Chapter 1282: Kill-All King
"Heavenly King" is the highest noble title in the First Central Empire, representing supreme honor and immense power.
However, Heavenly Kings are also divided into three ranks: Lower Heavenly King, Middle Heavenly King, and Upper Heavenly King.
Even Wan Zhaoyi, whose fame has spread across the world, is only a Lower Heavenly King at present.
As for Middle Heavenly Kings, each one is a heavyweight figure within the imperial court, nobles second only to the Empress herself. Not only are their personal cultivations formidable, but they also control vast families behind the scenes, capable of commanding wind and rain in the First Central Empire. Every move they make can have a tremendous impact on the entire human race.
Even counting all those who frequently appear at court, there are no more than ten Middle Heavenly Kings.
The highest rank, Upper Heavenly Kings, are even more formidable. Most of them are founding heroes who campaigned across the world alongside Emperor Qing eight hundred years ago. Having lived for over a thousand years, they have long since stopped attending court and have retreated behind the scenes. Even their successors already hold the title of Heavenly King.
Of course, there are also those who, in the past few hundred years, have forcibly squeezed into the ranks of Upper Heavenly Kings through their unmatched cultivation. Such figures are even more terrifying, each one an existence that shakes heaven and earth.
"Swoosh—"
Ten zhang above the ground, two ripples appeared in the air, like two water curtains born out of nowhere. Following that, two figures stepped out from the center of the ripples. At that moment, every living being present felt their hearts tremble slightly, as if the entire space had shaken.
Which two Heavenly Kings were these?
Zhang Ruochen was also quite curious. What kind of great figures had arrived, that even Wan Zhaoyi held them in such high regard?
One of them was two meters tall, with a vertical eye on his forehead. He wore purple armor, held a war hammer, and hovered ten zhang above the ground. Lightning surged from every pore on his body.
Those lightning bolts shuttled between heaven and earth, forming an ocean of thunder.
A saint from the imperial court camp recognized him and let out a cry of surprise: "One of the Eight Division Heavenly Kings of the Earth Temple, the Thunder Division Heavenly King."
The Earth Temple was divided into eight divisions, each with a Heavenly King.
The authority and status of the Eight Division Heavenly Kings were second only to the Hall Master. Any one of them was a titan that even saints had to look up to.
The Thunder Division Heavenly King was the foremost among the Eight Division Heavenly Kings, with the highest combat power. Both his spiritual power and martial arts had reached extremely profound levels. He was undoubtedly a legendary figure.
If one were to select beings in the Kunlun Realm who simultaneously cultivated spiritual power and martial arts and achieved extremely high accomplishments, the Thunder Division Heavenly King would be an unavoidable name.
"What exactly is at the bottom of the Glacier Continent that even the Thunder Division Heavenly King has personally come?"
The hearts of the imperial court saints churned like a stormy sea, unable to calm down, filled with doubt.
Except for Siming Shennü, Chi Wansui, and Suihan, who vaguely knew some inside information, the other saints had no idea of the true purpose of their entry into the Yin-Yang Sea. They only knew they were searching for the legacy of the Divine Dragon Clan.
Who wouldn't be shocked to see the Thunder Division Heavenly King appear?
Qi Sheng, Yinghuo, and the Demon Heaven Crown Prince's faces turned pale. Even Prince Xia's eyes showed a look of wariness. Only Zhongying Wang remained calm and composed, standing like a demon god at the top of the bone altar.
A relatively young War Saint stared at the other figure beside the Thunder Division Heavenly King, his voice trembling slightly: "Look at who that is... Could it be him..."
Everyone's gaze locked onto him.
Why would a War Saint be so terrified?
Could there be an even more fearsome figure than the Thunder Division Heavenly King arriving?
The other Heavenly King wore a blood-red robe, standing within a patch of black clouds. No one could clearly see what he looked like, but just seeing that blood-red robe filled everyone with intense fear.
It wasn't that they were cowardly, but that Heavenly King was like the embodiment of fear itself. The aura he emitted automatically corroded their hearts.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the blood-red robe and immediately felt a chill flowing through his body, from head to toe, as if his heart had frozen solid.
"Could it be the Kill-All King?"
Bu Qianfan sucked in a breath of cold air, his usually calm eyes showing a look of shock.
"Ye Bei, the Kill-All King. In the dark of night, he kills all. Has the most terrifying person in the Ministry of War arrived?"
Wan Huayu's face was drained of all color. Like Bu Qianfan, her delicate body trembled slightly.
It must be known that Bu Qianfan and Wan Huayu were both saints of the Ministry of War, belonging to the same camp as the Kill-All King. Yet they were so terrified.
If they were enemies of the Kill-All King, how terrified would they be at this moment?
Huang Yanchen transmitted her voice to Zhang Ruochen: "The Kill-All King is named Ye Bei. His cultivation may not be the best in the Ministry of War, but he is universally recognized by the imperial court as the number one god of death in the Ministry of War."
Zhang Ruochen said, "I can see that. Even Bu Qianfan and Wan Huayu, people of such firm resolve, are so terrified at the sight of the Kill-All King. This man must have a fearsome reputation."
Huang Yanchen said, "Don't mention Bu Qianfan and Wan Huayu. Even a few Middle Heavenly Kings in the court are wary of him."
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised and asked, "Even Middle Heavenly Kings are wary of him? Why was he titled the Kill-All King? Is he really that terrifying?"
Huang Yanchen said, "Back then, when the imperial court besieged the Death Zen Sect, the commander of the army was him. The Death Zen Sect spread evil doctrines in the Southern Domain, and billions of human cultivators were deceived, becoming its followers. The number of followers grew like a snowball, rolling larger and larger, and there was a trend of spreading to the Central Domain."
"On that land, the followers deceived by the Death Zen Ancestor all went mad, burning, killing, looting, and causing chaos. According to the Death Zen Sect's doctrine, it was called 'following one's heart's desires,' no longer restraining oneself, doing whatever one wanted. However, when everyone's desires lost their shackles, the entire land turned into hell."
Zhang Ruochen sucked in a breath of cold air, imagining how chaotic the Southern Domain must have been at that time.
He said, "The Death Zen Sect could use Buddhist techniques to control the dead. Only the dead were their most loyal followers."
"That's right. The more people died, the stronger the Death Zen Sect became," Huang Yanchen said.
Faced with such a predicament, even Zhang Ruochen found it troublesome.
If the imperial army wanted to besiege the Death Zen Sect, they would first have to clash with the billions of deceived followers. Those followers were almost all ordinary humans who had lost their reason. Reasoning with them was clearly impossible. Moreover, many Death Zen Sect experts were hiding among the ordinary followers.
If a soft-hearted commander had been in charge, the result would likely have been the complete annihilation of the imperial army.
But the Kill-All King was clearly not a soft-hearted person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have such a title.
Zhang Ruochen had already guessed and asked, "What did the Kill-All King do?"
"In one night, the Kill-All King led the imperial army to massacre nineteen commanderies in the Southern Domain. Wherever they passed, the ground was covered with bones, not a single living person left. They eventually attacked the Death Zen Sect's headquarters, severely wounding the sect and forcing it to retreat overseas," Huang Yanchen said.
Zhang Ruochen sucked in another breath of cold air, feeling a chill all over his body. "Nineteen commanderies? How many humans does that amount to? It must be in the billions."
"That night, the Empress issued three consecutive orders to stop the slaughter. But the Kill-All King only replied, 'When the general is in the field, he may refuse the emperor's orders.'"
"Since the founding of the First Central Empire, he was the first person to defy the Empress's will."
Huang Yanchen continued, "After that battle, the Kill-All King was imprisoned in the heavenly prison for one hundred and eighty years. After being released, his cultivation actually advanced by leaps and bounds. Returning to the military camp, he led the army to campaign in the wild barbarian secret realm. In just ten years, he drove the barbarian beasts back step by step, expanding the First Central Empire's territory by a million li. And on that land, he established nineteen commanderies."
Zhang Ruochen stared at the red-robed figure standing in the black clouds and said, "Ye Bei, the Kill-All King. In the dark of night, he kills all. The Empress must value this man greatly. Otherwise, slaughtering nineteen commanderies in one night would have long since led to his execution."
"To maintain the long-term stability of the First Central Empire, the Empress certainly needs such a figure to intimidate the world," Huang Yanchen said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "You seem to understand her quite well."
Huang Yanchen turned her crystal-clear, snow-white face and met Zhang Ruochen's eyes, smiling, "Haven't you always wanted to cultivate someone like that?"
The appearance of the Kill-All King even made a strange expression flash across Zhongying Wang's eyes.
Zhongying Wang sneered, "The Thunder Division Heavenly King and the Kill-All King appearing together shows that the imperial court is truly determined this time. But don't forget, since I can appear here, the old experts from Zu Longshan and Jiuli Palace must also be hiding nearby."
The Thunder Division Heavenly King was very aggressive, saying, "If they appear, we'll just cut them down directly."
Qing Mo tugged at Zhang Ruochen's sleeve and whispered, "Soon, there will definitely be a terrifying battle here. It's a fight among gods. We should run away quickly, or we won't even have a chance to escape later."
Zhang Ruochen nodded. He didn't want to stay here long either. Even if a supreme treasure really appeared, it wasn't something they could compete for.
However, just as Zhang Ruochen and the others were about to leave, the ice beneath their feet began to shake violently. More precisely, the entire Glacier Continent was shaking.
With a crack, the ice beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet shattered.
The crack widened, turning into a glacial chasm that extended thousands of li away.
The entire Glacier Continent split in two.
"Boom."
Fiery red flames and light mist burst out from the bottom of the chasm.
Following that, this Glacier Continent shattered again, breaking into dozens of pieces.
A fiery red strange bird soared up from the center of the Glacier Continent's collapse. Originally, its wingspan was only three chi when spread, but after flying into the sky, it increased by more than ten thousand times.
"It has escaped after all."
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sky. His entire field of vision was occupied by the strange bird's body. He could only see flame feathers as huge as mountains, unable to see the sky or the bird's full form.
(Chapter End)