"Yes." The Human Emperor nodded meekly, completely stripped of his former lofty air. With the Sacred Tree's support revoked and his own strength lacking, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and play the obedient grandson.
Still, doubts gnawed at him. Who was Qing? Could it refer to the Sacred Tree? But if so, why had he never known about it?
"Leave,"
The Human Emperor followed close behind, matching his every step.
As they emerged from the mist and re-entered the palace, the clamor of fierce combat immediately assailed their ears, punctuated by bursts of agonized screams and furious roars.
"A real spectacle." Yang Kai swept his gaze across the scene and found bodies strewn across the ground in every direction. Nine-tenths of the more than twenty princes and princesses were sprawled on the ground, most with broken arms or legs. A few looked gravely wounded, pools of blood spreading around them—it was impossible to tell whether they were still alive.
As for the guards who had been watching over the Sacred Tree, roughly half had been knocked out of commission as well. High in the sky, a crimson dragon spanning thirty zhang coiled between heaven and earth, unleashing searing dragon breath and intricate dragon bloodline techniques that sent the scurrying humans scrambling in all directions.
The Human Emperor's jaw dropped, shock written plain across his face.
He had always known dragons were not to be trifled with, but he never imagined they could be this powerful.
He had mustered virtually every strong fighter he could mobilize to this place, yet they still couldn't so much as scratch a single dragon. Instead, the casualties were mounting by the second. And the situation in the sky looked no better—though the red dragon was massive and an obvious target, every one of its attacks carried terrifying force. Any fighter who managed to land even one blow was either dead or crippled.
In the blink of an eye, two more Emperor Realm cultivators were clipped by dragon breath and plummeted from the sky, their bodies engulfed in flames.
"Stop! All of you, stop!" the Human Emperor bellowed.
The remaining princes, princesses, and guards who could still move immediately pulled back, putting distance between themselves and
Something was wrong. Yang Kai was standing in front of the Human Emperor, and the once-imperious ruler was lingering three paces behind him like an attendant, his expression more anxious than any of them had ever seen.
"Father Emperor!" the Second Princess cried out. She was at the second level of the Emperor Realm—the strongest among all the princes and princesses—and had been tangled up with the little black dog rather than confronting Zhu Qing directly, so her injuries were relatively minor. Still, she cut a sorry figure: her clothes were torn to shreds, revealing flashes of skin beneath. She stared at the Human Emperor in bewilderment, desperate to ask what on earth was going on, but the words wouldn't come.
"Insolent wretches!" the Human Emperor roared without warning, his voice thundering so abruptly that everyone flinched. "These two distinguished guests are my honored visitors! You were supposed to treat them with the utmost courtesy, yet you raised your hands against them? What manner of behavior is this? You've made a complete mockery of my authority!"
The hall fell deathly silent. The Second Princess felt her head spin.
Had she heard that correctly? They had attacked entirely on the Human Emperor's orders, combining their forces to subdue the dragon. Yet in the span of a single breath, her father had spun an entirely different story. Was this even the same Human Emperor?
The Third Prince, quick-witted as ever, hastily dropped to one knee. "Father Emperor, please calm your anger! We merely sparred out of idle eagerness—there was no intent to offend our guests."
"Sparred?" The Human Emperor's face darkened. He stole a glance at Yang Kai, and seeing that the young man wore an utterly indifferent expression, he raised his hand and slapped the Third Prince across the chest.
The blow sent the Third Prince flying backward, blood spraying from his mouth in midair.
"You call that sparring?" the Human Emperor thundered. "Ganging up on a guest? You've thoroughly shamed our royal bloodline!"
Ignoring his injuries, the Third Prince scrambled back to his knees, trembling. "Father Emperor, please forgive us—we were wrong!"
"We were wrong!"
Every prince, princess, and guard dropped to their knees in unison, including the two third-level Emperor Realm cultivators. Such a scene would have been unthinkable anywhere else. Third-level Emperor Realm experts—towering figures who could command winds and summon rains in the outside world—kneeling before someone of lower cultivation? Impossible.
But within the Human Emperor's City, it was an everyday occurrence.
"Offending my guests, starting a brawl, and you think a simple apology will do?" The Human Emperor's face was cold as iron, his tone leaving no room for appeal. "It seems you've grown too comfortable in your peaceful little lives. You've forgotten that there are always greater heavens beyond the heavens, and greater people above all people."
The Second Princess opened her mouth, apparently about to speak, but a single glare from the Human Emperor silenced her. The grievance burned inside her like a smoldering coal.
In the Human Emperor's City, the royal family was heaven itself. What greater heavens beyond the heavens? What greater people above all people?
"This bunch of blind fools had the audacity to lay hands on your lady," the Human Emperor continued, turning to Yang Kai with an earnest expression. "How would you like them punished? Killing them, flaying them—say the word and I will not interfere."
The crowd listened in stunned silence, every last one of them rooted to the spot like a wooden puppet. Even the Third Prince, who had already suspected something, was utterly dumbfounded. He had never imagined the Human Emperor would treat an outsider with such deference—going so far as to humiliate himself.
What on earth had happened inside that chamber? Why had the Human Emperor's attitude shifted so dramatically? For him to even refer to himself as "old man"…
Though he couldn't fathom the specifics, the Third Prince had a sinking feeling that something extraordinary must have occurred. Otherwise, the Human Emperor would never have groveled like this.
Yang Kai let out a soft scoff, then looked up toward the graceful figure in the sky and called out, "Qing'er, are you hurt?"
Zhu Qing had already reverted to her human form. She shook her head slowly at his question.
If she hadn't been a dragon, facing so many powerful enemies would have made a clean escape impossible. But in her true dragon form, her defenses were extraordinary—she hadn't even been disadvantaged fighting alone against many. Though she had taken a number of hits, not a single one had left a wound.
Yang Kai smiled, then turned back to the Human Emperor. "Then there's no issue. It was nothing more than a friendly spar."