As the saying goes, when a wall is about to collapse, everyone lends a push.
The Scarlet Cauldron Imperial Family had ruled the Scarlet Cauldron Empire for countless years. The Scarlet Cauldron Emperor's word had always been law within the empire, his authority absolute.
Yet after this series of catastrophes, the emperor's actions had only deepened the people's disappointment.
And now, those negative emotions had finally reached a breaking point in the hearts of those gathered, erupting all at once.
When people are driven to despair, they can unleash an unimaginable frenzy.
The martial world was not like a mundane empire where loyalty to the sovereign ran deep. In the martial world, self-interest ultimately ruled.
The Scarlet Cauldron Emperor had never been particularly beloved, and now everyone believed he had brought ruin upon the Scarlet Cauldron Empire. Pushed by this wave of resentment, they finally snapped.
A handful of heavily brainwashed diehards still tried to restrain the mob, but they were quickly swallowed by the surging tide.
"Seize him! Seize that cursed wretch and hand him over to Young Lord
"The Yan Family has been committing atrocities across the Scarlet Cauldron Central Domain for far too long — they should have been toppled long ago! If not for them, how would we ever have ended up in this situation?"
"Exactly! They were happy to serve as lapdogs for the Eternal Immortal Domains, yet they dragged us all down with them! Why should we pay for their sins? Let's go — all of us!"
"Onward!"
The surging crowd poured like a flood toward the inner palace.
The imperial guards panicked, shouting one after another: "Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!"
The imperial guards were brainwashed from the moment they were born — their minds held nothing but the emperor. They lived for the emperor and would die for the emperor.
Though few in number, the imperial guards were all martial elites of formidable strength.
When word spread of the unrest inside the palace, the imperial soldiers stationed outside abandoned the outer defenses and rushed inward to suppress the uprising.
In an instant, chaos engulfed the entire palace — chickens flew, dogs howled, and screams echoed through every corridor.
Jiang Chen's forces hadn't even breached the gates yet, and already the palace was awash in rivers of blood.
The Scarlet Cauldron Emperor, chased and assaulted by his own ministers, flushed crimson with rage and roared: "Kill! Kill these traitorous rebels!"
"Not a single one left — kill them all! These nation-destroying vermin! They've sat on their positions doing nothing but suck the empire dry, and now, at the critical moment, not only can they fail to ease my burdens, but they dare stir up rebellion?"
The emperor seethed with fury. He couldn't defeat the Jiang Chen outside, but surely he could deal with these insurgents?
When an emperor raged, rivers of blood would flow.
"Your Majesty, perhaps a show of force would suffice?" a deputy commander of the guards whispered cautiously. "If you kill them all, who will the empire rely on in the future?"
Bang!
The Scarlet Cauldron Emperor struck the deputy commander with a single punch, sending him flying.
"You beast — and you presume to advise me? Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to tell me what to do? The empire? What empire? Once those formations break, every last one of us dies!"
"Better for me to deliver them to their deaths than to let those outsiders do it! Hahaha — the food they eat, the clothes they wear, everything they have — it all comes from me! If I want them to live, they live. If I want them to die, they must die! They will all die!" The emperor was mad with fury, his face twisted into a ghastly mask.
His hair hung in wild tangles, his face and clothes streaked with blood. He gripped a long sword and slashed at anyone who crossed his path. The Scarlet Cauldron Emperor's martial cultivation was extraordinary — within the empire, aside from the Yan Family's ancestor, virtually no one could match his strength.
When he struck to kill, how many of the ministers could possibly stand against him?
Just as the carnage inside reached its peak, a tremendous boom suddenly echoed from the formations outside — BOOM!
The entire palace seemed to shudder, as though the earth itself were trembling beneath their feet.
The Scarlet Cauldron Emperor's body seized. His pupils contracted sharply as he stared fixedly toward the outside, a single, desperate thought flashing through his mind: "The formations — they're broken?"
The realization struck him like lightning, and he charged madly toward the inner palace.
The inner palace was where the imperial family lived. Adult princes were required to leave and establish their own estates outside, but the women and children all resided in the palace's rear quarters.
Of course, the Scarlet Cauldron Emperor was well past his prime and had no young sons.
He burst into the inner palace, only to be met by a cluster of concubines, their faces pale with terror, huddled together. Spotting the emperor, they rushed toward him in a panic.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! What's happening?"
A frenzied glint flashed in the emperor's eyes. Without hesitation, he swung his sword.
The blade flashed. The concubines at the front were cleaved in two, their severed bodies collapsing into a pool of blood. Cut clean in half, they did not die immediately — their hands scrabbled desperately against the ground as they tried to stand, only to discover that everything below the waist was already gone.
One by one, their eyes filled with confusion and despair.