see how your Northern Region plans to contend with the imperial family.”

The Seventh Prince's greatest asset was, of course, his direct imperial bloodline. Yet, his personal strength was simply no match for Xu Yang's. If he couldn't rely on his status, the Seventh Prince felt utterly insignificant before Xu Yang.

“It's no use, Seventh Brother. The moment you decided to make an enemy of A Yang, you lost all opportunity.”

Below, Yun Xiao offered a slight smile. She knew the man she admired possessed a hundred ways to deal with the arrogant man before them.

The aura of the Jade Bone Divine Sword had already completely immobilized the Seventh Prince.

Then, as Xu Yang's figure descended before the Seventh Prince, the prince slowly extended his right arm, instinctively attempting a close-quarters attack. However, he discovered that his formidable fist couldn't even penetrate Xu Yang's protective aura.

“Damn it, you're an absolute monster! Having someone like you on my Yingzhou Continent will cause endless future trouble!”

The Seventh Prince shrieked hysterically, immediately ordering all soldiers in his army to retreat.

He hoped that any survivors among them would carry the news back to the Central Region Imperial Family.

However, such a thought was mere wishful thinking. Xu Yang's soul power could instantly manipulate the actions of these Moon Spirits, and with Moon Spirit personally directing the essence of the moon, how could any stragglers escape the battlefield?

Each Earth Martial Artist, once their soul was bound by the Moon Essence, would completely lose their spirit in a remarkably short time. Their physical bodies would then collapse limply, their eyes losing all glimmer of insight.

In the blink of an eye, thousands of Earth Martial Artist-level imperial guards had fallen, with not a single survivor remaining. The Seventh Prince, now utterly despairing, knelt before Xu Yang, completely helpless.

“It's regrettable that you brought so few soldiers. A mere thousand wanting to flaunt their power before my A Yang? Truly foolishly overestimating yourselves!”

“Lord A Yang, please spare me. If you let me go, I swear I won't reveal your secret to anyone else.”

Xu Yang chuckled softly and stroked the Seventh Prince's head, much like one would a child.

Despite such an insulting gesture, the Seventh Prince dared not even utter a sound. He simply knelt before Xu Yang, allowing himself to be wantonly humiliated.

“He has no choice; to secure a chance at survival, he must grovel like this. Unfortunately, he probably doesn't realize that the previous captive, who was given to the Spirit Martial Maiden as a reward, was also tormented to death in the same manner.”

With a powerful crack!

From Xu Yang's palm, an incredibly potent aura suddenly erupted, instantly shattering the Seventh Prince's body and utterly incinerating him into nothingness.

“Senior Moon Spirit, please help me clear the battlefield. I don't want anyone to know what transpired here.”

“Yes, my esteemed master!”

Upon receiving the command, Moon Spirit once again unleashed an immensely powerful Moon Essence. Xu Yang's entire form became enveloped by a radiant, pure light. With a single explosive sound, all the colored light surrounding him transformed into a swirling vortex. Everywhere it swept, all traces of the battle silently vanished into nothingness, and the battlefield area returned to its pristine, original state.

“It seems the greatest advantage of the Moon lineage's power lies in purification. This is remarkably similar to the inheritance of the Angel lineage. Now that you have integrated these two legacies, your strength is truly unparalleled, and I fear those who could genuinely threaten your life in this world are now few and far between.”

Xu Yang, however, paid little heed to this observation. He gently waved his hand, presenting the Seventh Prince's only remaining exquisite divine artifact to Yun Xiao.

“This item is for your self-defense. Remember, do not easily reveal it unless absolutely necessary. We are still far from having the resources to directly challenge the imperial family. My priority is to find my teammates and consolidate all our strength. I will absolutely not act rashly without absolute certainty.”

Yun Xiao nodded solemnly. “Don't worry,” she said, “with you here, no one on this entire continent can harm me!”

Xu Yang gave a light chuckle, then soared into the sky, swiftly flying towards the Holy Fire Alliance headquarters.

No one knew that thousands of powerful Earth Martial Artists had been laid to rest in that very spot.

Xu Yang was keenly aware that if the Seventh Prince and his entourage failed to report back to the imperial family for an extended period, further trouble would inevitably arise. Therefore, he cleverly devised a scheme, placing the blame for the group's disappearance squarely on the people of the Eastern Region.

The situation in the Eastern Region differed somewhat from the Northern Region; the entire Eastern Region harbored some of the Yingzhou Continent's most formidable bandit and pirate forces.

Due to the unique geographical environment, these bandit and pirate forces developed exceptionally rapidly, even daring to directly confront major alliance powers. They commanded hundreds of thousands of mercenary bandits, who had continuously harassed the Northern Region's borders for years.

Under the guise of Yun San, Xu Yang wrote a letter to the imperial family, requesting them to dispatch law enforcement troops to the borders of the Northeast regions to suppress these mercenary forces and rescue the missing Seventh Prince.

The imperial family, of course, was not foolish enough to be easily misled; they would naturally deploy more forces to investigate the matter.

However, all this would take time, and for Xu Yang, there were still many tasks he could accomplish before the imperial family truly moved against him.

“Reporting, Sect Master! Our dispersed Shadow Sect operatives have begun investigating the whereabouts of the individuals you're seeking, based on the information you provided. In the Eastern Region, three people have been located, two of whom almost perfectly match the data you supplied. Please take a look!”

Brother Tan presented the intelligence to Xu Yang. Xu Yang scrutinized it, realizing that the two individuals currently hidden in the Eastern Region were indeed Old Gorilla Taishan and Long Kun!

“Hahaha, excellent! I hadn't expected to find these two most capable fighters first. It seems our plan should be slightly adjusted; let's make the Eastern Region our next target for invasion.”

“Brother Tan, issue the order: tell our brethren to prepare. In three days, our army will advance and sweep through the roving bandits in the East. The time has finally come to address these mercenary thugs operating between the Northern and Eastern Regions. The territory of my Holy Fire Divine Sect absolutely cannot tolerate such small-time trouble. This time, we will make an example of these arrogant bandit mercenaries!”

“By your command!”