When Dongyang Yun riled up his men, Jiang Ling appeared before them. "Dongyang Yun, you're mistaken! The Theocrats will never perish, but a traitor like you that killed the previous autarch must die!" His voice was pure and just, a stark contrast against Dongyang Yun's own savage voice.
"Ninth, stop spouting crap. You're just using that as an excuse to betray the country so you can take the throne for yourself. If you have any balls, let’s fight one on one today!"
"What a joke. A traitor like you shall be dealt with by Palace Lord Weisheng. What a country needs is a wise ruler, not a battle maniac like you!"
As they spoke, Weisheng Yunxi and her Nebula Emperor Whale appeared before Dongyang Yun.
"Palace Lord Weisheng, you’re truly fierce today. Are you mad about me using the Cyclic Mirror? My forebears have been using it for generations without the Decimo Dao Palace so much as making a whimper, so why now? Don't tell me you're trying to trick this traitor into working with you with the ultimate goal of ending Theocrat rule over the nation so that you can take over?" Dongyang Yun laughed maniacally.
"Shut up!" Weisheng Yunxi didn't bother with unnecessary talk. She acted immediately, waving for her whale to attack Dongyang Yun.
"Weisheng Yunxi you dastardly woman! Your ambition to overturn the Theocracy is abhorrent! Jiang Ling, you will doom us Theocrats as a result of your personal greedy ambitions. You shall be the eternal sinner of our clan! When you die, our ancestors will definitely ensure you can never rest in peace!"
Dongyang Yun's eyes were bloodshot. His fight with the palace lord caused such magnificent shockwaves that countless buildings in the Imperial City collapsed. Jiang Ling hurriedly gave chase. Right at that moment, Li Wudi appeared before them and blocked their way.
"Ninth Prince, please take a rest as our palace lord fights. It wouldn't be good if Your Highness gets injured in the crossfire."
"What is the meaning of this? Don't tell me that the dao palace intends to take my clan's Cyclic Mirror?!"
"Your Highness is overthinking this. Once we defeat Dongyang Yun, our palace lord shall return the mirror to you. The dao palace is powerful and is often plotted against by those who intend to topple us but aren't able to. Please don't believe the lies of those people. After all, what is the dao palace but a simple place of learning? Ruling the nation is the prerogative of the Theocrats, as it has always been. Once Dongyang Yun is dead, Your Highness will be taking over his men and consolidating your power among the Theocrats, so there’s no need to worry when Your Highness will come to wield so much power. It would be laughable."
As long as Li Wudi was there, the ninth prince wouldn't be able to interfere. As they spoke, Weisheng Yunxi was dominating Dongyang Yun. His hydras were already bloodied all over and they seemed like their lives were in danger.
At that moment, Dongyang Yun took out the Cyclic Mirror, as expected, blocking the palace lord's Radiant Astral Chain with a heavenly pattern formation that formed to protect him, keeping him completely untouched.
"Haha, vile vixen, what kind of empyrean saint are you? You're too weak! You aren't able to touch me at all, let alone kill me. What do you plan to do, eh? Ran out of tricks? Then stop embarrassing yourself!" He was so far gone that he was referring to himself in the singular rather than the haughty royal plural he usually employed.
Using the Cyclic Mirror was in fact protecting him from the palace lord. Everyone had been waiting for him to die, since many would surrender immediately as long as he did. But if he survived, the battle would be forced to continue. However, Weisheng Yunxi's rampant attacks weren't able to do much.
"That's the Cyclic Mirror!"
"Why is it with the Theocrats? Didn't Li Muyang steal it?"
"No matter what, with the mirror around, Dongyang Yun is untouchable!"
Dongyang Yun's men had their hopes up once more when the palace lord actually stopped attacking. She didn't say anything, and people thought she was about to give up. But at that moment, she stretched her palm out toward the dao palace and gripped the empty air. Suddenly, the ground began shaking."What’s the palace lord trying to do?" Tianming asked Bai Mo.
"She's converting the Evil Suppression Pillar from formation form to evil-suppression form!"
"What does that even mean?!"
"The pillar is a divine artifact with two forms. The formation form is the Evil Suppression Formation, but the evil-suppression form is a weapon on par with your Grand-Orient Sword. She's planning to use it to shatter the Cyclic Mirror. To be honest, the pillar has remained untouched for quite some time."
The Evil Suppression Formation was the cornerstone of the dao palace, for without it, a 'nation within a nation' like the Decimo Dao Palace would have long been killed off by the Theocrats. Otherwise, there was no way they would be allowed to roam free, especially with the savagery of the early Theocrats.
"The palace lord has been familiar with the pillar since she was young and is able to summon it in weapon form to her side. In the future, you should be able to do the same with your sword too," Bai Mo added.
"Alright! Hall King, you mean to say that the pillar's weapon form is our trump card to kill Dongyang Yun, right? After we take the mirror, we can start killing off the rest of the Theocrats, right?"
"That's right. As long as it works out, we'll no longer need to use the Evil Suppression Formation to protect ourselves from now on, but will be able to prosper peacefully. Now, the Evil Suppression Pillar will finally be able to show its true power."
In other words, the Decimo Dao Palace would switch from defense to offense.
At that moment, a black beam of light came shooting from the direction of the dao palace and manifested in Weisheng Yunxi's hand as a black staff. Tianming had seen it as a pillar this whole time, and it was his first time witnessing the evil-suppression form. This was a divine artifact on par with the Grand-Orient Sword. While it looked simple, it contained unspeakable power that couldn't be casually unleashed.
"The Evil Suppression Pillar can be used as a weapon too?!" Many others were just as confused about what they were witnessing. Jiang Ling and Dongyang Yun's expressions also shifted.
"Wicked woman, have you gone mad? You know that this means your dao palace is no longer protected, right?"
"After I kill you, I can go back and restore the formation," Weisheng Yunxi said.
"Oh, that sounds rather bold. But are you sure you'll be able to make it back in the first place?" Dongyang Yun was looking down and chuckling uncontrollably. He seemed utterly elated.
But the palace lord ignored him and attacked at full force along with her whale. This was a clash between two divine artifacts; however, Weisheng Yunxi was stronger than Dongyang Yun, so the fight was as good as settled!
Wham! When the pillar struck the mirror’s surface, Dongyang Yun was sent flying and spat out blood.
"Hahahaha!" he laughed with his arms held wide. "Come, kill me! Kill me and take over the Theocracy! You'll be the savior of everyone in this nation!"
The only response that came from the palace lord was another strike. Once more, the pillar slammed into the mirror, causing Dongyang Yun to spit out even more blood.
"Oh, Weisheng Yunxi, you're far too weak. Your cultivation is decent, I'll give you that, but your methods are child's play at best," he mocked, much to everyone's anger. He was already about to die, so he had no right to say something like that.
"Goodbye and good riddance!" Weisheng Yunxi cried as she went in for a third strike.
Everyone thought that Dongyang Yun was definitely going to die this time. Right at that moment, the pillar struck Dongyang Yun on the head after he grabbed the mirror tightly in his arms. His flesh was exploding all over the place.
"Dongyang Yun is finally dead!" cried the other side.
"It's a little too soon to celebrate," said a calm, thunderous voice all of a sudden. Everyone's hearts skipped a beat at hearing it. Turning to look, they saw the rubble beneath Dongyang Yun blast apart as an old man in black robes came out and stood by his side. The moment the man in black took the Cyclic Mirror back, Dongyang Yun relaxed and slumped to the ground.
"Lord Father!" he cried passionately, announcing his identity to everyone. In an instant, everybody recognized him and the entire battlefield fell silent. The forces of the Theocrats, Decimo Dao Palace, Ancient Clans, Saint Martial Manor, and the rest widened their eyes in disbelief, completely flabbergasted.
"Autarch Qian!" someone cried. The words felt like a hammer that struck everyone squarely in the head. They were all seeing the same thing: the Primeval Autarch had come back from the dead!
Many people had their doubts when word came out that he died. As time passed, those in the dao palace watched as the Theocrats fought each other and reduced the Divine Capital to rubble, eventually becoming convinced that the previous autarch had truly died. Nobody would go so far and do such cruel things to achieve their ambitions, after all, yet Autarch Qian had done exactly that.
In other words, he’d given all he had to set up this elaborate plot and spin everyone in circles! Instantly, everyone realized what his true goal was. Now, the Decimo Dao Palace was no longer protected by the Evil Suppression Formation, and their core members were in the Imperial City.
At the same time, Jiang Ling quickly knelt with a fervent expression and prostrated himself to his father, along with everyone else from the Dongyang Clan, Jiang Clan, Ancient Clans, Saint Martial Manor, Dazzling Pavillion, and the other sects from the nine great realms.
The only ones that didn’t kneel were those from Decimo Dao Palace. This was Autarch Qian's plan all along: their utter annihilation!