Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

"Master, I beg you, let me be your dog! I will obey your every command. If you tell me to go east, I’ll never go west. If you tell me to eat shit, I’ll never drink piss!"

Zhu Zitai knelt on the ground, looking at Jiang Chen with a fawning expression.

His gaze was earnest and devout, as if he were truly a loyal dog prostrating himself before Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen and Wu Hao exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with utter astonishment.

Jiang Chen looked at Wu Hao and said speechlessly, "This shameless guy is the third-ranked expert of your Nine Sins Hall’s Inner Sect?"

"Well..." Wu Hao glanced at Zhu Zitai and said with a wry smile, "I... I think so."

Jiang Chen was at a loss for words. "Zhu Zitai, where’s your dignity?"

"Dignity?"

Zhu Zitai blinked his small eyes, which were nearly swallowed by his fleshy cheeks, and said without the slightest shame, "What’s dignity? Can you eat it?"

Jiang Chen: "..."

He had met all sorts of powerful experts.

But someone like Zhu Zitai... this was truly a first.

Jiang Chen said, "Zhu Zitai, are you sure you want to follow me?"

"Yes! I, Zhu Zitai, have decided on you as my master and will never betray you. I am your most loyal hound!" Zhu Zitai nodded repeatedly, his expression solemn.

Jiang Chen’s eyes darted thoughtfully.

Although he didn’t know why Zhu Zitai was doing this, Jiang Chen had absolute confidence in his own strength.

With his current power, even against Lan Haichen, he could at least survive an encounter.

However... ’Still, one can never be too careful.’

Jiang Chen placed both hands on Zhu Zitai’s shoulders and helped him up. At the same time, two streams of dark-gold energy silently surged into Zhu Zitai’s body. The dark-gold True Essence coiled soundlessly around two of Zhu Zitai’s vital points. His life and death now rested on a single thought from Jiang Chen.

Zhu Zitai stood up, looking at Jiang Chen with a respectful and sycophantic expression. "Master, I still don’t know your name!"

"My name is... Yee Chen!" Jiang Chen said, his eyes glinting.

"Yee Chen?"

Zhu Zitai paused, wracking his brain, but he found no memory associated with the name Yee Chen.

He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Jiang Chen watched him with an unreadable smile and said lightly, "What? Are you trying to look up my background?"

"I wouldn’t dare! I wouldn’t dare!"

Zhu Zitai spoke with an expression of feigned terror, but a viperous, cold glint flashed under his lowered eyelids. He then looked up and said, "Master, you came to the Celestial Cloud Cave this time because you heard news of the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace and came for it, right?"

"Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace? What’s that?" Jiang Chen asked, puzzled.

"You don’t know about the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace?" Zhu Zitai paused, stunned, then quickly began to explain.

It turned out...

In the deepest part of the Celestial Cloud Cave, there was a massive palace.

This palace was built entirely from Cyan Radiance Stone. The entire Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace took up nearly half of the Celestial Cloud Cave; it was immense.

It was estimated that the Cyan Radiance Stone in the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace was enough to be exchanged for one billion, or even two billion, points. However, the palace was a single, seamless structure protected by a powerful Array. Unless one could gain control of the entire Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace, it was impossible to pry away even a blade of grass or a sliver of wood from it!

"Right now, Senior Brother Yinn... ptui, I mean, that bastard Yinn Tianzong is trying to take control of the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace. Master, you must make a move and snatch the Celestial Palace from him!" Zhu Zitai’s eyes darted about as he goaded him.

Jiang Chen glanced at Zhu Zitai with that same unreadable smile.

’Such unsolicited kindness meant he was up to no good.’

He refused to believe he had simply flexed his "overlord’s aura" and won the man over.

’I’ll see what you’re really up to,’ Jiang Chen sneered inwardly. Then, with a grand wave of his hand, he said, "Zhu Zitai, since you know where the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace is, lead the way at once!"

"Master, please follow me!"

Zhu Zitai led the way with an excited expression. As he watched Jiang Chen and Wu Hao follow, the corners of his mouth turned up in a sinister smile.

Wu Hao whispered, "Benefactor, we must be careful of Zhu Zitai!"

"Don’t worry," Jiang Chen chuckled. "He can’t pull anything."

......

They traveled onward.

Under Zhu Zitai’s guidance, Jiang Chen and Wu Hao proceeded unimpeded to the deepest part of the Celestial Cloud Cave.

Ahead...

A glimmer of light appeared.

The single glimmer of light multiplied into thousands, becoming blindingly bright—as brilliant as daylight!

A massive, crystal-like palace appeared before the three of them.

This palace covered a vast area, carved from a single, enormous block of Cyan Radiance Stone. It was just as Zhu Zitai had said; if one could take this Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace back, it would absolutely be worth one to two billion points.

"Zhu Zitai, why are you walking so fast?" Jiang Chen called out, noticing that Zhu Zitai was quickening his pace ahead of them.

But Zhu Zitai acted as if he hadn’t heard him.

The corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth lifted. He stopped in his tracks and said coolly, "Zhu Zitai, as my dog, you are disobeying your master’s command. Are you looking to die?"

"Hahaha..."

Up ahead, Zhu Zitai, who had been walking on as if ignoring them, suddenly burst into a peal of laughter.

He slowly came to a halt and turned around, his face filled with venom and mockery. He stared straight at Jiang Chen, his expression full of derision. "Yee Chen, did you really think that I, the third-ranked genius of the Nine Sins Hall’s Inner Sect, would acknowledge you as my master? Stop daydreaming! That was just a delaying tactic. If I hadn’t used it to stall you, how could I have lured you here?"

"Oh? So you’re saying you’ve set an ambush here?" Jiang Chen said, feigning surprise.

Zhu Zitai said proudly, "But of course!"

He raised his hands and clapped them lightly.

CLAP CLAP CLAP—

As the crisp sound of clapping rang out, over a thousand figures poured out from the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace in a continuous stream.

The dense crowd swarmed forward, forming an impenetrable circle around Jiang Chen and Wu Hao.

"Zhu Zitai, is this the prey you spoke of?" an indifferent voice called out from behind the crowd.

The crowd parted on its own.

A young man walked out from behind them. He wore Black Armor with a green-faced, tusked ghost head on the chest plate. Atop his shoulders were two Ghost Claws forged from black metal. His face was stern, his expression grim and sinister. The moment he appeared, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around him instantly turned icy cold.

Wisps of invisible Ghost Qi emanated from him, making him seem like a Demon from Hell!

Upon seeing this young man, everyone around lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the eye, their fear palpable.

Wu Hao’s face turned pale as well. His lips trembled and his palms began to sweat. "B-B-Benefactor... th-that’s Yinn Tianzong."

"The ninth on the Venerable List, Yinn Tianzong?" Jiang Chen paused, narrowed his eyes, and looked toward Yinn Tianzong.

Yinn Tianzong was also sizing up Jiang Chen. He frowned, looked at Zhu Zitai with displeasure, and said, "Zhu Zitai, what kind of joke are you playing on me? This is just a mere ant at the Heavenly Destiny Realm Sixth Stage. You told me that only I could personally deal with him?"

"Senior Brother Yinn, please calm down!"

Zhu Zitai said quickly, "This person is indeed formidable. He killed over a dozen of my men with a single move. I suspect his strength is enough to rank in the top ten of the Hundred Kings List, but his name isn’t on it. I suspect he must be hiding a large amount of Cyan Radiance Stone. That’s why I secretly notified Senior Brother Yinn and lured him here!"

"Oh?"

The cold look on Yinn Tianzong’s face softened slightly. He narrowed his eyes, looked at Jiang Chen, and said coolly, "Kid, hand over your Storage Ring. Offer it to me, and I might let you live."

Zhu Zitai also chimed in, "Yee Chen, with Senior Brother Yinn here, you’d better surrender now!"

The corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth lifted. Ignoring Yinn Tianzong, he beamed at Zhu Zitai. "Zhu Zitai, you swore an oath before, didn’t you? That you would be my most loyal dog!"

"Shut up!" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Zhu Zitai snorted coldly and sneered, "That was just a delaying tactic. You were the fool who fell for it!"

"Hahaha, Zhu Zitai, oh, Zhu Zitai, did you really think I’d believe you so easily?" Jiang Chen said with a grin.

Zhu Zitai froze, a strong sense of unease washing over him. He frowned and said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing."

Jiang Chen shook his head, then narrowed his eyes, leaned forward slightly, and said coolly, "Zhu Zitai, you were the one who swore to be my dog, and now you’ve betrayed and framed me. Believe it or not, I can kill you with a single breath."

As soon as he said this,

all the experts from the Nine Sins Hall in front of the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace erupted in laughter.

"Hahaha, has this guy gone crazy?"

"Kill Senior Brother Zhu with a single breath? Is he daydreaming?"

"If he can do that, I’ll swallow this Cyan Radiance Stone whole!"

Even Yinn Tianzong shook his head, a trace of contempt in his eyes as he looked at Jiang Chen.

Zhu Zitai’s face went beet red, and he doubled over with laughter. "Yee Chen, what nonsense are you spouting? Kill me with a breath? Go on, blow! I’ll just stand here and let you. Forget one breath—even if you take a hundred or a thousand—if you can harm a single hair on my body, you won’t even need to act. I’ll kill myself!"

"Kill yourself? No need to go to the trouble. You can just die now."

Jiang Chen spoke calmly and blew a light breath toward Zhu Zitai.

It really was just an ordinary breath.

It didn’t even cause the slightest ripple in the air.

Zhu Zitai roared with laughter. "See? I’m completely fine, you... Huh? Wh-what’s happening? N-n-no... AARGH..."

The gloating Zhu Zitai suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Blinding rays of dark-gold light suddenly erupted from within him, and his entire body began to swell.

His Eight Extraordinary Meridians were the first to rupture. With a series of explosive POPS, his meridians burst one after another, spraying blood everywhere.

His body swelled to several times its size, like a balloon overinflated with air, before exploding with a BOOM.

A shower of flesh and blood rained down, dyeing a large patch of ground before the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace red and splattering across the faces of the dumbfounded crowd.

At this moment...

Before the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace, there was dead silence, broken only by the downpour of blood and the horrified gazes of the crowd...