The Qiantang Empire had been passed down for an exceedingly long period of history. This Imperial Capital was the headquarters and foundation of the empire. It could be said that the majority of the Qiantang Empire's core members lived here.
Now, for the Tang Emperor to suddenly issue an order for everyone to immediately evacuate, and even to leave the Qiantang Great World... this matter was far too abrupt!
Although everyone within the Imperial Capital was already aware that a terrible mishap had occurred in the city, they all believed that the imperial family's higher-ups would certainly find a way to resolve it and restore the Imperial Capital to its former state.
After all, the Qiantang Empire was a top-tier superpower within the Main World, with an ancient lineage, profound heritage, and immense overall strength. In this stretch of space-time, not a single faction was willing to provoke the Qiantang Great World, let alone annihilate the Qiantang Empire!
Therefore, upon hearing the Tang Emperor's roars, most people in the Imperial Capital were stunned, doubting if they had misheard.
"What are you standing there for? Those who don't want to die should flee immediately, the faster the better!" bellowed the Tang Emperor.
Even as he roared, the Tang Emperor personally took the lead, shooting into the sky and charging into the distance.
The other Qiantang Empire experts who had just followed the Tang Emperor up from underground also followed him, fleeing into the distance.
Seeing this scene, the other high-ranking members of the Qiantang Empire understood that the situation was dire. Even the Tang Emperor was fleeing in a sorry state; for them, his subjects, to remain here was meaningless. Thus, the majority of the Qiantang Empire's leadership hesitated no longer, swiftly unfurling their movements as they too fled into the distance.
"How... how could this be? This is the very foundation of our Qiantang Empire. Our great empire rose to prominence from here... I entered the palace at five years old and have served two generations of sovereigns in my time. This place is everything to me, my entire life. If I leave here... where else can I go? I will live and die with the Imperial Capital!"
An elderly, stooped eunuch with snow-white hair stood in the courtyard of a resplendent palace, watching the Imperial Capital which had now descended into complete chaos. He wailed loudly, then slowly sat down cross-legged, deciding to live and die with the Imperial Capital.
Not only this old eunuch, but a cohort of aged ministers, eunuchs, palace maids, and a great many others who had spent their entire lives within the city chose not to flee. Instead, they calmly returned to their usual living quarters, resolved to live and die with the Imperial Capital.
Of course, most people, upon hearing the Tang Emperor's command, immediately chose to escape.
"Hahaha... Can you escape?!
The Qiantang Empire will fall today!"
A ghastly-white Earth Dragon suddenly erupted from beneath the ground. Standing atop its enormous dragon head was a white-clad elder, hands clasped behind his back, roaring with laughter. It was none other than Lu Yuanzu.
"You will all die!" snarled Lu Yuanzu, his eyes brimming with a frenzied killing intent.
Back then, he had accepted Zhu Qiantang's invitation to help set up this Supreme Son of Heaven Terrain, motivated both by the tempting, substantial reward Zhu Qiantang had offered, and by Zhu Qiantang's illustrious status as a prince of the Jin Dynasty, wishing to curry favor. Who could have imagined that after dedicating his utmost effort and expending considerable energy to complete the terrain, he would be betrayed and ambushed by Zhu Qiantang? His physical body was shattered into pieces, his remaining Remnant Soul was split into several fragments, each separately suppressed within this terrain, condemned to suffer agonizingly through the endless years.
Today, at long last, his chance for revenge had come!
It was no wonder Lu Yuanzu harbored such terrifying killing intent!
With a world-shaking rumble, vast, bloody crimson mist billowed and churned, completely submerging the entire Imperial Capital and a great swathe of the surrounding region.
Howling, a dense swarm of ashen-white Earth Dragons surged forward like locusts crossing the land, pouncing upon the forces of the Qiantang Empire.
One colossal white tiger after another kept burrowing out from underground, hunting down the Qiantang Empire's higher-ups.
Countless headless creatures, eerie beings clad in white grasping white staves, drifted like vengeful spirits everywhere, chasing after and slaughtering the armies of the Qiantang Empire.
Looking out, the entire Imperial Capital had transformed into a savage slaughterhouse. Every moment, countless people of the Qiantang Empire were being slain.
"Don't be afraid! Let's join forces and fight these monsters together!" some Qiantang Empire military commanders shouted, their eyes blazing with fury as they attempted to organize their troops for a counterattack.
However, the counteroffensive of the Qiantang Empire's armies seemed utterly pointless. For the white Earth Dragons, the giant tigers, and those eerie beings were all conjured illusions formed by the terrain; they were not real living entities. Once shattered, they would reform in the blink of an eye and rejoin the fray.
In short, these ghastly creatures were unkillable!
Therefore, the Qiantang Empire's armies quickly began to collapse, constantly falling back, then turning tail and fleeing outright.
"Back then, Zhu Qiantang deceived Senior Lu Yuanzu into helping him set up this terrain, then murdered Senior Lu, establishing the Qiantang Empire and leaving behind this faction across the fabric of space-time.
Today, Senior Lu Yuanzu uses this very terrain to destroy the Qiantang Empire's Imperial Capital, killing so many of its people, essentially severing the very roots of the Qiantang Empire.
This truly is the karmic cycle. Retribution never fails!" Ye Yunfei inwardly mused, observing the chaotic, crumbling state of the Imperial Capital.
"Young man, take action! I have already destroyed that Remnant Soul of Zhu Qiantang. Now, let's attack together, killing as many of these Qiantang Empire experts as we can.
If we let them escape, they will definitely seek revenge on you!" Lu Yuanzu yelled when he saw Ye Yunfei.
"Die!" Even as he spoke, Lu Yuanzu had already chased down a Initial Earth Immortal. With one punch, he obliterated that Initial Earth Immortal, reducing him to a cloud of bloody mist.
Then, with a casual wave of his hand, he caused over a dozen True Immortal experts to explode one after another, like a series of scarlet fireworks.
"That's true. I imagine these Qiantang Empire people already hate me to the very bone! But it doesn't matter. By daring to lay hands on my people, they had already become mortal enemies to begin with!" Ye Yunfei smiled faintly upon hearing Lu Yuanzu's words.
Speaking of it, Ye Yunfei was the true root cause of the turmoil that had descended upon the Qiantang Empire's Imperial Capital.
If Ye Yunfei had not traveled to the world beneath the Imperial Capital, encountered Lu Yuanzu's suppressed Remnant Soul, and taken action to help him break the seals... such calamity would never have befallen the Qiantang Empire's Imperial Capital!
One could only imagine how deeply the Qiantang Empire's imperial family members must hate Ye Yunfei!
"Take action! Don't you want to kill a few people to vent your anger?" Lu Yuanzu chased after another Earth Immortal expert. His hands swept forward simultaneously, and an ethereal Compass materialized, rapidly expanding. Within the Compass, all sorts of lattice lines and symbols emerged, representing meanings like the Twenty-Four Mountains, Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, constellations, and more. A silver needle vibrated intensely within. Then, everything within the Compass whirled into a rapid rotation, soon evolving into a miniature realm, a small cosmos that instantly sucked that Earth Immortal into the illusory cosmos formed from the Compass.
"Ahhh...!" Heart-wrenching screams erupted from the Earth Immortal, which soon fell silent. No one could know what torment he had endured within that illusory cosmos.
"Truly formidable!" Ye Yunfei couldn't help but exclaim in admiration seeing Lu Yuanzu kill several Earth Immortals in mere moments.
Ye Yunfei understood that Lu Yuanzu was only a Remnant Soul; his inherent battle prowess couldn't possibly be this formidable. He was mainly using the power of the terrain here to kill.
Of course, Lu Yuanzu had been an Earth Protecting Immortal in life, proficient in Geomancy Technique. Harnessing the terrain for slaughter was itself a testament to his prowess!
"Very well, I'll kill a few too!" Ye Yunfei's figure flickered, accompanied by a towering surge of Earth Qi Energy, as he pursued the Qiantang Empire's fleeing leadership at a breathtaking speed.