Chapter 170 - Eternal Joy, Eternal Rest!

Qi Lan looked up, her voice tinged with sorrow and anger. "Below in the Martial Realm, the capital of the Fan Nation was decimated overnight. Millions lost their souls!"

BOOM!

The news hit like a sledgehammer to the heart.

"What..." In front of the Spirit Treasure Palace, Stray Dog's eyes rolled back. He stumbled backward, blood trickling from his eyes, and collapsed.

The Heavenly Realm’s populace was deathly pale. An eerie silence enveloped all.

"Who did this...?” With the Divine Dawn Empress's three words, the heavens trembled.

"Thousands witnessed a black peacock soaring across the sky last night!" Qi Lan declared, her glare fixed on the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor.

"What?!" Countless gazes converged on the black peacock.

Deep down, everyone knew of the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor's penchant for slaughter. Especially during the era when the Ye Royal family ruled the Immortal Empire, he descended whenever he pleased without any forewarning.

Ever since the Divine Dawn Empress had ascended the throne, she'd issued an imperial edict. No matter who sowed chaos in the lower realms, no matter how far away, she vowed to cut them down, ensuring their lineage faced retribution for millennia.

After this decree, the realms indeed experienced an eerie tranquility, and the Demon Continent stayed dormant for several years. The Divine Dawn Empress' benevolence was known to all.

But last night's incident seemed a carefully crafted provocation. To still consider them a bunch of kind, simple-hearted demon friends after this would surely make one's ancestors turn in their graves!

"A million souls!" Yun Xiao's heart skipped a beat, his mind submerged in a tidal wave of rage.

BOOM!

In an instant, the sky above was filled with countless streaks of blood-red thunder, sweeping across the heavens.

"Without evidence, d—" a voice boomed, but before it could finish, they were blasted away.

A bolt of blood-red lightning streaked across the sky, sending both Immortal Empire officials and Demon Saints hurtling through the air.

The young woman in the dragon robe materialized atop the black peacock.

"Divine Dawn, do you like this gift of a million souls?" The Eternal Joy Demon Emperor cawed with gleeful madness, flapping its wings, preparing to flee.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Suddenly, a pale, tiger-striped bell descended from the heavens—the Heavenly Realm Primordial Bell.

DONG!

The tiger-striped bell, pulsating with the might of thunder, slammed onto the black peacock with the weight of a million mountains.

"You!" The Eternal Joy Demon Emperor's face twisted in agony. Its once proud countenance contorted as its wings broke and blood sprayed under the crushing force of the bell. But it wasn't over. In a heartbeat, the bell pinned the black peacock directly onto a matrix of lightning and flames.

BOOM!

The entire Heavenly Realm trembled.

CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE!

The Eternal Joy Demon Emperor's body and head were trapped inside the bell, its dark feathers protruding outside. A myriad of thunderbolts and flames burned within the bell, roasting the peacock as if it were in a cauldron. This injury was far more severe than any before.

"Divine Dawn! Beware of your recklessness!" the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor screeched, fighting ferociously. The Heavenly Realm's Bell shivered under its power, showing signs of breaking, a testament to its strength.

BOOM!

Before its cries could subside, the young girl, robed in a garment resembling swirling thunderstorms, appeared behind it. Her magic summoned an arm made of blood-red lightning, over a hundred feet in length. A colossal hand that shadowed the skies!

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Her eyes sparked with lightning, her face void of emotion. Swinging that arm, she opened her fingers and abruptly seized one of the black peacock's dark tail feathers.

"Release me!" The Eternal Joy Demon Emperor trembled, its face paling.

"Your Majesty, think thrice! There's still time to reconsider!" the Grand Temple Sage shouted in despair.

"Cease, or more will perish!" another voice, righteous and cold, boomed.

Their pleas barely registered when furious shouts erupted from below.

"Annihilate this contemptible demon!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

These were the voices of the Immortal Empire!

"Divine Dawn!" The Eternal Joy Demon Emperor's warning scream pierced the air as its wings battered the insides of the Heavenly Realm Primordial Bell.

Amidst the watchful eyes, the young girl remained indifferent, god-like.

CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE!

SPUTTER!

With a swift pull, blood spurted everywhere!

The blood-red lightning arm had forcefully yanked out a blood-streaked peacock feather!

After witnessing this, the Grand Temple Sage coughed up blood. There were cold laughs, stunned silences, and exultant cheers from the crowd.

"Ha... ha... ha..." In the throes of pain, the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor laughed, a wild, unrestrained laughter. "Excellent! Perfect!"

Perfect? The Divine Dawn Empress didn’t stop. This time, her blood-red lightning arm gripped a handful of tail feathers.

SPUTTER SPUTTER SPUTTER!

Blood sprayed everywhere! One after another, feathers were ripped out! All ninety-nine of them!

The Eternal Joy Demon Emperor, which had started off smirking, could only howl and scream by the end. Drenched in its own blood, its agonized state was a sight many would remember for a lifetime.

This was one of the Five Great Demon Emperors of the Demon Continent! Yet here he was, pinned by a fifteen-year-old girl and plucked bare as a chicken!

The officials from the Immortal Empire, including Grand Temple Sage, watched in horror. Their heads swam in a cold sweat, eyes bulging out of sockets, lamenting the heavens and cursing the earth. Their fingers trembled with shock.

"It's over! Utterly over!" The Grand Temple Sage's vision blurred, almost fainting from the sight.

WHACK!

The final feather, blood-eyed and elegant, was ruthlessly plucked by the Divine Dawn Empress! From that moment on, the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor was left completely bald and bloodied.

BOOM!

The Primordial Bell of the Heavenly Realm opened. A blood-red lightning arm reached inside, seizing the black peacock's elongated neck and forcibly dragging him out.

By this point, the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor looked pitiful, burned to a crisp, eyes bloodshot, wings broken, and legs shattered. Pitiful? That was an understatement.

"Heh heh heh..." Despite his dire state, the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor still managed a cold laugh. "You're impressive. But throughout history, humans are mostly cowards and wastes. Only you stand tall, a single girl. You can't bear the weight of this world on your own. Ha ha ha..." he cackled maliciously.

BOOM!

Another titanic arm of thunder grasped the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor's neck. Between the two immense arms, the girl in the dragon robe, her blood-red hair dancing wildly, radiated with an aura of fierce thunder.

"Whether I can bear it isn't for you to decide. That's for me to say!" With that, her eyes focused intently.

"Your Majesty, no!" The Grand Temple Sage dropped to his knees in a panic, banging his head repeatedly on the ground, though it was unclear for whom.

However, just as he knelt, the girl in the sky let out a fierce growl. Both thunderous arms tightened around the black peacock's neck.

"Survival of the fittest! Only the strong shall thrive! We demons will never perish!" The black peacock raised its head, laughing with frenzied fervor. But as its last word echoed, the two thunderous arms pulled apart with a grotesque ripping sound.

RIIIP!

The head of the black peacock was brutally torn off by those thunderous arms! Trachea, esophagus, and spine all came out, attached to the head, as it was ripped from the body. Blood sprayed everywhere, drenching the barriers of the Heavenly Realm. The sizzling sounds filled the air as the blood was scorched by lightning.

The Eternal Joy Demon Emperor's laughter was abruptly cut short.

Above the heavens, the Divine Dawn Empress, with one thunderous arm holding the head and the other dragging its carcass, shone brilliantly, as if a true goddess had descended upon the Heavenly Realm.

With an ear-splitting roar, the entire Heavenly Realm erupted into jubilant cheers.

"Long live our Empress, forever and ever!"

The tidal wave of voices, as overwhelming as a tsunami, echoed again and again throughout the realm. Below the formation of the Heavenly Realm, countless cultivators, faces flushed and eyes tearing up with passion, clenched their fists and shouted at the top of their lungs for the Divine Dawn Empress.

It was a moment destined for the annals of human history. With just one hand, she tore apart the Eternal Joy Demon Emperor—a feat so remarkable, it would leave an indelible mark on history.

"A once-in-an-age divine maiden, unparalleled in her glory!"

The fervent cries resonated through the markets of the Heavenly Realm. Millions of demons roared in fury, while countless humans cried tears of joy. Justice for the souls of a million wronged! If such a deep-seated grudge wasn't avenged immediately, would the hatred dissipate in a few years, lost in the annals of time?

"Little sister, old man..." Stray Dog knelt on the ground, looking up at those ninety-nine feathers, upon which the souls were ascending towards reincarnation, his tears streaming down. Those tears, when paired with the deep-seated enmity against the demons, could only run deeper.

And such suffering was merely the tip of the iceberg for the human race of this land since their defeat. How many more suffered in the unseen corners? Who could truly understand their pain?

After this event, all humans in the land knew who their beacon against calamity was. They gazed at her for what felt like an eternity. Her silhouette etched into their hearts, never to be forgotten for as long as they lived.

Then, as the formation of the Heavenly Realm opened, her graceful figure became even more apparent to all.

"Our Empress!"

The masses continued their fervent shouts.

"Yun Xiao." The Divine Dawn Empress, high above the heavens, suddenly lowered her head. Amid the vast crowd, she sought out a solitary white figure.

With a casual release of her thunderous grip, a peacock's severed head and a headless gigantic corpse plummeted from the sky, landing with a thud on the street right before Yun Xiao's very eyes.