Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

The emperor personally left the palace without any ceremonial guards, imperial guards, or even a single dragon robe.

He arrived through the air, his black hair dancing wildly in the wind, his face so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.

The over one-hundred-year-old cultivator at the initial stage of the Celestial Realm unleashed his full power, tearing open the dark clouds above the imperial mausoleum. The instant the sunlight shone through, everyone saw the killing intent in Qin Muzhi's eyes.

"Imperial mausoleum, a place of utmost importance. Trespassers—die!"

Qin Mu slammed down with his palm. The palm print descended from the sky, condensing into a gigantic azure palm, tens of feet in diameter, stretching from the heavens to the ground, like a mountain collapsing. This palm strike was aimed directly at the various forces engaged in the chaotic battle within the tomb chamber, clearly intending to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

Ximen Kuang and Nangong Lie's expressions changed simultaneously.

They were Grandmasters at the peak of the ninth level, and could hold their own against ordinary half-step Celestials, but they couldn't withstand Qin Muzhi's full-force attack at the initial stage of Celestial.

"Old man! Do you think you're the only one who's a celestial being?"

Two aged voices rang out simultaneously from the direction of the capital.

A purple-gold figure and a gray-black figure broke through the air and arrived. Both of them had white hair and withered faces, but their auras were as fierce as a tidal wave.

The old man in the purple-gold robe was Nangong Hui, the ancestor of the Nangong family who had lived for over two hundred years, while the old man in the gray-black short jacket was Ximen He, the ancestor of the Ximen family who had been hidden for over a hundred years. Both of them were at the initial stage of the Celestial Realm.

Nangong Hui spread his arms above his head, creating a purple-gold canopy, and forcefully caught Qin Muzhi's palm print.

The moment the palm print collided with the sky, the ground within a radius of a hundred feet of the imperial mausoleum sank three inches, and countless cracks spread outwards like a spider web.

Ximen He then struck Qin Muzhi's chest with a backhand palm strike, the wind from which was as cold as ice, carrying the chilling poison accumulated over a hundred years.

Qin Muzhi dodged to the side and pointed with his finger.

A cyan finger beam shot towards Ximen He's brow like lightning, only to be cleaved away by the latter's palm strike. The two Celestial Ancestors attacked the Emperor from the left and right, the three figures clashing in a blur of light and shadow across the sky, each collision causing the ground to tremble.

"Where are the Imperial Guards!" Qin Muzhi roared amidst the fierce battle, his voice carrying for miles. "Surround the imperial tomb! Don't let a single one escape!"

Tens of thousands of imperial guards surged out of the capital like a tidal wave, and the black-armored torrent instantly sealed off the outer perimeter of the imperial mausoleum.

Cao Zhengchun, the commander of the Suspended Mirror Platform, Zhou Jishi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Zhao Chengyuan, the commander of the Garrison Command, appeared simultaneously from three directions around the imperial mausoleum, each leading their elite troops to form a second line of defense.

However, the struggle within the tomb did not cease; instead, it intensified. Everyone knew that the outer blockade wouldn't last long, and they had to seize the halberd before reinforcements from all sides could converge.

Just then, a figure silently descended from the stone wall above the tomb chamber, reaching out to grab the shaft of the black halberd in the gap between everyone's scramble for it.

The person's figure was extremely ghostly, and his body was shrouded in a layer of dark green poisonous mist. Wherever he passed, even the air was corroded and made a "sizzling" sound.

The aura of a Grandmaster at the peak of the ninth level was unleashed with full force, surpassing even Ximen Kuang and Nangong Lie by a degree.

"The Poison King?" Ximen Kuang's pupils contracted. "Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons! What are you doing here instead of staying in the Southern Frontier?"

The Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons scoffed coldly without answering, his five fingers already touching the halberd shaft. The black halberd trembled violently, and a residual aura from the Demon God Lü surged into his body through the shaft. The Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons groaned, his face turning pale and then blue, but he gritted his teeth and refused to let go.

Just then—

"Give it to me."

A calm voice came from the entrance to the tomb.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone in the entire tomb could hear it clearly. The Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons turned around and saw a burly man in blue robes stride into the tomb. His face was rugged, his aura was deep and imposing, and his fists were covered with a layer of almost tangible dark golden fist energy.

Li Chenzhou.

Behind him followed a figure dressed in snow-white robes, moving with unhurried steps. The long sword in his hand was still sheathed, yet its aura had already cleaved the space within a three-zhang radius around him into countless tiny fragments. Bai Yujing.

Behind them were Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue. The two sword masters stood on the left and right, their sword auras, one cold and the other sharp, locked onto enemies in two directions within the tomb.

The Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons sneered, "Li Chenzhou? The Azure Dragon Society's reach is quite extensive. But I've come prepared this time, you grandmasters—"

Li Chenzhou didn't waste words with him. He took a step forward and threw a punch.

That punch had no fancy moves, no prelude of building up power, it was just the simplest straight punch.

But the moment the fist's force exploded, the air in the entire tomb chamber seemed to be compressed into a solid sheet of iron. Li Chenzhou's fist intent, "Reigning Supreme," was unleashed without reservation at this moment, and a straight trench cracked in the ground where the fist's energy passed.

The old man of ten thousand poisons' expression changed drastically. He disregarded the black halberd and unleashed both palms, channeling dark green poisonous mist to meet the fist's force.

The point where the poisonous mist collided with the dark gold fist energy produced a piercing metallic scraping sound. The Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons retreated seven steps, each step leaving a deep imprint on the stone surface. A trickle of black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and horror finally surfaced in his sinister eyes.

A punch from a Grandmaster at the peak of the eighth level was enough to suppress his peak ninth-level cultivation, preventing him from raising his head.

Bai Yujing did not look at the Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons. His gaze fell on the deepest part of the tomb, where the black halberd had once stood—there was a very shallow indentation in the stone bricks on the ground, the shape of which vaguely resembled the mark of a person sitting cross-legged.

Lu the Demon God has sat here for a hundred years.

But he is no longer here.

Meanwhile, amidst the chaotic battle within the tomb chamber, none of the various factions noticed Bai Yujing's expression at that moment. Without hesitation, his longsword hummed softly from its sheath—

Unsheathed.

A dazzling sword light, like an inverted Milky Way, traced a perfect arc through the tomb. The blade swept across the waist of the Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, simultaneously grazing the right arms of two sword guards from the Four Extremes Sword Sect and a corner of the black coffin of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Everything touched by the sword light shattered in the same instant.

The Old Man of Ten Thousand Poisons looked down at the thin, hair-like line of blood on his waist, his face frozen.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only made a "hoarse" sound in his throat, and then his body slowly moved away from the middle.

With a single sword strike, he killed a rogue cultivator at the initial stage of the Celestial Realm.

The room was completely silent.

Bai Yujing's movements in sheathing his sword were even slower than when he drew it, but Ximen Chuixue and Ye Gucheng behind him had already started moving their swords.

Ximen Chuixue's sword light was like a cold wind passing by, forcing the two sword guards who rushed towards the black halberd back three zhang.

Ye Gucheng's sword pierced in from another direction, the tip of the sword precisely piercing open the withered hand that had emerged from the coffin of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Taking advantage of this opening, Li Chenzhou strode forward and placed his left palm on the halberd shaft. The black halberd hummed for a moment in his palm before falling silent, and he pulled it from the ground.

"Three dragon heads." Bai Yujing said calmly, "We've got the goods. Let's go."

After the three swords and one halberd created a vacuum in the tomb for three breaths, the four members of the Azure Dragon Society retreated like a tide.

They arrived abruptly and left just as quickly, taking only ten breaths from entering the tomb to seizing the halberd and leaving.

Before Ximen Kuang and Nangong Lie could even react, the black halberd had already disappeared into the shadows at the tomb's exit.

"Chase--"