Chapter Twenty: What It Means to Be a Great Emperor—One Step Across the Galaxy, Welcomed by the Heavenly Dao

“The Emperor of Azure Flame Martial Arts—has he finally arrived...?”

“And it’s his true form manifesting...”

Xiao Qingtian stared at the figure in the void, a being like a demonic god, unrivaled and overwhelming. His heart suddenly sank, his face darkened with extreme displeasure.

The current plight of the Xiao family was entirely thanks to this man!

Now that the Emperor of Azure Flame had personally descended here, if Patriarch Xiao Xuan couldn’t return in time, the Xiao family’s fate today would be grim indeed.

“What a useless wretch!”

After the Emperor of Azure Flame arrived at the Xiao family’s stronghold, he glanced coldly at the purple-robed subordinate kneeling before him, his expression utterly merciless.

Clearly, he was deeply dissatisfied with the purple-robed elder’s performance.

The elder had brought the imperial decree of the quasi-emperor but was beaten down like a dead dog and forced to kneel humbly before the Xiao family. This was a complete disgrace to the Emperor of Azure Flame himself.

“My incompetence has brought dishonor. I beg the Emperor’s pardon!”

The purple-robed elder’s face was filled with shame; he dared not raise his eyes to meet the Emperor’s gaze.

The Emperor of Azure Flame coldly averted his eyes and looked toward the Xiao family’s stronghold, snorting disdainfully.

“I, the Emperor, have issued the great imperial decree, yet you not only defy it but also assault my subordinate. Are you seeking death?”

As he spoke, a majestic quasi-emperor’s pressure swept toward the Xiao family’s base.

Yet at the same moment, the great imperial decree suspended over the Xiao family’s stronghold seemed to sense something. It glowed faintly, and an unmatched imperial aura cascaded down, instantly dispelling the dignity the Emperor of Azure Flame had projected.

The quasi-emperor’s pressure was still no match for the true power of the great imperial decree!

“Could this be the true power of a great emperor?”

Seeing this, a barely perceptible trace of unease flashed in the Emperor of Azure Flame’s eyes, and his heart churned with turmoil.

“However, I am merciful and willing to spare the Xiao family a way out.”

“Hand over that woman and the Xiao family’s imperial scripture, and have your current family head kneel before me and commit self-punishment. All other members must relinquish their cultivation. Only then shall I, the Emperor, show mercy and forgive your family’s insolence this once.”

Upon hearing these terms, the Xiao family was still stunned, but the elders of other ancient sects erupted in uproar.

The conditions set by the Emperor of Azure Flame were unbearably harsh!

To surrender the imperial scripture? That was the very foundation of the imperial clan. To give that up was complete humiliation.

Not to mention demanding the family head’s suicide and the entire clan’s self-abasement. These terms treated the Xiao family as less than human.

It was effectively the destruction of their future—cast down from the divine pedestal of the imperial lineage to become mere mortals.

“Arrogant! Even if the Xiao family were to perish, we would never agree to such terms. Emperor of Azure Flame, abandon this foolish hope!”

“I, the Xiao family, would rather die standing than kneel begging for life!”

Xiao Qingtian glared furiously at the Emperor of Azure Flame, a fire of wrath burning in his eyes.

If it were only his own life for the safety of the whole family, he would not hesitate.

But the Emperor’s terms demanded the entire Xiao family’s destruction!

To accept would be to become nothing more than dogs beneath the Emperor of Azure Flame’s heel, never again able to raise their heads in the Tianxuan Continent.

Worse still, they would live lives even lower than dogs and pigs!

“The imperial scripture... so that is his true objective,” muttered Xiao Jinyu, standing nearby, her anger tempered by reason.

She had discerned the Emperor of Azure Flame’s real aim: it was not her personally, but the grand imperial legacy passed down through the Xiao family.

No wonder the Emperor had been so relentless toward the Xiao clan. His true target was this!

A clear light shone in Xiao Jinyu’s eyes as she fully understood the Emperor’s intent—he was after the Xiao family’s great imperial inheritance.

“Hm?!”

Seeing Xiao Qingtian dare to defy him, the Emperor of Azure Flame’s cold fury deepened.

“Very well. I have not been this angry in a long time.”

“This great imperial decree can protect your Xiao family temporarily, but do you think it can shield you forever?”

“Hmph. When this decree fades, I will surely annihilate your entire clan, leaving no chickens or dogs behind!”

The Emperor sneered coldly.

Though the great imperial decree over the Xiao family had yet to dissipate, it was already on the brink of collapse.

Even if the Emperor did not act, the decree’s power would soon be exhausted.

The imperial scripture was the Emperor’s prize. Once the decree’s power vanished and the Xiao family remained obstinate, he would not hesitate to erase them utterly, wiping this ancient imperial clan from existence.

“Stubborn fools. Do you truly believe a single imperial decree can guarantee your safety for all eternity? How naive!”

The Emperor of Azure Flame laughed coldly and dismissed further words.

Now that he had personally descended, only one path lay before the Xiao family: annihilation!

As for the extreme imperial scripture the Xiao family guarded, it would naturally fall into the Emperor’s hands.

...

Beyond the realm, Xiao Xuan finally stopped, his gaze filled with complex emotions.

“Tianxuan Continent... after a hundred thousand years, I, the Emperor, have finally returned,” he murmured.

Before him loomed a colossal spatial rift. Crossing it would lead to the Tianxuan Continent, a vast land separated by billions of miles, with the Xiao family located in the Eastern Wilderness.

Here, even sacred realm cultivators required spatial arrays to traverse the rift; otherwise, they would be lost to the chaotic spatial currents.

“A mere spatial rift dares to block me? What a joke!”

Xiao Xuan sneered, and with a single motion, spanning billions of miles, he crossed the rift instantly, arriving in a desolate starry expanse.

For sacred realm cultivators, such a spatial rift was insurmountable; for Xiao Xuan, crossing galaxies was but a thought.

The heavenly dao seemed to respond, showering endless radiance like a brilliant star river that encircled Xiao Xuan.

This was the true realm of a great emperor, before whom all living beings must submit.

“Eastern Wilderness, I have come.”

Calming his heart, Xiao Xuan took a step toward the Tianxuan Continent. His strides transcended time and space, each step seeming to span ten thousand years.

As he advanced, countless wondrous phenomena appeared along his path.

Divine brilliance and auspicious colors paved a golden road, and spectral images of divine beasts—True Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, Black Tortoise—manifested in recognition of his supreme Dao fruit by the heavenly dao of the Tianxuan Continent.

Xiao Xuan did not restrain his imperial aura; instead, he amplified it, stirring resonance with the heavenly dao.

This scene shook the entire cosmos, a golden light avenue stretching from the edges of the universe to the Tianxuan Continent.

On an ancient life star deep in the universe, myriad beings felt the imperial aura and knelt in reverence.

“Has an unparalleled imperial presence descended?”

An ancient saint awakened and sought to follow the aura but was disappointed by his insufficient speed to keep up.

“Tianxuan Continent...” Xiao Xuan whispered softly.

He did not conceal his presence nor suppress his aura.

As a great emperor, he could suppress all adversaries in the world.

With his advance, many supreme beings in the boundless starry expanse were alerted.

One by one, deep, probing gazes illuminated the cosmos, fixed on Xiao Xuan’s direction.

These eyes belonged to the highest existences of this star region, curious about the sudden emergence of imperial aura.

“This aura is somewhat reminiscent of that old soul from a hundred thousand years ago.”

“Impossible. That old soul has long guarded the Abyss; he could not have returned!”

“Perhaps it is but a lingering fragment of his soul returning to his homeland after death.”

“If it is a remnant of an imperial soul, then we should not trouble this old soul. Let past events dissolve with the wind.”

“Past events dissolve? This lingering soul returning to the Eastern Wilderness will hardly be peaceful...”

“If the calamity originates in the Eastern Wilderness, it concerns us no further!”

Soon, these divine thoughts quieted.

They were merely stirred by this fragment of imperial aura.

Since it was the return of an old soul’s essence, these ancient existences chose not to investigate further.

Moreover, this imperial aura was not directed at them; why trouble themselves?

The ones who should be worried are those in the Eastern Wilderness!