If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

Boom—!

The towering flames tore through the night, illuminating the entire forest as if it were daytime.

Dry, withered leaves are the best fuel; the flames, stirred by the night wind, transform into a roaring fire dragon, frantically devouring everything around it.

The trees crackled and groaned in the flames before finally collapsing with a deafening roar, sending sparks flying everywhere.

"Over there!"

"It's the aura of that fake emperor!"

"Chase!"

In the forest, countless figures, drawn by the firelight and the undisguised aura of the dragon vein, rushed madly toward the center of the fire.

The Sakura warriors and the Celestial Realm experts moved with incredible speed, darting through the forest, unaware that their target had already fled in the opposite direction after lighting the first fire.

Zhao Yu moved through the complex woodland. He did not deliberately conceal his whereabouts. Instead, every so often, he would activate the "Burning Body Technique" to ignite new flames in another area.

Soon, raging fires broke out in the east, west, and north of the entire forest, spreading out and turning it into a sea of ​​fire.

The countless monsters that inhabited the forest were thoroughly enraged by this sudden disaster.

"roar!"

A deafening roar rang out, and a gigantic black bear-like beastman stood upright, its crimson eyes filled with ferocity.

It smelled the presence of human martial artists and mistook these intruders for the arsonists.

A violent burst of demonic energy erupted, and the massive body of the black bear demon charged toward a group of Sakura warriors with overwhelming force.

"Baka! It's a monster!"

"Stop it!"

Swords flashed and shadows danced, but in the face of the enraged demon beast, which was comparable to the mid-stage of the Celestial Realm, these ordinary elites of the Sakura Kingdom appeared utterly helpless.

Screams echoed throughout the room.

Such scenes were constantly playing out throughout the forests where the flames were spreading.

The pursuers' formation was completely disrupted. They not only had to chase their target, but also had to deal with these frenzied monsters. In an instant, shouts of killing, screams of agony, and roars of beasts echoed throughout the entire mountain forest.

……

Inside the cave, Shen Miaochu sat cross-legged.

The noise outside the cave gradually subsided and eventually disappeared into the distance.

She could clearly sense that the powerful auras that had originally surrounded this place had all been drawn away into the distance.

Half an hour, not a second off.

Shen Miaochu opened her eyes, got up and walked out of the cave.

The night wind carried the smell of burning grass and trees, and the distant sky was stained an ominous red.

Without pausing for a moment, she determined her direction, then transformed into a white blur and sped off towards Lianghe.

……

The sky was gradually turning a pale white.

Dawn is approaching.

The banks of the Liang River are shrouded in mist.

Shen Miaochu had quickly erected a simple altar, with the three main offerings neatly arranged in the center.

She stood by the river, gazing towards the forest, feeling a sense of anxiety.

Just then, a familiar figure emerged from the forest; it was Zhao Yu.

He was somewhat disheveled, with his clothes torn in several places, but his breathing was still relatively steady.

"You're here." Zhao Yu walked to her side and said only two words.

Shen Miaochu nodded, but just as she was about to speak, her expression suddenly changed.

"Oh no, they're coming after us!"

Before he finished speaking, a dense crowd of people appeared from all directions.

Black Sakura warriors in their uniforms and the imperial guards of the Great Liang army surrounded the riverbank completely.

Surrounded by a group of experts, Zhao Yu slowly walked out, a playful expression on his face like a cat catching a mouse.

"Run! Why did you stop running?"

He glanced at the two people by the river, then at the ridiculously simple altar, his mockery deepening.

"You think you can break Master Hu's solar eclipse with this piece of junk?"

"Zhao Yu, I really overestimated you. It turns out that this is all you are capable of."

The Celestial Master Hu beside him was now ashen-faced and trembling slightly, completely losing his former air of otherworldly grace.

The scantily clad woman from Sakura looked at Zhao Yu, licked her fiery red lips, and spoke in a seductive voice.

"Your Majesty, may I dispose of the fake emperor's corpse?"

Zhao Yu pulled the woman in the cherry blossom outfit into his arms, squeezing her hand affectionately, and casually said, "You can take the body if you want, but you can't take the woman with you."

After saying that, Zhao Yu's gaze fell on Shen Miaochu, filled with undisguised greed and resentment.

"Shen Miaochu, my beloved Consort."

"Once I've dealt with this wretched beggar, I'll make you the lowest prostitute in the entire Great Liang, forcing you to serve my lowest-ranking soldiers day and night!"

The vicious words made Shen Miaochu's face turn pale.

Zhao Yu returned the gaze coldly, then looked up at the sky.

The sky had brightened up sometime earlier, and a blazing sun had risen.

But as soon as it rose, it was covered by a dark and oppressive aura!

Tengu eats the day!

Zhao Yu laughed triumphantly: "See that? This is destiny! Destiny is in my hands!"

"I am the true Son of Heaven!"

At this moment, Master Hu also mustered his strength, made hand seals, and in coordination with the celestial phenomena, an invisible force began to press down on Zhao Yu.

They wanted to further suppress Zhao Yu's imposing aura.

However, Zhao Yu completely ignored them.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, he climbed step by step onto the simple altar.

He picked up the corpse of the Xuan Yin Frost Bat, the inner core of the Blood Python, and the reverse scale of the Earth Dragon, and arranged them in a specific orientation.

"Playing tricks!" Zhao Yu sneered. "Seize him!"

However, before his men could make a move...

Zhao Yu had already spoken, and ancient and obscure syllables echoed from his mouth, reverberating over the Liang River.

"Now there is an emperor, Zhao Yu, who offers three kinds of sacrificial animals as a prayer to the water god..."

His voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

As his last syllable fell, a strange change occurred in the world!

The sky, which had been darkened by the eclipse of the sun, was suddenly illuminated by a soft beam of light that precisely enveloped the entire altar.

slam-la-

A light drizzle began to fall from the sky. This rain, carrying a rich vitality, landed on the parched earth, and tender shoots sprouted from the soil at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Along the riverbank, withered wild grasses have come back to life.

An aura of peace, abundance, and the revival of all things instantly dispelled the ominous and oppressive atmosphere brought about by the solar eclipse.

"This...this is impossible!" Master Hu screamed in disbelief.

The celestial dog eclipsed the sun, and the impact of this phenomenon burned holes in the ground!

The celestial phenomenon guiding array he had set up was as fragile as paper in the face of this auspicious aura, collapsing instantly.

He himself suffered a backlash, spitting out a mouthful of black blood and collapsing to the ground.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

Wrong...

All wrong!

He made the wrong bet!

The true emperor should be Zhao Yu!

Above the sky, auspicious signs and ominous black sun stood in stark contrast. In the end, the auspicious signs surged, forcing the black sun back and allowing sunlight to shine on the earth once more!

At the same time, Zhao Yu felt a hissing sound coming from inside his body.

wisps of black smoke billowed out from his body.

A certain invisible shackle has been completely broken!

The martial artist's cultivation, suppressed for so long, erupted like a flood bursting its banks at this moment!

Three hundred times the powerful true energy of an ordinary Celestial Realm cultivator surged and roared through his meridians!

The Kun Yuan Body Protection Technique operates on its own, with nine real earth dragons swirling around the body.

The "Burning Body Technique" is poised to be unleashed, with flames emanating from its entire body.

Zhao Yu slowly opened his eyes.

The whole world became clearer in his perception than ever before.

He could hear the tense heartbeat of a Sakura warrior a hundred meters away, and he could see the change in Zhao Yu's expression from smug to horrified.

His power—has returned!!!

Whoosh!

Click!

He moved.

With each step off the altar, a pit was left behind!

This step sent shivers down everyone's spines!

"Kill him! Kill him for me!" Zhao Yu finally snapped out of his shock and roared in terror.

Hundreds of experts at the Celestial Realm, along with thousands of elite troops from the Cherry Kingdom, roared in unison, their killing intent overwhelming, and surged toward Zhao Yu.

In the crowd, Zhao Yu's figure appeared so small.

But he did not back down.

He simply raised his right hand calmly.

A longsword made entirely of crimson true energy appeared in his hand.

"Today, I will defy the heavens and slaughter you all."