Emperor Ziyu gave a cold, indifferent snort. "Kid, everyone knows you've got a silver tongue, but if you think you can drive a wedge between us, you'd best abandon that notion right now."
Jiang Chen waved his hand dismissively. "I have no need to sow discord. If you stand on Danji's side, then you are destined to be my—Jiang Chen's—enemy."
"Enough!" Emperor Danji bellowed suddenly. "Jiang Chen, I've already shown mercy and released all the others. Now it's just you alone. Do you really think that glib tongue of yours can still turn the tide? If you know what's good for you, surrender immediately."
"Indeed—at this point, if you don't surrender now, when will you?"
"Your Majesty, let me take the vanguard! I'm willing to capture this brat and present him before you."
"Your Majesty, your subordinate is willing to go."
Emperor Danji let out a sinister laugh. "One at a time—don't all rush at once. This brat, I'll handle personally. I want to see for myself just how much weight this so-called genius actually carries—the one who left even
The crowd was somewhat surprised to hear that Emperor Danji intended to act in person.
Long Baxiang immediately called out, "Emperor Danji, don't forget our prior agreement. The
The reason Emperor Danji had been able to recruit the Heavenly Dragon Sect was precisely because he had promised them that True Dragon. He had made significant concessions regarding the division of spoils.
Otherwise, the Heavenly Dragon Sect would never have allowed themselves to be directed by Emperor Danji.
Emperor Danji cursed inwardly. Long Baxiang was truly a killjoy—whatever shameful or unspeakable matter there was, the man loved to air it out in the open, making even the dignified overlord of Pill Fire City blush.
The enemy hadn't even been captured yet, and they were already discussing how to divide the spoils—somewhat embarrassing, to say the least.
The Master of Tiandu was not to be outdone. "My Imperishable Tiandu wants the formula for the Myriad Longevity Pill."
The Emperor-realm expert from Celestial Sound Temple added, "My Celestial Sound Temple merely wants the formula for an Imperial Ascension Pill. Surely that isn't too much to ask?"
Only the Palace Master of Heavenly River Palace said nothing at all. However, his flickering gaze made it clear that he too placed great importance on this distribution of spoils.
It was simply that the Heavenly River Palace had long grown accustomed to being subordinate to Pill Fire City and rarely made demands of any kind.
Emperor Danji said with displeasure, "Gentlemen, the target hasn't even been captured yet, and you're already scrambling to carve up the spoils?"
Fortunately, it was only their own people present. Otherwise, word of this would be truly humiliating.
Jiang Chen, from across the way, suddenly let out an odd laugh. "Take your time discussing. Once you've made up your minds, let me know."
The moment those words left Jiang Chen's lips, a talisman in his hand blazed to life.
It was that ancient Heaven-Rending Sun-Breaking Talisman from before. Once activated, it could tear through any formation, finding a sliver of space through which to escape into the void.
The Heaven-Rending Sun-Breaking Talisman was indeed formidable.
Emperor Danji's side had set up an interlocking formation that encompassed the entire mountain region. The whole area was under the formation's control.
As such, they had never even considered the possibility that Jiang Chen could escape. Under the watchful eyes of so many Emperor-realm powerhouses, how could a young genius possibly slip away?
However, the moment Jiang Chen activated the Heaven-Rending Sun-Breaking Talisman and his Heavenly Kun Flowing Light Escape shot forth, everyone suddenly realized with a jolt that they hadn't actually caught Jiang Chen yet—and talking about dividing the spoils had indeed been far too premature.
"This is bad—the kid's escaping! After him!"
"Don't let him slip away! Quick, chase!"
Many of the Emperors present were beating their chests in frustration, having clearly failed to anticipate Jiang Chen's sudden activation of the Heaven-Rending Sun-Breaking Talisman.
Even Emperor Danji was mildly surprised. Watching Jiang Chen's escape light streak toward the west, he gave a cold snort. "What's the rush? The entire mountain region is under the formation's control. This time, he has no path to the heavens and no door to the earth beneath!"
Emperor Danji was brimming with confidence. This trap had been laid deep. Even if his opponent possessed escape talismans or powerful evasion techniques, Emperor Danji was certain he could contain him.
As long as his formation remained unbreached, everything within a radius of several thousand li was caught in this binding formation. Jiang Chen, relying on his escape light alone, had no chance whatsoever of breaking free.
The reason the others had been allowed to leave was simply because Emperor Danji hadn't wanted to complicate matters—his primary target had always been Jiang Chen and Jiang Chen alone.
Rather than panicking, Emperor Danji felt a thrill of the hunt surging through him—the pleasure of a predator closing in on its prey.
"Even if this brat grew wings, today he won't escape my five-fingered mountain!" Emperor Danji sneered inwardly and waved his hand. "Let's move."
……
Using the gap torn open by the Heaven-Rending Sun-Breaking Talisman, Jiang Chen escaped from the area under Emperor Danji's control. Looking around, he found nothing but a vast, murky expanse—like the primordial chaos itself, with drifting clouds and flying mist everywhere, making it impossible to discern north from south or east from west.
"Hm? What's going on?" Jiang Chen extended his divine sense to its fullest, probing in all directions. One look, and he immediately grasped the situation.
"It's a binding formation—and there are formations within formations!" Jiang Chen was no stranger to formations. This one turned out to be an interlocking binding formation, one ring nested inside another.
The gap he had opened with the Heaven-Rending Sun-Breaking Talisman had only breached a single ring of the formation.
Escaping one ring only to find another outside—and quite possibly more beyond that. These interlocking rings of the binding formation left even Jiang Chen quite impressed.
"That old scoundrel Danji—he really is one of the top figures of the Upper Eight Realms. His mastery of formations actually runs this deep?"