Chapter 720: Successive Victories

The emperors of the strongest empires would be able to take on a Boundless Immortal, at least for a time. Although Dazheng wasn't quite at that level yet, its citizens were unusually loyal to its monarch. With almost 80% of the citizens lending their might, Dazheng's imperial might was no inferior to that from the strongest empires.

He sent Yuan Wudi flying once again. Yuan Wudi was bruised and bleeding all over.

"Impossible. Impossible!" Yuan Wudi howled.

He slammed his rod down with overwhelming strength.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed. He met the rod with a punch. "Hegemon's Fist!"

Thousands of punches concentrated on one spot: the tip of Yuan Wudi's rod. Flames surged across the length of the rod as the golden fists struck the rod one after another. The rod shattered into powder, and blood and skin exploded from Yuan Wudi's hands.

"Impossible!" Yuan Wudi exclaimed, howling in shock.

"Hegemon's Fist!" Xiao Nanfeng leapt forward and struck Yuan Wudi in the abdomen.

"No!" Yuan Wudi bellowed.

A tremendous impact shattered Yuan Wudi's bones.

He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as he was sent flying.

How could he have lost so badly? This was impossible!"

"Hegemon's Fist!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted again.

Countless fists rained down on Yuan Wudi like a meteor shower, each boasting tremendous power. Yuan Wudi looked up in despair.

"Flee!" Yuan Wudi shouted.

He turned and ran. Fists struck his back, drenching it in blood. Even so, without any hesitation, Yuan Wudi ran off in such a wretched state that all the spectators gaped at the sight.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't give chase. After all, trying to catch up to a fleeing Boundless Immortal was no trivial task.

He turned to the Demon Child and the Taiqing burial pagoda. They had initially been focused on each other, but at some point, they had both turned toward Xiao Nanfeng instead.

They watched on incredulously as Xiao Nanfeng easily took down Yuan Wudi, a Boundless Immortal, an existence who should have been invincible. Even so, Xiao Nanfeng had almost beaten him to death.

"Demon Child, I'll help you take down the Taiqing burial pagoda!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

Li Qianjun's eyes widened in fear. He caused the pagoda to release a burst of scintillating black light that repelled the Demon Child, then zoomed off into the distance.

"Xiao Nanfeng, just you wait. We'll come back and deal with you later!" Li Qianjun yelled.

"Stay right there!" the Demon Child shouted back, chasing after him.

"Don't bother, Demon Child," Xiao Nanfeng commanded.

The Demon Child turned back anxiously. He was clearly reluctant, but having promised to listen to Xiao Nanfeng's orders, he had no choice but to fly back.

"Xiao Nanfeng, we could have taken him down! Your imperial might is really strong. Destroying his Taiqing burial pagoda would be easy!" the Demon Child shouted in frustration.

"I've used up the majority of my imperial might. That was just for show," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The Demon Child: ...

"To take down Yuan Wudi as quickly as possible, I channeled as much of my imperial might as could. Otherwise, I would never have been able to injure Yuan Wudi so easily."

The Demon Child pursed his lips. "I thought you had more strength..."

"I do, enough to have killed Yuan Wudi if he had remained behind—but continuing to fight Li Qianjun would have exposed my trick quickly. We should be satisfied with what we've already achieved," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Very well..." The Demon Child still seemed somewhat upset.

"The war against Hongyue will start soon enough, and you'll be able to fight Li Qianjun again quickly. I'll help you ensure that he doesn't flee then." Xiao Nanfeng patted the Demon Child on the shoulder.

The Demon Child nodded fervently.

"Come on, then. Let's head back." Xiao Nanfeng flew back to the palace in Yongding alongside the Demon Child.

At the same time, in Shenfeng's capital, the Divine Emperor and Tu Jiuniang caused countless mountains to crumble as their attacks struck each other. The resulting shockwaves were so intense that the cultivators in the vicinity were all sent staggering back, blood dripping from their mouths.

A frightening burst of flame caused the candidates participating in the imperial examination to smile in amazement.

"The Divine Emperor's amazing!"

"Tu Jiuniang has been a Boundless Immortal for many years, but she seems to be no match for the Divine Emperor!"

"The Divine Emperor hasn't even invoked her imperial might. Is this her base level of strength?!"

"Shenfeng really does look as though it could ascend into a divine empire at any moment."

Countless cultivators were cheering in excitement.

At the epicenter of the explosion, the Divine Emperor and Tu Jiuniang continued to face off.

"Shroud the skies!" Tu Jiuniang commanded.

Countless white fox's tails appeared out of nowhere, so densely packed they blocked all the sunlight in the vicinity. Frightening waves of pressure drowned the two cultivators.

"Your overconfidence knows no bounds," the Divine Emperor said, shaking her head. She raised a hand toward the heavens. "Divine Rays!"

Countless rays of golden light illuminated the surroundings, raining down like golden blades and chopping off the fox's tails. Tu Jiuniang's domain was rapidly shattering.

"You're the one who rescued Xiao Nanfeng at Taixu, not Ao Canghai!" Tu Jiuniang exclaimed.

Upon sensing the Divine Emperor's aura, she deduced that her initial guess was mistaken.

"Explode!" the Divine Emperor commanded.

The fox's tails that had been chopped off rapidly exploded. The Divine Emperor's blow sent Tu Jiuniang flying.

Tu Jiuniang stabilized herself with no small amount of shock. "You've grown even stronger. How did you break through?!"

The Divine Emperor sneered. "You really like talking nonsense, dont' you?"

She shot forward again at incredible speed, throwing a punch straight at Tu Jiuniang's face.

Tu Jiuniang blanched. She waved a hand, summoning what seemed like a large shelf in front of her. It had seven compartments, each with seven red bells hanging from them. Each bell was as tall as a person, and the whole shelf looked like a wall of red bells. It gave off a tremendous aura as she activated it as quickly as she could.

The bells began to chime, one and all. Sound waves reverberated and manifested in the form of a red aegis of sound that slowly advanced toward the Divine Emperor.

The Divine Emperor's fist struck the aegis in a burst of flame.

"The Bloodbell Aegis? Isn't this the Immortal Emperor of Hongyue's relic? Did he lend it to Tu Jiuniang?"

"It's a Boundless Immortal relic. What fearsome sound waves!"

"Tu Jiuniang has the Bloodbell Aegis—will the Divine Emperor really be able to take her own?"

Countless shouts could be heard from all over.

Tu Jiuniang smiled in excitement. "Come on, then! I'd like to see you try to defend against this relic of mine."

She activated the Bloodbell Aegis again. Following a series of chimes, red sound waves manifested anew in the form of clouds of red fog. Specters draped in red appeared from within the fog and shot toward the Divine Emperor.

"Be careful, Divine Emperor! Those bloodbell specters target and will control your very heart. The Immortal Emperor of Hongyue has taken down many Boundless Immortals with this relic!" a cultivator shouted anxiously from afar.

Tu Jiuniang chuckled. "You won't be able to find an effective defense against these specters.

Countless bloodbell specters shot toward the Divine Emperor, who glanced coldly at Tu Jiuniang. With a wave of her hand, she summoned a golden bell. A resonant aura filled her surroundings.

"The Divine Emperor has a treasure of her own—and it looks strong, too!"

"Could that be a Boundless Immortal relic as well?"

Countless shouts could be heard from all over.

"Hurry!" Tu Jiuniang exclaimed.

She could sense that something was amiss. She infused more and more energy into the Bloodbell Aegis, causing the bloodbell specters to speed up. They were right before the Divine Emperor when she slapped her bell.

The Divine Emperor's bell tolled, sending a wave of golden sound into its surroundings. As that golden wave struck the bloodbell specters, they shrieked and dissipated into dust.

All the red sound waves were destroyed in an instant.

"Impossible. What sort of relic is this?!" Tu Jiuniang exclaimed.

Even the weakest of cultivators could see how strong the Divine Emperor's bell was. It seemed to completely nullify the effects of the Bloodbell Aegis.

"And what would you know?" The Divine Emperor shot forward, her bell trailing behind her. As she got in close proximity, Tu Jiuniang blanched and activated her Bloodbell Aegis again.

The two sound-based relics gave off incredible bursts of light as they struck each other. Flashes of gold and red illuminated the air.

As the Divine Emperor's bell smashed into the Bloodbell Aegis, the blood-colored bells on the shelf began to burst one after another.

A dozen bells exploded simultaneously as the Divine Emperor slammed a palm against Tu Jiuniang's chest. She and her broken relic were sent flying. In mid-air, Tu Jiuniang spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, seemingly grievously injured.

"Could the Divine Emperor have won?" Countless cultivators were shocked by the scene.

They knew that the Divine Emperor was a Boundless Immortal, but no one could have imagined that she would be so strong. Even without drawing on her imperial might, she was able to take down Tu Jiuniang in moments.

Tu Jiuniang stared at the Divine Emperor in panic. She grabbed her broken Bloodbell Aegis and shouted, "Flee!"

She ran off so quickly that the remaining cultivators could only gape in amazement.

No ordinary cultivator could keep up with a Boundless Immortal, after all.

The Divine Emperor seemed to show no sign of giving chase. She watched as the spirit kings attempted to flee alongside Tu Jiuniang.

"You might as well stay!" the Divine Emperor exclaimed.

Her bell tolled once more. Sound waves struck the fleeing spirits, disorienting them and causing them to fall to the ground.

The twelve golden cultivators and a large group of Shenfeng soldiers charged forward. Before long, they returned with all the spirits in tow.

Xia Lan, responsible for ensuring the safety of the examination grounds, was astounded by the turn of events. "The Divine Emperor really is incredibly strong..."

Those candidates who were participating in the imperial examination couldn't help but be thankful that they had made the right decision. They hadn't listened to those idiots' advice about leaving—otherwise, they would have missed out on their one and only opportunity to be part of Shenfeng. They had to make a strong showing of themselves!

"The Divine Emperor is invincible! Long live the Divine Emperor!" a cultivator shouted in excitement.

"The Divine Emperor is invincible! Long live the Divine Emperor!"

The chant quickly echoed throughout Shenfeng's capital.