Time seemed to slow to a crawl, yet the air was saturated with suffocating killing intent.
Under Xu Tianran's precise planning, a fatal gap had opened within the Sun Moon Empire's internal defenses.
Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao—two Limit Douluos—moved through the darkness like invisible ghosts. Skirting every spirit tool monitoring point still in operation along the perimeter, they slipped directly into the deepest core of the imperial palace.
Inside the bedchamber, the lights were dim.
Enraged by the news of Xuan Zi's escape, the Sun Moon Emperor lay on the broad dragon bed, gasping violently. Only a handful of trembling attendants remained at his side.
Ye Xishui, clad in a dark red robe, looked cold, beautiful, and eerie beneath a faint, lingering aura of blood. She lifted her right hand, and a speck of deep crimson spirit power condensed at her fingertips. The surrounding space warped subtly, as if struggling to withstand the extreme power of resentful spirits.
Beside her, Long Xiaoyao stood like a black mountain. He compressed the terrifying pressure of a Level 99 Limit Douluo to its absolute peak, waiting only to deliver the final blow.
Ye Xishui's fingertips aligned with the defenseless Sun Moon Emperor. In less than half a second, that ray of death would end his life.
But at that critical instant—
Boom!
The closed bedchamber doors were blasted open without warning by a violent surge of star-blue spirit power. A deafening explosion followed, and blinding starlight flooded the hall.
Several figures with powerful auras burst in and fanned out, precisely cutting between Ye Xishui and the Emperor.
At the forefront was the Starry Sky Douluo, Ye Yulin. Vast wings of starlight unfurled behind his back as he held his hands steady. Multiple ninth-rank spirit tool protective shields overlapped before him.
Behind Ye Yulin stood three heavily armored Titled Douluos of the Sun Moon Empire. The ninth-rank spirit tool ray guns in their hands were already fully charged, humming at critical intensity.
At the center of their protective formation stood Liu Yuan, calm and composed. The Soul Core in his chest pulsed steadily. He did not move to attack; instead, he coldly observed the two Limit Douluos lurking in the shadows.
Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao froze.
Shock flashed across their faces, their spirit power momentarily destabilizing.
"How… are you here?" Long Xiaoyao demanded in a deep voice, confusion filling his aged eyes.
By all accounts, Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen should have been drawn far outside the city by Xuan Zi. The palace should have been at its weakest. Why was Ye Yulin lying in wait—with reinforcements?
On the dragon bed, the Sun Moon Emperor forced himself upright, disbelief etched across his face. He had been certain of his death, only for hope to appear at the final moment.
Ye Yulin snorted coldly. Bathed in starlight, his slender frame radiated overwhelming authority.
"Want to know why?" His fingers trembled with fury as he pointed toward Liu Yuan behind him. "Thank Duke Liu Yuan."
"The moment the alarm sounded, he contacted me and the remaining members of the Hall of Worship."
"He saw through Xu Tianran's plot long ago—and the Holy Spirit Cult's scheme as well. Xuan Zi's escape was nothing but bait to lure us away. Your true target was the imperial authority of the Sun Moon Empire!"
Each word struck like a hammer.
Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao's expressions twisted with rage. What they had believed to be a flawless assassination had been unraveled by a youth barely out of his teens.
Ye Xishui's cold, beautiful eyes brimmed with killing intent as she locked onto Liu Yuan.
"Liu Yuan… you again," she hissed, hatred dripping from every word. "To think you could see through the Crown Prince's layout so quickly. Sparing your life truly was the Holy Spirit Cult's greatest mistake."
Long Xiaoyao sneered, disdain overflowing. He stepped forward, unleashing the full pressure of a Limit Douluo without restraint. The Titled Douluos present went pale as the crushing force bore down on them.
"So what if you saw through it?" Long Xiaoyao mocked. "With your so-called ninth-rank Soul Engineers—this rabble—do you think you can protect the Emperor? Before absolute strength, all schemes are a joke!"
He attacked without hesitation.
His massive right hand clawed forward, tearing at space itself. In an instant, the surrounding void collapsed into a pitch-black palm print.
Ye Yulin and the others blanched.
Against even a casual strike from a Limit Douluo, ordinary Titled Douluos had no chance.
The overlapping ninth-rank spirit tool shields shattered like brittle glass the moment they made contact. Ye Yulin resisted with the Starry Sky Douluo's origin power, but he was still blasted backward, crashing into the bedchamber pillars and coughing up a mouthful of blood.
In a single move, the elite force Ye Yulin had brought was completely incapacitated.
Long Xiaoyao's cruel laughter echoed as Liu Yuan and the Sun Moon Emperor were exposed once more.
"Die!"
He slammed his hand downward. The pitch-black palm, brimming with annihilating force, descended straight toward Liu Yuan's head.
At that life-or-death moment, the Snow Empress—silent until now, like an unmoving statue beside Liu Yuan—finally acted.
A thread of Extreme Ice-blue light burst forth beneath the black palm without warning.
"You want to touch him in front of me?" her cold voice rang out. "Do you even deserve to?"
In an instant, the temperature in the hall plummeted to the brink of absolute zero. Floors, walls—even the dust suspended in the air—froze into ice-blue crystals.
Without any spirit ability buildup, the Snow Empress's slender, fair palm met Long Xiaoyao's dark palm head-on.
Bang!
Darkness and ice collided violently. The shockwave pulverized every window in the bedchamber. The devastating black palm was halted mid-descent and, under the erosion of Extreme Ice, froze solid inch by inch—before shattering completely.
The Snow Empress stood before Liu Yuan, long hair dancing, her aura surging as she directly contended with Long Xiaoyao.
Staring at the fair hand that had dispersed his attack, Long Xiaoyao's expression finally turned solemn.
"This Extreme Ice…" he said hoarsely. "The Snow Empress of the Far North?"
For the first time, his voice carried unmistakable shock.
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