Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

Qianjing City, the core capital of the Great Yuan Dynasty, is now completely shrouded in the flames of war and smoke.

The hundred-foot-high iron city wall collapsed with a roar, and dust billowed out like a giant wave.

At the city gate, the bronze door, weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, was twisted and deformed by Lin Wuwen's punch and fell helplessly into the ruins.

"Charge in! Capture Qian Yuanzi alive!"

"Disciples of the Divine Sword Sect, heed my command! Seal off the void! Do not let a remnant of the royal family escape!"

Tens of thousands of disciples of the Divine Sword Sect flew through the air on their swords, forming a dense net of flowing light that locked the sky above Qianjing City.

On the ground, more than 70,000 independent martial arts practitioners and surrendered rebel soldiers, armed with weapons and with bloodshot eyes, surged like a flood along the imperial road and main thoroughfares, heading towards the palace.

The streets of the Yuan capital were extremely wide, enough to accommodate eight carriages side by side on ordinary days.

However, at this moment, the imperial road paved with white marble was covered with a layer of viscous blood, and every step made a chilling "viscous" sound.

"Kill them!"

Thousands of rebel soldiers, shields in hand, charged furiously at the last line of defense surrounding the palace.

Ahead of them were 20,000 Imperial Guards of the Yuan Dynasty who had retreated to the Qianqing Gate.

These imperial guards were all composed of scions of noble families and die-hard royal loyalists. Each of them was well-equipped, and the talismanic spears in their hands gleamed with a cold light as they engaged in a frenzied battle with the rebel soldiers.

"These traitors! Do they really think our Great Yuan Dynasty has no one left?!"

On the city wall, Qian Yuanzi watched the Imperial Guards retreating in disarray, trembling with rage.

However, something even more despairing and unbelievable happened.

Within the capital city of Qianjing, countless previously closed gates suddenly burst open.

Ordinary city dwellers and rogue cultivators, who had always been regarded as "food" and "ants" by the Great Yuan royal family, suddenly emerged from the alleys, wielding machetes, shovels, and even some crude, low-level talismanic artifacts.

"Kill these bloodsucking dog emperors!"

"The Yuan Dynasty royal family doesn't treat us like human beings. Every year they kidnap our children and send them to the underworld! Today, I'll fight you to the death!"

"Long live the Supreme Lord Chu! Long live the Divine Sword Sect!"

Hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens and low-level cultivators from Qianjing surged out from behind the rebel army like a tidal wave, not to help the royal family, but spontaneously gathered into a raging torrent that crashed into the Great Yuan Imperial Guard's defenses from the flanks and rear.

"What?!"

Qian Yuanzi's eyes widened, and he almost couldn't catch his breath.

He never expected that these lowly people, who would never fight back or retaliate against insults, would turn against him at this moment!

For three thousand years, the Great Yuan Dynasty has maintained its imperial lineage and ensured the supply of cultivation resources. Unbeknownst to many, the royal family has secretly kept and consumed countless mortals and independent cultivators. The maintenance of the underground sword immortal's ruins requires the replenishment of the essence blood of tens of thousands of living people every year.

This resentment and hatred, which had been building up for thousands of years, erupted like a volcano the moment Chu Chang breached the city walls.

"Your Majesty! The situation is hopeless! These lowly people have gone mad!"

The Grand Elder's face turned deathly pale, and he pulled Qian Yuanzi back repeatedly.

Under the frenzied onslaught of hundreds of thousands of civilians and rebel soldiers, the well-equipped 20,000 Imperial Guards were instantly submerged by the vast sea. The defensive lines crumbled, limbs flew everywhere, and blood even flowed into the moat surrounding the palace.

The army's advance is aimed directly at the Golden Palace!

…………

…………

…………

In front of the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace.

Suddenly, a violent ripple appeared in the void here.

"You traitors, how dare you rebel and cause chaos?!"

A thunderous roar exploded in mid-air.

Immediately afterwards, three incredibly powerful beams of light shot out from the depths of the palace and landed on the white marble square at the Meridian Gate.

They were three royal elders dressed in bright yellow Taoist robes. They exuded the powerful aura of the Purple Mansion Realm (commonly known as the Profound Realm in the Great Yuan Dynasty). Although their faces were withered and their hair was white, the magical power fluctuations unique to Purple Mansion Realm experts still caused the void to distort slightly.

These three were the last trump cards of the Yuan Dynasty royal family, apart from the retired emperor who was in seclusion.

Two of the elders had reached the early stage of the Tongyou realm, but their lifespans were nearing their end, and their bodies emanated a strong aura of death; while the one in the middle was at the peak of the mid-stage of the Tongyou realm, and was the Supreme Second Elder of the Great Yuan Imperial Family.

"It's the Supreme Elders!"

"The Supreme Elder has made his move! Traitor, prepare to die!"

The remaining Imperial Guards seemed to have seen a savior and roared wildly.

The Second Elder looked at the overwhelming rebel army and civilians before him, a glint of savagery and coldness flashing in his eyes: "A bunch of ants, daring to defy the might of Heaven? Die, all of you!"

He suddenly raised his right hand, and a crimson feather fan magic weapon appeared out of thin air.

"A raging fire will spread, burning everything!"

He suddenly waved his feather fan, and the crimson flames of the Southern Ming Dynasty transformed into a hundred-foot-long fire dragon, roaring towards the rebel soldiers and civilians at the forefront with a terrifying temperature capable of burning mountains and boiling seas.

Even before the fire dragon landed, the terrifying temperature melted the white jade bricks below. If it had landed on a crowd, at least tens of thousands would have been reduced to ashes in an instant!

"Old man, your opponent is me."

A cold and calm voice suddenly rang in the ears of the Second Elder.

Before he could react, a black and white Tai Chi sword aura tore through the void and struck the crimson fire dragon at its vital point without warning.

boom!

The seemingly ferocious fire dragon, upon touching the Tai Chi sword energy, couldn't even withstand half a breath and was instantly and neatly cut in half, turning into a rain of fire that scattered across the sky.

"Who?!"

The two elders were shocked and quickly retreated.

The void rippled, and Chu Chang, dressed in black and holding the Duanchen Ancient Sword, stepped out of the void with a cold expression.

Behind him, fourteen demonic puppets stood in a row, their overwhelming deathly aura and demonic intent instantly sweeping away the heat wave in the Meridian Gate Square, replacing it with a bone-chilling cold as if one had fallen into an ice cellar.

"You are Chu Chang?"

The Second Elder stared intently at Chu Chang, feeling the unfathomable and terrifying aura emanating from him, and his eyes twitched violently.

"Peak of the Profound Realm... You actually reached this point!"

The two royal elders beside him, who were at the early stage of the Tongyou realm, were even more horrified.

They have cultivated diligently their entire lives, and now, nearing the end of their lives, they are only at the initial stage of the Profound Realm. Yet this young man before them, judging by his bone age of no more than a hundred years, has already reached the peak of the Profound Realm, a level unmatched by anyone in the Great Yuan Dynasty for a thousand years!

"Enough with the nonsense."

Chu Chang stroked the Broken Dust Ancient Sword and said calmly, "Considering the difficulty of your cultivation, I will send you on your way with dignity."

"Arrogant brat! When I was cultivating, your ancestors weren't even born yet! Set up the Three Emperors Dragon-Locking Formation!"

The Second Elder roared angrily.

Three royal experts at the Transcendent Realm instantly teleported, subtly forming a triangular shape around Chu Chang. They simultaneously unleashed their natal magic weapons: a crimson feather fan, a mysterious ice mirror, and a purple-gold spear.

The three magical treasures shone brightly in mid-air, outlining a huge bright yellow array, attempting to seal Chu Chang within it.

However, Chu Chang's expression remained completely unchanged in the face of the combined attack from three experts at the Tongyou Realm.

"In the face of absolute power, formations are nothing but illusions."

Chu Chang closed his eyes slightly, then suddenly opened them.

[In the realm of chaos, all realms have been annihilated!]

hum!

A gray halo emanated from Chu Chang and instantly spread outwards in all directions.

The "Three Emperors Dragon-Locking Formation," condensed by three powerful cultivators at the Tongyou Realm with their life's essence, was like boiling water being poured into ice and snow the moment it touched the gray light circle. The runes on the formation instantly dimmed and melted.

Moreover, the life force of those two early-stage Tongyou elders, whose lifespans were nearing their end, began to drain away at an alarming rate the instant they were swept away by the gray chaotic energy.

"What...what kind of power is this?! My lifespan! My magical power!"

An old man screamed in terror. He discovered that his already dwindling lifespan had been robbed of a hundred years in just two breaths, and he had instantly become skin and bones, like a withered skeleton.

"Taiyin Slays the Gods!"

Chu Chang's figure swayed, leaving an afterimage in the same spot.

The next moment, he appeared behind the dying elder, the Broken Dust Ancient Sword transforming into a dark, ghostly light that gently swept across the area.

puff!

A large, fine human head shot into the sky. Before the Tongyou Golden Core within its body could even self-destruct, it was directly shattered by the chaotic true essence attached to the Duanchen Ancient Sword.

The first Transcendent Realm cultivator has fallen!

"Third brother!"

The Second Elder's eyes widened in horror, but before he could even grieve, Chu Chang's ghostly voice rang in his ears once more.

"Next, it's your turn."

Chu Chang struck out with his palm.

【Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Palm!】

A black demonic hand, obscuring the sky and the sun, condensed in the void. Countless nether chains were wrapped around the hand, and it brought down with an overbearing aura that suppressed everything. It slammed down on the Second Elder.

With nowhere to hide, the Second Elder could only bite his tongue and spit a mouthful of blood onto the crimson feather fan in front of him, desperately activating his magic weapon to defend himself.

boom!

As the demonic hand descended, the crimson feather fan magic weapon let out a mournful cry, its spiritual light instantly wiped away, turning into fragments that scattered in all directions.

The Second Elder was struck as if by a heavy blow, coughing up blood and flying backward. His meridians were almost completely severed by this palm strike.

"go."

Chu Chang flicked his finger.

Lin Wuwen behind him let out a silent roar, and his huge dark golden demonic body instantly crossed space, punching the chest of the remaining early-stage Tongyou elder.

boom!

The terrifying power blasted the old man's body into a cloud of blood mist.

In just a few dozen breaths, two of the three Tongyou Realm elders, whom the Great Yuan royal family was so proud of, were dead and one was seriously injured.

The Second Elder lay slumped on the ground, his hair disheveled, his face filled with despair and misery.

He watched Chu Chang approach him step by step, and said in a hoarse voice, "Chu Chang... don't be so smug. His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus is about to break through to the Tongyou realm! The day His Majesty emerges from seclusion will be the day your Divine Sword Sect is wiped out!"

"Then I will send him on his way under the Heavenly Tribulation of the Netherworld."

Chu Chang remained expressionless, and with a gentle thrust of the Broken Dust Ancient Sword, it pierced through the brow of the Second Elder.

The raging chaotic true essence instantly annihilated his soul.

Thus, the last remaining experts of the Great Yuan imperial family at the Tongyou Realm were all wiped out!

"The Supreme Ancestors... are all dead..."

Emperor Qian Yuanzi of the Great Yuan Dynasty, who was observing the battle from behind the Meridian Gate, collapsed to the ground the moment he saw the Second Elder of the Supreme Court being pierced through the heart by a sword, his lower body soaked.

He looked at Chu Chang, who was walking through the air like a demon god, and all that remained in his mind was despair.

"Your Majesty! Go to the forbidden area immediately! The Emperor Emeritus is our only hope!"

The Grand Master was terrified and grabbed Qian Yuanzi, fleeing frantically towards the forbidden area of ​​the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the deepest part of the palace.

Meanwhile, the 100,000 rebel troops and civilians behind them had surged into the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace like a tidal wave. The glory of the Yuan Dynasty for three thousand years had, at this moment, been completely reduced to ruins under Chu Chang's feet.

Chu Chang stood in the center of the white marble square, looking at the dark thunderclouds gathering deep within the palace and the ancient sword intent underground that was becoming increasingly violent and seemed about to break through the seal. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"The stage of spiritual connection... I have been waiting for a long time."