"Heh, Emperor of the Zhao Dynasty, this little girl is truly impressive — not only is she stunningly beautiful, but her cultivation is genuinely extraordinary as well. I've taken a liking to her too. So what do we do about that?" Another burst of wild laughter rang out as the Emperor of the Liu Dynasty led a group of powerful fighters over.
"That's simple enough. The three of us make a move together, and whoever catches her first gets her. But I'm different from you two — I won't take her as a concubine. I plan to cripple her cultivation and then reward her to my subordinates, let them enjoy themselves with her." Yet another figure came sweeping through the air — it was the Emperor of the Ji Dynasty.
"Anyone who touches my daughter will lose his life!" The Emperor of the Jiang Dynasty, who was standing guard in front of Jiang Yini, was so furious his face had turned green. He knew these three were deliberately humiliating him — humiliating the imperial Jiang clan.
But as the Emperor of the Jiang Dynasty, as Yini's father, he simply could not endure such an insult. He launched himself into the air, unleashing the terrifying battle power of the Heaven Martial Eighth Stage, and engaged all three Emperors in combat at once.
"Father!!!" At that moment, Jiang Yini's expression flickered with worry, her face full of concern. She was about to rush into the sky to fight alongside her father.
Because no matter how strong her father was, fighting three Emperors of equal cultivation alone was clearly beyond his limits. In this situation, all that awaited him was death.
"Your Highness, don't go." But just as Yini was about to move, Jiang Hengyuan grabbed her wrist and said, "Come with me quickly. We've already prepared an escape route. I'm here to escort you and the other princes and princesses out of the dynasty."
"No! I want to live and die with my father, with our royal family!" Yini refused stubbornly.
"Your Highness, this is the Emperor's order. Look for yourself." As he spoke, Jiang Hengyuan produced a token.
The moment she saw that token, Yini's face froze. She turned to look at her father, battling for his life in midair against the three Emperors, and her eyes reddened before tears streamed down her face.
Because there was only one such token, and it had been personally forged by her father. She remembered when he had shown it to her, he had told her: "In the future, whoever brings this token to you and asks you to do something — you must obey. Because that person will certainly be carrying out my wishes."
And the Emperor had not said this to Yini alone. He had said it to all of his children, and even to every outstanding young member of the Jiang Dynasty's imperial clan.
"Your Highness, please come with me. Right now the Emperor is fighting to buy you all a final chance. As the Emperor, he must follow the ancestral laws and perish alongside the Jiang Dynasty."
"But as a father, he wants you children to survive. That's why he ultimately went against those laws and gave me this token, so I can escort you out of here." Jiang Hengyuan explained further, afraid Yini wouldn't understand.
"AAAAGH!"
*BOOM!* But at that very moment, a scream suddenly echoed through the sky, and immediately after, a figure plummeted from above, slamming violently into the ground. The tremendous force shattered building after building and left a massive crater in the earth.
"Father!" Jiang Yini let out a scream and dove straight into the crater.
"This is bad!" At the same time, Jiang Hengyuan and numerous other experts from the dynasty also rushed over, because the one who had fallen from the sky was none other than the Emperor of the Jiang Dynasty himself.
"Yini… your father is useless. Not only could I not protect tens of thousands of our clansmen — I couldn't even protect you." The Emperor's face was deathly pale, blood streaming from all seven orifices. His chest bore a sunken wound, his breastbone completely shattered, skin split apart, and thick blood was slowly seeping out.
"No, Father! In my heart, you are the finest father there ever was!" Yini's face was covered in tears.
"Pfft, what a weakling! Barely lasted a few exchanges." Suddenly, a glob of phlegm came hurtling down from the sky and splattered across the Emperor's face.
It was the Liu Emperor's doing. He now stood in the sky, eyes narrowed, mockingly appraising the gravely wounded Emperor of the Jiang Dynasty.
"Indeed. I heard his father was fearsomely powerful — able to fight our three fathers without being defeated. I thought his son would be formidable too. Who knew he'd be this useless." The Zhao Emperor chimed in with cold mockery.
"Exactly. If I'd known he was this pathetic, there was no need for the two of you to help. I could have beaten him myself." The Ji Emperor not only added his taunts but wore a smug grin on his face.
"You three claim to be clan leaders, yet you gang up on my father and injure him, and then have the audacity to mock him like this? You are truly the most despicable scoundrels!" Watching her father being humiliated this way, Yini's small face flushed red with fury.
"Victors write history. The insults your ancestors heaped upon ours were a thousand — a hundredfold — worse than this!" the Liu Emperor snapped coldly.
"Enough. Liu Emperor, why waste words on them? Today they're going to pay for what their ancestors did. This girl has such a sharp tongue — let me teach her a proper lesson," the Zhao Emperor sneered repeatedly. Without warning, he came swooping toward Jiang Yini.
"Protect the Princess!" At the sight of this, Jiang Hengyuan and the other royal guards soared into the air, forming a protective formation and unfurling a defensive barrier.
"A bunch of trash that dares stand in my way? Get out of my sight!!" But with a single casual palm strike, the Zhao Emperor shattered the barrier that Jiang Hengyuan and the others had formed. At the same time, the guards cried out in agony and tumbled aside, their faces pale and their bodies badly wounded.
"Ha ha ha! Little girl, you have such poor manners. Allow this Emperor to teach you a lesson you won't forget!" The Zhao Emperor cackled as he arrived before Yini. He reached out his hand and shamelessly lunged toward her chest.
"If you think you can touch Princess Yini, you'd better see if you're capable!"
*BOOM!* But at that very moment, a thunderous roar erupted from the Core Area of the dynasty. Simultaneously, the earth churned with black soil as two figures burst out from underground at tremendous speed.
One of them moved with such blinding speed that he appeared before the Zhao Emperor in the blink of an eye, throwing a straight punch directly at him.
"Where did this brat come from, daring to ruin my business? Scram!" The Zhao Emperor glanced back and saw that the newcomer was a mere youth. He scoffed disdainfully and casually swung his hand, intending to swat the boy aside.
But who could have expected the youth to be this powerful? The moment his fist connected with the Zhao Emperor's arm, a sharp *crack* rang out — the arm was broken clean through.
And the force didn't diminish. It grew even stronger. With a deafening *bang*, the fist smashed squarely into the Zhao Emperor's face. Blood sprayed in every direction, and the Zhao Emperor's head burst apart. He died on the spot.