After about two hours, Feng Huwei finally calmed down enough to continue his mission. The fear hadn't disappeared; it had just been pushed to the back of his heart. After all, as long as he was safe... as long as he was far from that "demon"... everything would be fine.
And, in the end, he was still General Huwei. A Powerful Ruler, fulfilling a mission. There was no way he could remain terrified for long.
With his command, the huge army of twenty-five thousand men was already on the march again, skirting the city and heading toward the true target: the crystal mine.
It didn't take long for the terrain to change. The hills became drier, the air heavier, and the soil... the soil seemed to emanate a strong spiritual energy as if it had a deep, almost palpable richness within it. Even before they sighted the sealed entrance, some soldiers were already swallowing hard, feeling the density of the Purple Veined Divine Crystals hidden there!
At the base of a gigantic rock formation, his men were already waiting.
When Feng Huwei arrived, the soldiers immediately straightened their backs, as if they had seen a savior. He dismounted from the Fire Mastiff with a dry leap, his gaze sweeping the area.
And then... he saw it.
A transparent barrier rose before the entrance like a wall of living glass. It was just a flat dome, dense, with a crystalline blue coloration, so clean that it reflected the world as if it were frozen water.
Was that a Profound Formation? It seemed more like a profound ice art used to seal that place....
Feng Huwei narrowed his eyes for an instant.
The memory of that demon tried to return like a nail piercing his mind... but he gritted his teeth and crushed it inside.
Hmph.
He lifted his chin, letting arrogance recompose itself like armor.
"A blue wall..." He snorted, as if evaluating a cheap toy. "Pathetic."
One of the soldiers, still cautious, stepped forward and bowed with both hands in fists.
"General Huwei... what shall we do? The formation... is very resistant."
Feng Huwei laughed through his nose.
"Step back." His voice returned to the tone he knew, the tone of one who commands and the world obeys. "All of you. Now."
The soldiers didn't dare question. They retreated hastily, opening a wide circle. Even the Fire Mastiff, which still trembled a bit by reflex, kept its distance....
Feng Huwei advanced alone until he was just a few steps from the blue wall.
He raised his hand.
And, with a red-gold flash, a spear appeared in his fist. The blade was long, sharp, with a glow that seemed to contain compressed fire. As soon as it appeared, the air around crackled, as if the temperature had risen a bit just from its existence. It was an Emperor Profound Weapon!
Feng Huwei spun the spear once, the movement elegant and cold. Then, he planted his feet on the ground.
His gaze became hard.
His aura... exploded.
The profound strength of a Ruler at the first level of the Tyrant Profound Realm rose like a wave. The ground under his feet creaked, small stones vibrated, and in the air, a heavy pressure formed, making the soldiers in the distance hold their breath by instinct.
Feng Huwei drew in a breath.
And then all his profound strength was compressed in his arm, shoulder, spine... and finally channeled to the tip of the spear, which began to shine brighter and brighter, as if a sun were rising on the blade.
"Break."
The word came out low.
And the strike came.
-BOOOOM!!
The spear advanced in a straight line, so fast that it left a flaming trail in the air. It hit the blue wall with a cataclysmic impact.
For an instant, nothing happened.
And then...
CRAAACK-!!
Cracks spread through the blue "glass" like lightning, crossing the entire barrier in dozens of lines. The formation tried to resist, the blue light intensified, trembling, as if it were screaming silently...
But it was useless.
-KRAAAASH!!
The transparent wall shattered into countless fragments of light, which flew like shining shards and dissolved in the air before even touching the ground.
The mine entrance was exposed.
A cold, deep breath escaped from inside, carrying a distant purple glow, as if the underground itself breathed wealth.
Feng Huwei pulled the spear back and rested it on his shoulder, his chest inflating. Arrogance returned completely, as if nothing had happened in the city.
He looked back at his men with a hard smile.
"Enter." His voice sounded like a decree: "I want every crystal torn from there... and I want it fast."
The soldiers advanced almost immediately, the formation still dissipating in the air as they crossed the mine entrance. In the next instant, voices of surprise echoed from inside.
"General! In here...!"
"The crystals...!"
Feng Huwei frowned slightly, but maintained his arrogant posture as he walked behind them. Upon entering the cave, the scene before his eyes made even his heart skip a light beat.
The Purple Veined Divine Crystals had already been fully mined.
There were no intact ore walls, nor recent marks of hasty excavation.
Instead, dozens of deep crates were carefully stacked inside the cave, each exuding a spiritual energy so dense that the air seemed heavy. The soft purple glow pulsed from inside the crates like a living treasure.
One of the soldiers ran to him and knelt hastily.
"General Huwei! All the crystals have already been extracted and organized. By quick calculations... there are about fifty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals!"
For a brief instant, Feng Huwei remained silent.
And then... he began to laugh.
"Hah... hahahaha!" The laughter echoed through the cave, laden with relief and satisfaction: "Excellent! Excellent! It seems the heavens are truly on our side."
Less work.
Less time spent in that damned place.
Without hesitation, he advanced to the crates, his eyes shining with excitement as he felt that almost palpable wealth. He withdrew from his robe a spatial ring, a personal item granted by the emperor himself, and with a wave of his hand, began to store one crate after another. The purple glow disappeared as the crystals were sucked into the ring's internal space.
When he finished, Feng Huwei let out a long sigh and turned abruptly.
"Enough." His voice became cold and authoritative again. "Gather everything and retreat immediately. I don't want anyone remaining here longer than necessary."
He cast one last look at the dark cave, and an involuntary shiver ran down his spine.
The image of that demon returned to haunt his thoughts.
"Let's go." He added, with a tone harsher than intended.
In a short time, the huge army began the organized retreat, quickly moving away from the Floating Cloud City region. Feng Huwei left the final responsibility for the evacuation in the hands of one of his most trusted subordinates, a high-level Throne, and without wasting more time, rose into the skies.
His body cut through the air like a meteor as he accelerated.
"I'll go ahead." He declared coldly. "The Emperor must receive this good news as soon as possible."
...The sky stretched vast and endless above him.
Feng Huwei cut through the firmament like a line of fire, his body enveloped by a red-golden aura that distorted the air around. Under his control, his profound veins released the ideal amount of profound strength to propel him even farther, crossing mountain ranges, colossal rivers, and vast plains in the blink of an eye.
Normally, a journey from the Blue Wind Nation to the heart of the Divine Phoenix Empire would take about thirty days on foot for cultivators below the Sky Profound Realm. Riding high-level Profound Beasts, that time could be reduced to around twenty days, depending on the lineage and endurance of the mount.
He was a Ruler of the Tyrant Profound Realm, and he was flying at full speed, without worrying about wear or conserving profound strength. At this pace, the distance separating the two nations would be crossed in just a few days.
Still...
Even with the wind tearing at his face and the extreme speed compressing the air against his body, his mind was not at peace.
Only then did he realize.
Everything had been... too easy.
Before, he hadn't thought about it because his mind was consumed by the possibility of that "demon" interfering in his mission. The fear and urgency had muffled any deeper reflection. But now, that uncomfortable feeling began to seep into his thoughts.
There was something wrong with all of it.
The barrier, the mine already completely extracted, the Purple Veined Divine Crystals organized, ready to be taken. None of it seemed like chance.
Still, he forced himself not to worry. Even if everything was linked to that mysterious "Ruler" who also knew of the mine's existence and who very likely had been responsible for mining it, in the end, they had just reaped the fruits.
The Purple Veined Divine Crystals were now in his hands.
As long as the result was that... there was no reason to think too much about it.
Hours passed.
The sun had already crossed the sky and was beginning to dip when Feng Huwei slightly reduced his speed, hovering for an instant above a vast mountain range to regulate his breathing. The aura around his body diminished a bit, but his countenance remained rigid.
He unconsciously clenched his fingers.
What was happening? Why had he arrived so quickly?!
That mountain range was familiar to him. He remembered it perfectly. That could only mean one thing: he was just a few dozen kilometers from the Divine Phoenix City.
Since when was he so fast?
This didn't make sense. From what he knew, moving across the Profound Sky Continent at this speed wasn't something a common Ruler could do. Only Monarchs possessed such capability, and even among them, only those who had reached the peak could cross hundreds of kilometers with such ease so quickly.
The realization made his heart tighten.
That definitely wasn't normal.
...Feng Huwei's heart sank.
Without wasting time, he violently expanded his spiritual senses, sweeping the skies, the mountains below, the distant valleys, and even the wind currents around. His perception, capable of covering dozens of kilometers, advanced like an invisible tide.
There was no one.
No living aura, no abnormal profound fluctuation, no trace of killing intent.
But that didn't reassure him.
It did exactly the opposite.
"How is this possible...?" He murmured, his throat dry.
The confusion grew, the strange ease with which he had crossed distances that should consume days... everything pointed to something he couldn't comprehend.
But Feng Huwei was an experienced general.
He suppressed his emotions, forcing his heart to calm. Whatever it was, he was already practically in the territory of the Divine Phoenix Empire. Even if something was wrong, it could only be good.
Arriving faster meant safety.
"Maybe I'm overthinking..." He said to himself, gritting his teeth and adjusting his posture in the air, he gathered profound strength in his legs and was about to advance again-
When something happened....
An arm casually passed around his neck.
It wasn't a blow.
It wasn't an attack.
It was... like a friendly embrace, too intimate, as if an old friend had appeared out of nowhere to pull him close.
And then-
Feng Huwei's world collapsed.
An infinite dread pierced his body like an icy blade, a thousand times worse than anything he had felt before. It wasn't common fear. It wasn't terror in the face of death, it was infinitely worse, the only thing that came close to explaining that sensation was that his entire existence had been grasped by "death" itself! His heart almost exploded inside his chest. The blood froze in his veins. His profound veins entered instant collapse, and the profound strength that had flowed freely moments ago was completely sealed, as if it had never existed.
His body, taken by dread, instinctively tried to move, but he couldn't, he tried to breathe, but the air wasn't pulled into his lungs. He tried to scream, but his throat didn't respond! His entire body was paralyzed, reduced to a useless object suspended in the air. Only his eyes still obeyed his will, trembling violently.
Then, a voice sounded next to his ear, very gentle, calm, and too soft. A voice so beautiful that it seemed to caress the soul, like a perfect melody that made thoughts dissolve. If it weren't for the absolute terror that accompanied it, one might believe they were hearing a benevolent god.
"Look at that, it seems you have something that belongs to me. I must say I'm impressed, the little mice of the mortal world really gathered courage to take something that belongs to me....."
Each word was spoken lightly, without haste, as if commenting on something trivial.
Feng Huwei felt his pupils contract.
With a colossal effort, he moved his eyes to the side.
And then... he saw him.
A face too enchanting to be real. It was beautiful in a way that surpassed any human logic, as if it had been sculpted directly by the heavens. The skin white and without any imperfection, the features were perfect, balanced, and the smile that slightly curved his lips made the sun, moon, and stars seem pale in comparison.
That... was that really a man?
Or an immortal who had descended to the mortal world?
Feng Huwei's heart began to beat uncontrollably, almost painfully. Part of him wanted to look away, to flee from that impossible face. Another part was hypnotized, unable to pull away.
The man smiled a little more.
The smile was gentle.
The words that followed... were not.
"Well, now that you've provoked me by taking something that's mine, I have every right to destroy you all....."
That immortal said, with the same calm voice, but his words were so cruel and so devoid of emotion that they made his heart leap in terror. He tilted his head slightly, as if truly interested in the answer.
"What do you think?"
The terror finally broke through the blockade of Feng Huwei's mind.
With a desperate effort, he managed to force air into his lungs and, for the first time since being grabbed, spoke:
"W-wh... who... who are you...?"
His voice came out broken, trembling, unrecognizable.
The man beside him let out a low laugh, not mocking, not cruel, just... indifferent.
"You're not in a position to demand my identity."
The arm around his neck tightened slightly.
Enough to remind him that his life hung by a thought.
"But, since you asked..." The Immortal continued, looking forward, as if Feng Huwei wasn't even there: "One of my titles is..."
He turned his face just a little, the smile still present, the deep black eyes unfathomable and his hair dark as a starless night being gently blown.
"...Demon Emperor."
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