Chaotic World Book

The battle beneath the Temple was more bizarre than anyone had anticipated.

While Wang Daoning was still being delayed by Tang Wanzhuang, exceeding the time their comrades had estimated, everyone's heart was in anguish; every second of delay increased their pressure. Battling against a powerhouse like Xia Longyuan was no laughing matter without a key imperial player!

But they couldn't wait for Wang Daoning to finish before they took action. Xia Longyuan wasn't foolish; once the fighting reached the Imperial Palace, he would naturally come out, and everything would collapse, counterfeit would be useless, all palace guards would be employed by him, and escaping would be extremely easy, no one could stop him. Thus, it was imperative to trap him in this secret realm beneath the Temple, turning his own creation into his tomb.

Initially, they thought that lacking Wang Daoning, they might quickly be overwhelmed, possibly even resulting in deaths...

Yet, it proved that Xia Longyuan was indeed much weaker than expected. The Three Axes tactic of the Qi Fortune Dragon Vein had a far more negative impact than anticipated, surprisingly effective!

It was like a person who had crossed the river retraced to the bridge only to find it demolished, not just retreating but falling into the river, more dreadful than retreating. This was not a mere setback; it was a backlash!

Before setting out to sea, Zhao Changhe had once said to Xia Longyuan, "An overturned boat in water is the tears of the people, you won't understand until it's torrential."

Xia Longyuan thought it was childish and sneered at it.

Those currently surrounding him, while mostly motivated by personal agendas or private grudges having little to do with the common folk. Even those fighting for the people were shallowly considered, motivated solely by Blood Qi thinking they should splatter blood within five steps, no detailed consideration. Strictly speaking, it wasn't much for the people, more a surge of righteousness…

But why was their Three Axes tactic of the Qi Fortune Dragon Vein effective, and even more effective than expected? That was the crux.

Xia Longyuan knew full well that Maitreya was bewitching Jiangnan and colluding with the officials, yet did nothing, only to lure out the God Demon behind Maitreya, allowing the situation to worsen. As Maitreya Sect swept across Jiangnan, leaving a trail of bones, who should bear the blame? Certainly, it couldn't only be attributed to Maitreya; sighing in frustration at Huan Ling was also a common sentiment.

If not for Tang Wanzhuang and Zhao Changhe making every effort to protect Su Yang, and Tang Buqi leading the awakening resistance organization, Jiangnan would still be in a state of desolation, unknown how many more would have died, let alone the current revival scene. During the war, aside from Tang Wanzhuang trying her best to organize some material support, the Imperial court sent not a single soldier for help; how would the people of Jiangnan view the Emperor when they remember these few good individuals?

Zhai Muzhi poisoned Ba Shu, provoked rebellion in Miao Region, did Xia Longyuan know? He knew, yet showed favoritism, backing Zhai Muzhi by stating, "At least he's loyal to me," and sent Lu Shouyi as a reinforcement. To say he didn't wrong Tang Wanzhuang, he also did not wrong Zhai Muzhi, right?

Why support Zhai Muzhi? Because he was well aware that there weren't many places left recognizing him as their leader, and someone like Zhai Muzhi, who entirely depended on the Great Xia Empire, indeed stood by him the most. If forced to choose between keeping either Zhai Muzhi or Tang Buqi, guess who he would choose?

Miao Region's hundreds of clans, Ba Shu's thousands of people, what were their thoughts? Where did Li Shentong's willingness to "splatter blood within five steps" come from?

There were thousands and thousands of Zhai Muzhi across the world, all reflections of Xia Longyuan. Rebellions were everywhere, battles erupted everywhere, not just a single Li Shentong!

Trusting Zhai Muzhi but not trusting Huangfu Yongxian, whose family was entirely loyal and was even forced to leave his only surviving son as hostage. Huangfu Qing's intense hatred, his overwhelming demonic fire, was it purely due to doctrine?

He could have cooperated bloodlessly with the Holy Daughter of the Four Symbols, yet he ended up causing the Holy Daughter's death, leaving a young girl in misery. San Niang kept delaying her visit to the Capital City knowing Zhao Changhe wanted to protect her, not wanting to make things difficult for Zhao Changhe by adding to the hands raised against the cause.

The Wang Family's rebellion intentions were crystal clear so early; for the sake of the Sea Emperor, he had even waited for the Wang Family to start their revolt, nearly causing Cui Wenjing, who loyally defended him, to die.

All these instances, not one but many, some court officials might not feel were too sinful, those in the know might even think some of his misgovernment were actions of a counterfeit, but on counting the actual deeds done by the true Emperor, which were humane? Even the ridiculous governance acts of the counterfeit were due to his withdrawal and negligence.

After all, he was focused on cultivation, on playing games with God Demon, too busy to bother about these trivial matters.

This wasn't just about Huan Ling; any attributes of a last-generation emperor could be found in him. If it wasn't for his martial force pacifying the land, it would have been chaos ten years earlier. These were all witnessed by Zhao Changhe himself, hence even with a natural closeness, he still felt that Xia Longyuan would someday perish at the hands of the human heroes, not some God Demon.

Today, it finally corroborated Zhao Changhe's premonition. The land shattered, Dragon Energy wavered, the whole world rebelled, no one recognized the ruler.

This wasn't something that a few people with their Three Axes tactic could achieve; it was the ultimate feedback of the public sentiment, they simply found the key.

To reach immortality by controlling the world, to be devoured by rebellion against it, was befitting its nature, even the gods foresaw this day.

Both Ying Wu and Yang Jingxiu, participants in the previous Blood Wu battle, felt that Xia Longyuan now seemed no stronger than Blood Wu… At this moment, although he was holding an advantage against many, and everyone was under tremendous pressure, Xia Longyuan's attempts to break out ultimately failed; time and again, he was dangerously blocked.

If Wang Daoning knew the situation here, he certainly wouldn't be so eager to return and would calmly handle the situation before returning... But who could have anticipated such an effective outcome? When he fought Tang Wanzhuang, at least seventy percent of his attention was already here, unable to quickly defeat Tang Wanzhuang was largely due to his distraction...

Of course, he couldn't arrive too late; any later, there would really be casualties.

When Wang Daoning arrived in haste, the first thing he saw was Xia Longyuan, surrounded by terrifying golden airwaves that violently thrust away approaching opponents, with his right hand targeting the central palace, striking towards Li Gongsi's chest!

Wang Daoning knew at a glance that Li Gongsi could not dodge, and if not dead, he would be severely wounded!

"Boom!" The Sky-clearing Sea Suppressing Palm reached from afar, colliding with Xia Longyuan's Dragon Fist. Both parties slightly staggered, and Li Gongsi took the opportunity to retreat, his head covered in cold sweat, "Brother Wang, your timing is perfect!"

Everyone also breathed a sigh of relief, the pressure had been immense, but now the timely arrival of the Imperial Realm should settle the matter.

However, contrary to everyone's expectation, Xia Longyuan suddenly ceased his punching and stood upright, "I've waited too long for you... You're even more useless than I imagined."

Wang Daoning was taken aback, "Waiting for me?"

"If before your arrival, there had been casualties, would you have fled to the East Sea upon seeing the adverse situation? I can't say for certain, but of course, it's not as good as waiting for you to come."

Everyone's expressions became somewhat strange; everyone here was a top martial artist with their own insights. Your earlier embarrassment didn't seem like an act... Fooling everyone is one thing; surely, you haven't fooled yourself too?

Of course, since Xia Longyuan wanted to boast impressively, everyone was too lazy to interrupt, the pressure had been too great just moments before, and now everyone was eagerly taking the time to recover their energy.

Wang Daoning paused, then laughed, "If you were just putting on an act, it means you had the strength to save Tang Wanzhuang but did not. Interesting, even I would feel aggrieved for her."

Xia Longyuan shook his head, "It's not that I believe I have the strength to quickly break through on my own. As you can see, I am indeed greatly weakened now, and it's somewhat embarrassing for me."

Wang Daoning was somewhat surprised, it wasn't easy for Xia Longyuan to straightforwardly admit weakness and embarrassment, which seemed contrary to his usual demeanor. But since he admitted to being weakened, what did his previous words mean?

Then Xia Longyuan continued, "What I meant was that some things are better done with you here. If you weren't, the outcome would be less certain, with a higher probability of mutual destruction. Actually, with Wen Jing here, it would have been even better... I suspect that Wen Jing's absence this time is not due to unhealed injuries. After so long, he should have recovered... His absence might be due to sensing something."

Wang Daoning couldn't help but laugh; he felt Xia Longyuan was a bit delusional, talking like it was better for him to be here: "I wonder what plans Your Majesty has; we are all ears."

Xia Longyuan looked around; the four Divine Swords shimmered brightly. Just now, the sword array formed by these four swords made him suffer immensely, feeling extremely restricted, as if they were inherently opposing him.

"I have always wondered, if I am suffering from the backlash of the Mountain and River Qi, I must bear this consequence... What about you?" Xia Longyuan pointed at the four swords and slowly said, "This world's River and Mountain Swords... It is natural for them to oppose me. However, before this, they were first and foremost your swords... Originally, the Sword Spirits had been dormant because firstly, I seized half of their Soul Power, and secondly, your intentions were contrary to theirs, unable to resonate. But it seems you've all forgotten the second point, attributing everything to the first? Wen Jing always knew, did you?"

The three heads of the Aristocratic Famililies looked at each other, feeling a sinister premonition in their hearts.

"You, Wang Daoning, are you worthy to dominate this East Sea? You, Yang Jingxiu, are you worthy to oversee these mountains and rivers? Don't you know? And you, Li Gongsi..." Xia Longyuan paused, seemingly in mockery, "Opening gates, colluding with foreign tribes, poisoning the Central Pass, whose plains does your Plain of Long Swords flatten?"

"Boom boom boom!" The four Divine Swords began to tremble.

Li Gongsi stepped back, "You knew, yet ignored it. Could it be you were waiting for this day?"

Li Shentong's expression drastically changed.

"Indeed, if I had said this, my fiery-tempered son-in-law would still curse me for being inhuman. However, from my point of view, I don't think I've done anything wrong," Xia Longyuan smiled, "Humans? In today's world, how many actually are?"

As his words fell, he suddenly flicked his finger.

Four balls of misty vapor each penetrated the four Divine Swords, which trembled even more violently as if different essences were being expelled.

"Half of the Sword Spirits' Soul Power is with me... using the Sea Race's Yin Qi to replenish the Soul Power, will the awakened Sword Spirits still be the same? Better let me restore them... After the restoration, ask them. If they wish to oppose me, then what about you, who incited foreign Yin Qi to supply the Sword Spirits for the sake of rebellion and regicide? Divine Swords have a spirit, they won't apply human double standards like you do."

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!" Besides the Qinghe sword, the other three suddenly rose in the air, pointing directly at their masters.

Only the Qinghe sword quietly stood in place, still targeting... Xia Longyuan.

Xia Longyuan didn't care, sighing softly, "Qinghe actually has a master... The Cui siblings, it recognized them... What to choose, truly a fortunate dilemma."