Chapter 223

A strange glint flashed through the eyes of the man sitting atop the golden wheel, but it quickly vanished. Instead, he put on a pained expression.

“You even dared to imprison the Dragon Lord’s soul here!” he said in righteous fury, glancing at the dragon soul on the ground before turning to glare at everyone with an air of indignation. “The mortal realm truly grows bolder by the day. Dragon Lord, rest assured—justice will be done for you!”

“Justice, my ass! Who asked you to speak for me? I don’t need anyone to avenge me—I’m perfectly fair!”

Before Yun Jiao could respond, Little Yellow exploded first, roaring furiously, “Zhu Yan! Since when were we close? Don’t you dare drag me into your schemes! You think I don’t know how many lies you’ve told about me in front of the Emperor?”

Even in death, this bastard still wanted to use him as an excuse for his plotting!

“The Dragon Lord speaks thus only because he is being coerced,” Zhu Yan ignored the denial completely, turning instead to the other immortals.

“No need to hold back—save the Dragon Lord’s soul at once!”

“Yes, sir!”

The moment the command left his lips, four or five immortals flew out from his side, diving straight down.

“Damn it, Zhu Yan, you bastard! You’re still trying to harm me!” Little Yellow’s entire body trembled with rage. He looked nervously at Yun Jiao, hurriedly explaining,

“Immortal, you have to believe me! I—I really didn’t—”

“Move.”

Yun Jiao didn’t waste time on him. She directly summoned the dragon soul back into a talisman, then stepped forward to adjust the eye of the mountain’s protective array. Ever since Little Yellow’s arrival, she had reworked the entire formation—it could now activate automatically, and she had shifted the array’s core from the main hall to the outer grounds for better control.

High above, the attacking immortals unleashed even stronger spells than before.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Their attacks rained down relentlessly, but every strike was swallowed instantly by the protective barrier. The mountain array shimmered, and in the next breath, the rebound spell activated, returning every single attack with twice the force.

The immortals were caught off guard. Unable to dodge in time, several were injured, and the rest behind them were shaken by the backlash. A few others tried to take their place, but no matter what spells they cast, they couldn’t breach the barrier—they were completely shut out.

Continuing would only hurt themselves. The battle stalled into a tense deadlock.

Zhu Yan frowned and signaled his subordinates to stop attacking. His narrowed eyes locked on Hall Master Xu in the center, his tone low and cold.

“You think hiding behind that barrier will save you? Do you even realize this is no longer about a single dragon?”

“What do you mean by that?” Hall Master Xu’s heart sank with a heavy sense of foreboding.

Zhu Yan gave a soft, mocking laugh.

“The Dragon Clan of the Upper Realm is of supreme nobility. All four Celestial Emperors are of dragon blood. And you dared to strike down one of their kin? Even if others let this go, my Southern Celestial Court will not suffer such an insult.”

As he finished speaking, a crushing wave of pressure surged forth.

Though most of it was blocked by the mountain array, some still leaked through, pressing on everyone like a mountain.

Hall Master Xu gritted his teeth, gathering all his spiritual power just to stay standing. Even so, his knees nearly buckled beneath the sheer weight. A grim realization settled in his heart—this man was terrifyingly strong, far stronger than the dragon from before.

With such overwhelming power, the Xuanmen’s current strength stood no chance. Worse still, hundreds of immortals floated above—if this turned into a prolonged battle, even the protective array might not hold.

Zhu Yan was cunning. He didn’t even mention the Soul Origin Pearl, instead seizing on Feng Yi’s death to escalate the conflict. In just a few words, he had turned a small matter into a confrontation between the two realms.

Now the truth no longer mattered. Regardless of how justified they were, this would still be seen as the event that triggered war between the Immortal and Mortal Realms—after all, the dragon had died here.

Frustration burned through Hall Master Xu. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to speak.

“Does the Immortal Lord know the reason we acted? It was because he—”

“The reason does not concern me,” Zhu Yan cut him off coldly. “You mortals dared to offend a Dragon Lord, bringing about his death, while you stand here unharmed. This concerns the honor of the Upper Realm. No matter the reason, you owe us an explanation—or else where lies the might of Heaven? Where lies the Dao itself?”

“What Heaven’s might? What Dao? That’s all bullshit!”

Squad Leader Jiao couldn’t take it anymore. “You immortals think you can bully whoever you want, but mortals aren’t allowed to fight back? That dragon murdered countless innocents, using their souls to forge that cursed Soul Origin Pearl. Even their spirits found no peace! And when we fought back, you come here acting like victims, demanding justice? Where was that justice when your kind slaughtered mortals?!”

“Heh…”

Zhu Yan’s cold laugh echoed through the air. His pressure grew heavier still. He swept his gaze over the furious crowd, speaking with arrogant disdain.

“Immortals of the Upper Realm are eternal, divine beings—how could we be compared to you lowly mortals? To harm a Dragon Lord is a grave sin. If you refuse to submit, does that mean…” His eyes narrowed to slits, the contempt in his voice thickening.

“…you intend to challenge the Heavens themselves? To wage war against the Celestial Court?”

“You—!”

Jiao Heng was furious. The implication was clear—if they didn’t yield, the immortals would declare war on the entire mortal realm, wiping it out completely.

The others realized this too. Shock rippled through them as they stared at the immortals above.

They were not afraid to fight—but what of the countless ordinary people below? Zhu Yan’s threat wasn’t against the Xuanmen alone—it was against every innocent soul in the world. It was nothing short of blackmail.

All the sect masters trembled with rage. But the worst part was… he could do it. Even if they sacrificed the entire Heavenly Master Hall, they might stop these few hundred immortals—but afterward? The Celestial Realm held far more than that. If a true war broke out, the mortal realm would be left defenseless, and destruction would be inevitable.

Hall Master Xu took several deep breaths, forcing down his fury. This was no longer about one dragon—Zhu Yan had deliberately magnified it into a two-realm crisis. And Xuanmen had no way to fight back.

“Then what does the Immortal Lord wish of us?” he asked, his tone low and steady.

Zhu Yan smiled—a slow, cruel curve. He had expected this question. Gazing down with supreme arrogance, he finally spoke.

“Since it was your Xuanmen who brought about the Dragon Lord’s death, then let your Xuanmen accompany him in death!”

“What?!”

Not only Hall Master Xu—everyone gasped in shock. He wanted to wipe out their entire sect! From the start, he’d never intended to spare anyone. All that talk had just been to get them to drop the barrier.

“In your dreams!”

“To defy Heaven’s might is to embrace death,” Zhu Yan said with a smirk, his killing intent thick in the air. “Either you open this barrier and surrender—or stay inside and watch as we raze the mortal realm to dust.”

“You still dare call yourselves immortals? Shameless!”

“Hmph! My patience runs thin,” Zhu Yan snapped. “Choose, mortals—will it be your Xuanmen that perishes, or the human world itself?”

He turned his head to the right and sneered.

“Perhaps I’ll start over there.”

With a flick of his wrist, the immortals who had been attacking the array turned toward a small mountain village a few miles away. Their hands flashed in unison, and thousands of golden beams of light shot toward the helpless settlement.

“Stop!”

Everyone shouted in horror as the beams streaked across the sky—

Then, suddenly, a golden incantation appeared from thin air, condensing into a radiant wall of light. It blocked the barrage entirely.

A deep, commanding male voice echoed through the air, calm yet thunderous:

“Who said you could destroy the Xuanmen?!”

(End of Chapter)