Chapter 131: The Might of the Golden Scale Guard

The night was deathly silent. During this period of tension so suffocating that even breathing felt unnatural, the streets of the capital were almost entirely devoid of human presence.

In the first few days after arriving in the Imperial Capital, the disciples of the hidden aristocratic families would often venture out at night to seek amusement. But after several of their number went missing under mysterious circumstances, they learned their lesson. Just like the native residents of the capital, they would bolt their doors and windows as soon as night fell, turning a deaf ear to anything happening outside.

Boom...

In the stillness of the night, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted, followed immediately by the earth-shaking sounds of a violent clash.

At this moment, the Duke of Belis’s estate, which spanned nearly a hundred acres, was completely surrounded. Countless torches illuminated the area as brightly as day.

In front of the estate, at the head of rows of soldiers, Emperor Tang Hen and Ye Tianya stood with their hands behind their backs, waiting in quiet composure.

Creak...

With a heavy, grating sound, the vermilion gates slowly swung open. The aged Duke of Belis stepped out, flanked by three Red-Robed Deacons of the Sacred Land.

"Tang Hen, am I to understand from this display that the Tianwu Empire intends to go to war with the Sacred Land once again?" One of the three deacons stepped forward slowly, showing complete disregard for the thousand soldiers and cultivators surrounding them.

If Ye Feng were here, he would have recognized this man instantly. Indeed, the speaker was Yang Yi, one of the three Red-Robed Cardinals from fifteen years ago.

"Release the prisoners and get out of Tianwu, and I might grant you a way out for now!" It was Ye Tianya who spoke. Usually a refined and gentle man, his brow was now etched with a chilling, violent ferocity, all traces of his former calm vanished.

Although the decision to launch a full-scale war against the Sacred Land had been made, everyone still hoped to avoid fighting within the capital itself.

A battle between cultivators leaves no room for mercy; everyone must fight with their full strength, or else the only one left to die would be themselves. But if they fought here, the millions of innocent civilians living in the capital would suffer a catastrophe, with at least several million lives likely to be lost in the carnage.

"Hmph! Fifteen years ago, Ye Feng was beaten into a pathetic cur by our Sacred Land and forced into hiding. Now that he has regained a sliver of his power, is he looking to act tough again?"

Another Red-Robed Deacon stepped out. A peerless, surging pressure exploded outward, whipping up a gale on the flat ground.

Behind Ye Tianya and his party, nearly a hundred soldiers were thrown back several meters like withered leaves in the wind.

Thump, thump, thump...

The sound of bodies clumsily hitting the ground echoed through the air. The soldiers, who had been standing in precise, disciplined formation, now stood with pale faces, struggling to regain their footing.

"Roar... what are you prattling on about? If you ask me, let's just charge in and turn this place upside down! Those old men in red robes don't look half bad—how about you leave them for me to eat?"

A thunderous roar shook the earth as the Great Ape, a hulking figure of explosive power, charged in from the side.

Behind the man-shaped incarnation of the Great Ape followed six other massive apes, each nearly thirty feet tall. These six had been the life-and-death brothers of Uncle Ape, lured down from the mountains by his silver-tongued persuasion.

"Hmph! So that’s it—you have the Luoyan Mountain Range backing you. No wonder you’ve become so bold as to provoke our Sacred Land. Very well, the Sacred Land just happens to be short of a guard dog. The seven of you will do nicely!"

Even surrounded by a heavy siege, the three deacons remained arrogant. Having spent their lives in positions of power, they could never bring themselves to bow to these people.

Roar!

The Great Ape exploded with fury, unleashing a heaven-shaking howl. Back in the mountains, who would have dared to speak to his brothers like that? They were always the ones doing the eating; that someone actually wanted to "tame" them was an insult to their dignity as masters of the wild.

Boom, boom, boom...

The six giant apes struck. Six fists, each the size of a washbasin and brimming with violent demonic energy, slammed forward with overwhelming force.

It was a staggering sight: six giants, nearly thirty feet tall, leaping into the air simultaneously, their furry iron fists surging with peerless power.

"Courting death..."

The three deacons reacted instantly. Milky-white spiritual power encased them. As their hands swept through the air, waves of palm strikes, like a surging tide, roared outward.

Bang, bang, bang, bang...

Fists and palms collided. A terrifying shockwave of spiritual energy scattered in all directions. The gates of the Duke’s estate were shredded like cotton, sending splinters of wood flying.

Not only that, the massive bluestone walls collapsed under the horrific impact, sending boulders hurtling through the air to shatter distant houses and trees.

"Kill!"

Seeing that it had come to this, Tang Hen and Ye Tianya no longer harbored any womanly kindness. Six elderly members of the royal family charged forward, locking onto the final Red-Robed Deacon.

"I’m going to save the hostages; Belis is yours..." With the Sacred Land’s experts all occupied, Ye Tianya waved his hand and led hundreds of guards charging into the estate.

Kill!

A sudden change occurred. No sooner had Ye Tianya and his men rushed into the ruins than the sounds of intense combat erupted from deep within the estate.

The next moment, hundreds of Sacred Land cultivators clad in milk-white robes surged out.

"Golden Scale Guards, tear them to pieces for me!"

Regarding the Sacred Land, the Ye family had no intention of showing any mercy. At Ye Tianya’s roar, ranks of guards clad in shimmering golden scale armor charged in from all directions.

The Golden Scale Guards moved in perfect formation. Even as spiritual energy surged from their bodies, no one broke rank; they advanced with disciplined, uniform steps and ironclad military protocol.

Stopping ten meters from the Sacred Land cultivators, the hundreds of guards halted in perfect unison.

Stab!

With a unified shout, the hundreds of men thrust their long spears forward simultaneously.

Hum...

The void roared as a massive, thirty-foot-long golden spearhead materialized above the guards' heads.

Strike!

The spearhead shot forth.

Sshhh, sshhh, sshhh...

Like a plow tearing through soil, the thirty-foot-long projection of the spear tore through the air with unstoppable force. Everything in its path—flowers, trees, and Sacred Land cultivators alike—was shattered into a mist of gore and debris upon impact.

It was a massacre—a completely one-sided slaughter.

Even when dozens of Sacred Land experts released their spiritual energy simultaneously to form a shield, it could not stop the giant spear for even a fraction of a second.

Everyone was stunned. Not only the Sacred Land cultivators, but the remaining Tianwu soldiers stood frozen, unable to utter a sound. Many had heard the name of the Golden Scale Guards, but few had ever witnessed their terrifying combat prowess.

Today, the mysterious Golden Scale Guards had finally revealed their true, horrific fangs to the world.