Brother Who Determines the Fate of the Nation: My Great Emperor's Cultivation Level Exposed by

When the outline of Thunder City emerged from beneath the clouds, everyone in the group was a beat slow in their escape.

Outside the city walls, a vast, dark mass of monstrous beasts swarmed together, looking down from the sky like a living carpet writhing in the air, the stench of blood emanating from dozens of miles away.

Three layers of the city's defensive formation's light barrier were broken, and the remaining two layers flickered incessantly under the onslaught of the demonic beasts, threatening to shatter at any moment.

The area at the foot of the city wall was piled high with corpses—human and beast corpses, all mixed together, making it impossible to distinguish one from another.

The Grand Elder stopped his escape at the head of the column, his voice carrying to the rear: "The entire army shall regroup and enter the city through the north gate. Do not linger in battle."

Su Xuan huddled in the central supply depot, his gaunt face expressionless. His deep-set eyes swept over the horde of beasts outside the city, his gaze lingering for a moment on the rolling yellow sand in the southeast corner.

The density of monsters there is the highest, and they are all earth-type.

Upon seeing the banners of the Vajra Sect, the city's garrison at the north gate opened a gap in their formation, and the army filed in.

The scene inside the city was no better than outside. The streets were lined with makeshift shelters for the wounded, with stretchers coming and going, and the screams of cultivators mingled with the bitter smell of spiritual medicine.

The Lord of Thunder City stood on a high platform inside the North Gate, his blue armor stained with dried blood, his face ashen. Beside him stood two deputy city lords at the peak of the Golden Core stage, both bearing injuries.

The Grand Elder landed and clasped his hands in greeting: "Li Xuanfeng, Grand Elder of the Vajra Sect, has been ordered to rush to the aid."

The Thunder City Lord's gaze swept over the Grand Elder and landed on the group behind him. After counting the number of people, his tense expression relaxed slightly: "Elder Li arrived quickly. The city can't hold on any longer. The supply of high-grade healing pills has been cut off for three days."

The Grand Elder turned to the side and pointed towards the central army: "Our sect's accompanying alchemist is here and can immediately take over the supply of pills."

The city lord's gaze swept over the gaunt middle-aged man carrying an old alchemy furnace next to the supply train, sized him up, but didn't pay him much attention.

A rogue alchemist in the late Foundation Establishment stage would normally be unworthy of a second glance, but in the current situation, anyone who can refine pills is a treasure.

"Alright, there's an empty alchemy workshop in the south of the city. It's fully equipped and still has some spiritual herbs left. I'll send someone to take you there."

Su Xuan cupped his hands in greeting, his voice hoarse: "Thank you for your trouble, City Lord."

The city lord glanced at him but didn't recognize him.

Of course I wouldn't recognize it.

With three hours of bone reshaping combined with a secret technique to conceal one's aura, it would be an impenetrable fortress unless a late-stage Nascent Soul expert deliberately performed a deep scan.

Danfang in the south of the city.

When Su Xuan pushed open the door, the shelves of spiritual herbs inside were mostly empty, and broken jade bottles and charred remnants of spiritual herbs were scattered on the ground. It was clear that the alchemist had fled after the furnace exploded.

He ignored all of that, placed the old alchemy furnace on the stone platform, took out his own bronze alchemy furnace from his storage ring, and started adding the ingredients as the Samadhi True Fire ignited.

The first batch took half an hour.

Nine high-quality healing pills flew out of the furnace, their surfaces glistening and exuding a fragrant aroma.

The inner disciple of Thunder City guarding the entrance widened his eyes, grabbed the jade bottle, and ran towards the wounded camp.

The second batch, the third batch, the fourth batch.

Su Xuan's movements were fluid and seamless: adding ingredients, controlling the fire, condensing the pill, and taking it out of the furnace, without even a moment to drink water.

Each batch has a 90% success rate in producing pills, and every single pill is of superior quality.

Two hours later, a long queue formed at the entrance of the alchemy workshop.

The news spread extremely quickly, and one after another, high-ranking cultivators from Thunder City rushed over. At first, they were just trying their luck, but after seeing those top-grade healing pills with golden patterns all over their bodies, their expressions changed.

"Mr. Chen, your Danshuai..."

"Stop talking nonsense. I can keep refining as many spiritual herbs as I have. The wounded can't wait." Su Xuan didn't even look up, his hands continuing to work.

The deputy city lord came in person, stood by the alchemy furnace for half an hour, and after leaving, said to the city lord, "That's no ordinary rogue alchemist; he's at least a fifth-grade alchemy master."

The city lord remained silent for two breaths: "The Vajra Sect has kept its secrets well hidden."

Blue Star, Dragon Kingdom Live Stream Room.

The screen was filled with a dense barrage of comments.

"I'm truly impressed by the contrast between Su Shen rescuing people and scouting locations at the same time."

"Look closely at Su Shen's eyes. Every time he opens the furnace lid, he glances out the window. That direction is southeast of the city."

"The Rock Horned Dragon is in the southeast direction; Su Shen is keeping an eye on it."

"The description of a doctor in a white coat wearing an assassin's night clothes underneath is brilliant."

"The Lord of Thunder City didn't recognize him at all. Su Shen's disguise technique is too amazing. I almost forgot that it was Su Shen."

Thunder City, the secret chamber of the alchemy workshop.

As night deepened, the fire for alchemy went out, and Su Xuan sat cross-legged on a futon with his eyes slightly closed.

His divine sense surged from between his brows, silently expanding outwards, penetrating the walls of the alchemy workshop, crossing the streets and buildings within the city, and continuing to spread outwards, crossing the city walls and covering most of the battlefield.

Southeast of the city, in an area where a large number of earth-type demonic beasts gather, a very dense earth-type spiritual energy fluctuation is slowly moving deep underground.

It's very deep, at least three hundred feet underground.

The Rock Horned Dragon did not show itself; it roamed underground like a lurking venomous snake, only sending out its beast hordes to wear down Thunder City's fighting strength.

clever.

Su Xuan withdrew his divine sense, his expression remaining unchanged.

The next day, another wave of beasts attacked the city.

The battle was small in scale. Three Golden Core level Rock Armor Beasts led several hundred low-level demonic beasts to charge the North Gate. The defenders of Thunder City, along with the support forces of the Vajra Sect, joined forces to suppress them, and the battle ended in half an hour.

Su Xuan didn't move at all, sitting in the alchemy workshop and continuing to start the furnace.

The Grand Elder sent someone to ask a question, and Su Xuan only replied with two words: "A test."

The elder understood immediately and didn't ask any more questions.

The following afternoon, the city lord's personal guard delivered a batch of high-grade spiritual herbs, which were from the city lord's private treasury. He asked Su Xuan to help refine a batch of Qi-restoring pills.

Su Xuan accepted it.

During a break from alchemy, he casually asked, "Has the City Lord fought against that Rock Horned Dragon?"

The guard hesitated for a moment: "I handed it over once. Three days ago, the city lord used his natal magic weapon to force it back, but that thing is tough and thick-skinned, so it wasn't seriously injured."

"Oh," Su Xuan tossed a spirit herb into the furnace, his tone casual.

"When does that thing appear? Is there a pattern?"

"It comes out from underground to patrol the night before each large-scale siege, and then officially launches the attack after dawn. The city lord said it is gathering strength, and each time it comes out it is a little stronger than the last time."

Su Xuan nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

After the guards left, he turned the fire in the alchemy furnace down to its lowest setting, took out a teleportation talisman from his storage ring, checked its spiritual energy reserves, confirmed it was intact, and then put it away.

He then took out three life-saving array plates, activated and tested them one by one, and found that they were functioning normally, so he put them away.

Finally, the four elements of spiritual energy gradually accelerated in the dantian, and the four colors of light—water, fire, metal, and wood—circulated for three great cycles in the Four Symbols Formation, with every strand of spiritual energy being compressed to the extreme purity.

Blue Star, Dragon Kingdom Live Stream Room.

"Su Shen is sharpening his sword. Look at that teleportation talisman and array plate. He's preparing an escape route."

"The guards said that the Rock Horned Dragon would come out to patrol the night before the attack on the city, and Su Shen now knows the time window."

"Wait, is Su Shen really planning to deal with that early Nascent Soul stage demon king all by himself?"

"Is this your first time watching Su Shen's live stream?"

"Good heavens, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator fighting an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator in one-on-one? If this happens, I'll eat my keyboard on live stream."

On the second night, Su Xuan continued refining pills until late at night as usual, then turned off the fire and sat down to meditate.

His divine sense spread out once more.

Three hundred feet underground, the dense earth-elemental spiritual energy began to rise.

Slow, but with a clear direction.

It is moving closer to the Earth's surface.

Su Xuan opened his eyes, and a light flickered in his deep-set eyes on his gaunt face.

tomorrow.

On the third day, it was still dark.

Su Xuan sat cross-legged in the secret room, his four elements of spiritual energy circulating at an unprecedented speed. The light of water, fire, metal, and wood formed a perfect cycle of the four elements in his dantian, and his spiritual pressure was compressed to the extreme.

Every muscle fiber of the Asura God Body was stretched to its maximum tension.

When he opened his eyes, the first hint of dawn was breaking on the horizon.

The ground beneath my feet began to shake.

It wasn't the kind of localized tremor you get when the city wall is hit; the entire Thunder City was shaking, and the earth itself was trembling.

Cracks appeared on the walls of the alchemy workshop, jade bottles on the shelves jingled, and in the distance came the exclamations of cultivators and the horns of assembly.

Su Xuan stood up and walked to the window.

To the southeast of the city, on the horizon, a vast expanse of yellow sand surged up from below the horizon, obscuring the sky. Behind the sand curtain, a massive black shadow was slowly rising from the ground. Two curved yellow horns pierced through the sand curtain first, their tips surrounded by a thick, almost tangible, earthy-yellow spiritual energy.

The spiritual pressure of a Nascent Soul level cultivator swept over from that direction, and at least thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators in the city were immediately forced to their knees.

Rock Horned Dragon.

The city lord's voice came from afar, hoarse with anger: "All troops prepare for battle!"