High in the air, Lin Zhenxiong’s figure was like that of a demon god descended upon the world.
He unleashed the terrifying power of a peak Grandmaster without holding anything back.
As his body shot rapidly upward, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him was drained dry.
“Vmmm!”
A piercing sword cry erupted from his empty right hand.
There was clearly no sword in his grasp, yet he wielded his hand as a sword. Thick, viscous, dark-teal qi surged wildly toward his palm.
In the blink of an eye, a colossal sword ten zhang long, formed entirely from condensed qi, appeared suspended in the night sky!
The sword energy was terrifying beyond words.
Its ghostly blue radiance cleaved the night sky above the imperial city in two.
Before the sword even descended, its force had already arrived.
An oppressive presence capable of destroying heaven and earth descended upon them.
Gale-force winds sprang up, and the entire world changed color!
Under the dreadful pressure of the sword, the ornamental beasts along the palace wall’s upturned eaves began cracking one after another, unable to bear the strain.
The blue bricks on the ground shattered inch by inch, turning into a storm of sand and stones that raged through the air like a tornado.
That pressure bore down not only on the body but also on the mind, ruthlessly tearing at the spirit.
The flagpoles atop the wall snapped in the invisible currents of air. Before the broken wood could even hit the ground, it was shredded into dust.
The torches burning all around were extinguished in unison beneath that crushing presence.
Bearing the brunt of it was the imperial family standing at the highest point of the city tower.
The tyrant Su Zhen and the Crown Prince Su Jin were both among the top experts in the Great Abyss Kingdom.
Yet in the face of a peak Grandmaster’s pressure, even they found themselves struggling.
The force of Mount Tai pressing down upon them slammed heavily onto their shoulders.
“Ugh!”
Su Zhen let out a muffled groan as the qi within his body circulated wildly, resisting the unreasonable pressure.
But his legs were still forced backward, scraping two deep furrows across the white jade tiles.
He stumbled back several steps and barely managed to steady himself by bracing against the ground with the Dragon Spring Sword.
Su Jin was forced into a violent surge of blood and qi, his breathing becoming broken and labored.
The hand gripping his poisoned blade trembled violently, and glaring blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The suppression of a peak Grandmaster’s domain left even this Living Yama, who had killed without batting an eye, feeling utterly powerless.
This was the true might at the summit of the martial world!
“A peak Grandmaster… He’s actually a peak Grandmaster!”
The commander of the Imperial Guard stared despairingly at the ten-zhang giant sword in the sky, which looked capable of cleaving through the city wall. His voice was hoarse.
The three thousand Imperial Guards atop the wall were pressed down so heavily that they could not even raise their heads.
The swords and sabers in their hands wailed beneath the sword energy.
One after another, the soldiers closed their eyes and waited helplessly for death to arrive.
Without the courage to shake heaven and earth, mortal resistance before godlike power was nothing more than a laughable joke.
Darkness and blue radiance intertwined, dyeing the imperial city to resemble a living hell.
From his lofty position in the sky, Lin Zhenxiong looked down upon everyone on the city tower.
He watched the emperor being forced back by his pressure. He watched the ants trembling in fear.
The frustration and fury he had held inside were released with unprecedented force.
Lin Zhenxiong had endured all these years and pretended to be a loyal minister and valiant general for all these years.
All for this very moment—to trample the Great Abyss imperial family beneath his feet and let the entire world know who was truly its master!
“Su Zhen! You useless vermin who do nothing but put on a show with tricks and magic!”
Lin Zhenxiong’s arrogant voice, infused with rolling inner power, exploded across the heavens and earth.
The shockwave shattered large swathes of glazed roof tiles on the city tower, sending them crashing down like hailstones.
“Clever tricks and petty contraptions are nothing but side paths in the end!”
“Those so-called demonic fire weapons and poisonous mist are all trash before genuine martial strength!”
He raised both arms, and the ten-zhang dark-teal giant sword rose high with his movement.
An aura of total destruction locked onto the city tower, leaving no avenue of escape.
He was certain that once this sword descended, the entire tower would be reduced to powder.
Whether it was those iron contraptions that spewed fire or those bizarre masks, everything would be crushed into dust!
“Demoness! Today, even if an immortal descended from heaven, no one could save your worthless life!”
“Die!”
With a roar that shook heaven and earth, Lin Zhenxiong plunged downward like a falling meteor.
The terrifying sword energy, ten zhang long, descended from the heavens straight toward Su Yaoyao below!
Before the sword energy arrived, its razor-sharp gale tore through the air, producing deafening explosions.
The overwhelming pressure made the earth before the Hall of Supreme Harmony tremble faintly.
“Yaoyao!”
Su Zhen’s eyes bulged with fury. The corners split open, and thin trails of blood seeped out.
He had no time to care about the terror of a Grandmaster. He had no time to care whether he himself would be crushed into a bloody pulp.
The tyrant Su Zhen was usually cold and merciless toward the entire world, but at this moment, he was simply a father willing to give his life to protect his child.
At this crucial instant, a father’s instinct overcame both fear and reason.
“You old cur, don’t you dare hurt my daughter!”
Su Zhen let out a desperate roar and burned every last bit of qi within his body without hesitation.
The web between his thumb and forefinger split from his crushing grip, and blood stained the guard of the Dragon Spring Sword red.
He drew the treasured sword and threw himself toward Su Yaoyao, who was seated in a high-backed chair.
He would use his own flesh and blood to block the world-shattering strike for his beloved daughter!
Even if he could stop it for only an instant, even if he were blown to pieces, he would not hesitate.
Su Jin, his mouth still covered in blood, also raised his poisoned blade without the slightest hesitation and stepped in front of his younger sister.
At that moment, father and son formed the Great Abyss imperial family’s final human shield.
The gale tore at their robes as the Grandmaster’s sword energy closed in above their heads.
The shadow of death firmly enveloped every person on the city tower.
However.
At that critical moment, when everyone believed the Great Abyss imperial family was doomed beyond hope, the Crown Princess Su Yaoyao faced the peak Grandmaster’s strike head-on.
She did not retreat even half a step.
She remained steadily seated in her chair, not even blinking more than once.
Facing the ten-zhang sword energy that seemed capable of cleaving heaven and earth apart, there was not the slightest ripple in her clear, wide eyes.
There was only the pity one might show a fool.
“Crack.”
A crisp sound rang out.
Su Yaoyao leisurely cracked open the last sunflower seed in her hand.
Then, under Lin Zhenxiong’s and everyone else’s disbelieving gazes, she casually flicked the shell away and let it drift to the ground.
A world-destroying Grandmaster?
Just a green-headed fly hopping around blindly.
Su Yaoyao let out a cold laugh. Her clear, childlike voice rang distinctly through the howling wind.
“Old Dog Lin, you know absolutely nothing about interstellar civilization!”
The moment she finished speaking, her hand moved as though performing a magic trick and slipped into her wide sleeve.
Three extremely bulky and bizarre objects appeared in her hands.
They were three pairs of pure-black welding goggles!
They were top-of-the-line protective goggles specially manufactured by an interstellar heavy-industry corporation to defend against the intense radiation of stellar-class light!
The lenses were black as an abyss, and the frames were as thick as bricks.
In the ancient, classical Great Abyss imperial city, the things looked outrageously out of place.
Su Zhen was holding the Dragon Spring Sword, preparing to fight for his life, when his vision suddenly went black.
Moving as fast as lightning, Su Yaoyao fitted a pair of welding goggles over her father’s nose.
The high-elasticity rubber strap tightened firmly around the back of his head, cutting off the outside light.
Then she flicked her hand and tossed another pair to Su Jin beside her.
“Big Brother, put them on!”
Trusting Su Yaoyao completely, Su Jin caught them without hesitation and pulled the goggles over his face.
At last, Su Yaoyao calmly put on a pair of heavy welding goggles.
Together with the pig-nosed gas mask she was already wearing, the royal family of three now looked like a bizarre, comical cyberpunk trio.
High in the air, Lin Zhenxiong’s ten-zhang sword aura had already closed to within five meters of the city wall!
The berserk gale made it impossible to breathe, while large sections of the tower’s brickwork collapsed beneath the pressure.
Lin Zhenxiong glanced at the odd-looking family of three wearing black goggles, a flicker of doubt crossing his mind.
But he absolutely refused to believe that, in this world, any hidden weapon could withstand the full-force strike of a Grandmaster at the peak of his power!
“Go to hell!”
Lit by the azure sword glow, Lin Zhenxiong’s face twisted into something as terrifying as an evil spirit.
The blade tore through the air with a deafening shriek.
The ten-zhang sword aura was about to cleave the city tower in two.
Then Su Yaoyao suddenly moved.
Wearing her heavy welding goggles, she curved her lips into a mischievous, devilish smile.
From her sleeve, her small hand produced a silver metal sphere covered in geometric patterns.
Su Yaoyao shouted, “Everyone, if you don’t want to go blind, close your eyes!”
At the same time, she drove her thumb down hard on the safety pin of the high-explosive flashbang in her hand.
The Grandmaster’s face was practically right in front of her!
