Chapter 239: Did You See Clearly, Woman?

"It's quite lively today. I didn't expect the two major rebel organizations—the Revolutionary Army and the Seven Deadly Sins—to show up one after another. It seems this King can wipe you all out in one fell swoop."

King Chi remained entirely unconcerned, uncaring about the appearance of the Seven Deadly Sins. In her eyes, no matter how many figures like Specter showed up, the result would be exactly the same.

Su Mu calmly raised his eyes and glanced at the magnificent King Chi, a faint smile curling his lips. Rumors really couldn't be trusted. Legend had it that the Seven Kings were known as the seven Gold Kings primarily because they relied on their Royal Power Artifacts. But looking at her now, it was clear that even without a Royal Power Artifact, the Seven Kings were still the Seven Kings.

Her strength seemed to have completely transcended Gold, stepping into an entirely different realm.

However, he ignored the supremely confident King Chi. Instead, he turned toward the battered Specter and asked, "How much is your life worth?"

King Chi arched a slender brow, her gaze darkening.

Specter froze. He naturally understood Pride's implication, but... with King Chi standing right there, could Pride really save him?

Taking a deep breath, he said solemnly, "If Your Excellency Pride can truly save me, I will give you anything the Revolutionary Army possesses."

Su Mu smiled faintly. "Very well. The Seven Deadly Sins will guarantee your life."

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere plummeted to freezing. Shock was written across everyone's faces. Pride's arrogance was well known throughout the Chiyan Empire, but they never imagined he would be quite this brazen.

Against a trap meticulously laid by the Royal Family, and in the very presence of King Chi—one of the Seven Kings—was there truly anyone in this world who dared to speak such words?

Suddenly, King Chi laughed. Her smile was steeped in endless chill. "This King would very much like to see just how a rat like you—someone who scurries in the shadows and only dares to show up as an illusion—intends to save a man right in front of this King."

Even with his true nature exposed by King Chi at a glance, Su Mu didn't panic in the slightest. A contemptuous chuckle drifted from beneath his Silver-White Mask. "Then you'd best watch closely, woman. Don't blink..."

At the same time, Su Mu's voice echoed in Specter's mind through a mental link.

"Open your mind. Do not resist in the slightest."

Specter's heart skipped a beat, but he complied without hesitation. That was the advantage of dealing with a smart man; even if he couldn't fathom how Pride intended to save him, he was already backed into a lethal corner. He had no choice but to place his trust in him.

Thus, a second later, a bizarre scene unfolded right under the watchful eyes of the crowd and King Chi. Specter's figure began to turn transparent, as if vanishing into thin air.

King Chi's eyes chilled as she struck with lightning speed. A streak of golden flame pierced through space, manifesting directly in front of Specter. Yet no matter how fiercely the golden fire blazed, Specter seemed to exist in entirely another world, completely detached from reality.

Just like that, as King Chi looked on, Specter completely disappeared, pulled directly into the dreamscape by Su Mu.

"Pride!" King Chi's low snarl was like a piercingly cold wind, sending shudders through everyone present. Her long black hair billowed around her, and golden flames ignited within her icy, starlike eyes.

A terrifying pressure rolled outward. The temperature in the square skyrocketed in an instant, and even the earth began to turn crimson. Many heavily injured prisoners began to scream in agony as they were roasted by the blistering heat.

"Heh." Su Mu chuckled softly and asked calmly, "Did you see clearly, woman?"

Boom!

A pillar of golden fire violently erupted from beneath Su Mu's feet. This flame felt potent enough to scorch the spirit, and the illusionary clone Su Mu had created using Myriad Phenomena was instantly incinerated.

However, he could conjure as many of those clones as he pleased.

Once the golden flames dissipated, Su Mu's figure materialized out of thin air once again, completely unscathed.

"Didn't see it clearly? Then watch again."

Su Mu casually snapped his fingers. Within the crowd, the heavily bound and unconscious Yang Dongqing also began to bizarrely fade away.

This time, King Chi was thoroughly enraged. The piercing cry of a phoenix resounded through heaven and earth, and a massive phantom of a phoenix, bathed entirely in golden fire, slowly rose behind her.

The temperature in the square climbed higher and higher, transforming the space into a raging furnace. Agonized screams echoed one after another, and even the black curse runes etched into the surrounding walls began to show signs of melting.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" an elder cried out in alarm, terrified that King Chi's fury would reduce the area to ash.

At that moment, Gongsun Quan, who had remained silent up until now, spoke up. "Your Majesty, Pride's true body isn't here. Use the Dark Nightmare Talisman!"

Hearing Gongsun Quan's words, King Chi managed to rein in her temper slightly. The flames wreathing her body dissipated. From within the wide folds of her phoenix robes, she withdrew a pitch-black wooden tablet. Countless tiny human faces were carved across its surface, looking like screaming phantoms.

Staring at the tablet, a flicker of complicated emotion flashed through King Chi's eyes. "I had intended to save this to deal with that bastard, the Undead King. To think I would be forced to use it against you today."

"Your Majesty, to fend off foreign threats, we must first pacify the interior. Pride's true strength is unknown and his motives are obscure, but his ambitions are undoubtedly massive. He is colluding with both the Revolutionary Army and the Blood Moon Empire. If this man isn't eliminated, the Empire will never know a day of peace," Gongsun Quan stated decisively.

While others might overlook Pride's potential threat, he saw it with crystal clarity. The Empire's other enemies could all be tracked and traced, but the Seven Deadly Sins had seemingly sprung out of thin air. Furthermore, their leader, Pride, was elusive, and no one knew his true identity.

Most crucially, the man always maintained an arrogant posture—as if he looked down on everything in existence. Even after the Empire deployed Supreme Heaven, Pride remained as rampant as ever.

Even the Blood Moon Empire hadn't dared to make any reckless moves out of fear of Supreme Heaven. Just where was Pride getting his courage from?

He didn't believe that such a powerhouse would be mindlessly arrogant. He had to be relying on something. Sometimes, an unknown enemy was the most terrifying enemy of all.

Listening to Gongsun Quan's words, King Chi also made her decision. Her pale hand raised the wooden tablet.

The next moment, countless vengeful spirits formed from black qi flew out of the tablet, surging madly toward Su Mu.

Su Mu narrowed his eyes slightly. Was it really a soul attack?

The moment he heard that the Dark Nightmare Talisman was meant for the Undead King, he had guessed as much. The Undead King possessed an Undying Body, and his only weakness was his soul. This was a flaw shared by the entire Blood Clan; the longer a member of the Blood Clan lived, the more fragile their soul became.

Therefore, the Dark Nightmare Talisman was inevitably targeted at the soul.

However, the last thing he feared was a soul attack. Leaving aside his dreamscape abilities, the Divinity of the Three Gods contained within his soul was enough to handle any soul attack beneath the God tier.

Want to obliterate my soul? Better ask the Three Gods if they agree to it first!

With the appearance of the vengeful spirits, the square that had just been roasted by golden fire was instantly plunged into a freezing chill. These shrieking spirits possessed no physical form, composed entirely of dense black qi. They looked like streaks of black smoke, except the tip of each streak was a pale, hideous human face!

Completely ignoring spatial distance, they arrived in an instant, surging madly into Su Mu's illusionary body.