"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
The Crimson Cauldron Emperor was a peak Imperial-realm powerhouse, yet before he had even clashed with the enemy, he had already coughed up a mouthful of old blood. How could this not throw his ministers into utter chaos?
This was the prelude to a rout before battle had even begun.
"Your Majesty, please restrain your grief and take care of yourself!"
"Your Majesty, the empire needs you. The rise and fall of the empire rests entirely upon your shoulders!"
The ministers were in a panic. They had long grown accustomed to a life of luxury and privilege, enjoying the highest-grade resources and treatment the Crimson Cauldron Empire could offer.
All of it depended on the ruling system they had built. And the core of that system was the Crimson Cauldron imperial family. The core of the imperial family, in turn, was the Emperor himself—the pillar upon which everything stood.
If the Crimson Cauldron Emperor collapsed, then all their wealth, glory, and honor would lose their guarantee overnight.
In truth, they no longer even had the bandwidth to think about wealth and glory. A terrible enemy stood at their gates. If the Emperor fell, the entire Crimson Cauldron Empire would crumble like a tree torn from its roots, scattering its monkeys in every direction.
After that, they would be harvested one by one, like stalks of wheat beneath a blade.
They were perfectly willing to invade others, to trespass onto foreign lands, to seize other people's resources and satisfy their own desires. But when the tables turned and it was their turn to face such a fate—they simply could not accept it.
Elder Guo scrambled forward on hands and knees, throwing himself before the Crimson Cauldron Emperor. "Your Majesty…"
The Emperor kicked him away once more and bellowed, "What are all of you doing? I am not dead—nor shall I die!"
Despite his deathly pale complexion and the murderous gleam in his eyes, coughing up that mouthful of blood had actually settled something in his chest. His qi had been momentarily scattered, but the act of spitting the blood had paradoxically restored his clarity.
It was only a momentary lapse. The Crimson Cauldron Emperor had already wrested himself free from the agony of losing his son.
"Pass my decree—activate the palace's defensive formation at full power! Defend to the last! So long as the Crimson Cauldron Empire endures this trial, we shall rise again!"
Having regained his composure, the Emperor's gaze turned as venomous as that of a viper. He stared into the distant sky, his eyes fixed upon the void beyond.
"Young brat—you killed my son, and I will make you pay a hundredfold!" The flames of hatred blazed within the Crimson Cauldron Emperor's heart.
Once his rationality returned, he also understood that charging out to meet the enemy head-on would likely end in disaster. By leveraging the Crimson Cauldron Middle Domain's defensive formations and his advantage in manpower, he might still be able to hold on.
In this situation, all he could do was gamble.
Gamble that the palace's defensive formation was formidable enough. Gamble that the Yan family's old ancestor could launch a surprise attack and take Jiang Chen down. Gamble that once the Imperishable Celestial Capital and Pill Fire City received word, they would step in to intervene!
The Crimson Cauldron Emperor had made up his mind. If he survived this catastrophe, he would kneel without hesitation before Pill Fire City and become their running dog if that was what it took.
He had finally seen the truth. The Imperishable Celestial Capital may have been a powerful backer, but in the face of Glazed Royal City, they were ultimately still the weaker party.
As for this matter, the Emperor refused to believe that the Imperishable Celestial Capital had not received advance notice. Yet they had not so much as made a peep of acknowledgment.
"Your old Imperial Majesty…" Jiao Yun's mocking voice drifted once more from the void above. "They say the blood of emperors runs cold. Your own son dies right before your eyes, and you can just sit there and watch. Fine—there are still eight more members of your royal family up here. I'll kill them one by one, and we'll see just how long it takes before that iron heart of yours feels even a twitch!"
Jiao Yun let out a strange, mirthless laugh, and his blade swept through the air once more.
Another corpse of a royal family member tumbled from the clouds, and the severed head was tossed directly into the inner court of the palace.
Every one of these royals had come from an illustrious lineage.
The sight of royal family members being dropped from the sky in an endless stream, their bodies and heads separated, sent shockwaves through the imperial household itself.
"Your Majesty—these are all elite members of the royal family! You cannot simply sit by and do nothing!"
"If this continues, we won't even need them to strike—the Yan clan will have destroyed itself."
"Your Majesty…"
Even those within the imperial household had begun applying emotional pressure on the Crimson Cauldron Emperor. They were all kin of the Yan royal bloodline—close relatives by clan. When the members of the imperial household turned to emotional appeals, even the Emperor found it difficult to withstand.
"Silence, all of you!" the Emperor snarled. "My Crown Prince and two Princes have already given their lives for the empire. As members of the imperial clan, do you have not even the slightest willingness to sacrifice? What do you want me to do now? Step out in their place? Go die so they can come back?"
The moment the Crimson Cauldron Emperor erupted in fury, the clan members no longer dared to push further. One after another, they hastily declared that they would never dare—but inwardly, they were far from convinced.