Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1021 - 1021 0606 The Darkness That Envelops

Chapter 1021: Chapter 0606: The Darkness That Envelops Everything_1 Chapter 1021: Chapter 0606: The Darkness That Envelops Everything_1 Chapter 0606: The Darkness That Enshrouds All

Huoyang Emperor’s heart was bleeding, while Emperor Jianwu was sneering. He said loudly, “Huoyang Emperor, you fail to discern the situation. You dared follow others to dispatch your subordinates to attack my Jianwu Palace, and this is the consequence. Today, even if it means the destruction of Jianwu Palace, I will drag you down to accompany me in death.”

Huoyang Emperor’s eyes were aflame with rage as he looked at Emperor Jianwu, who was only a few hundred meters away from him. He wished he could rush over and dismember Emperor Jianwu, but Huoyang Emperor did not do so. He was angry, that was true, but he also knew very clearly that if he rushed over and fought Emperor Jianwu one-on-one, the outcome would be very hard to predict.

If the fight could end with the death of one party, Huoyang Emperor could not guarantee that he would definitely survive. Even if he stepped back and assumed that he could survive and also kill Emperor Jianwu, he would undoubtedly pay a price that he could not bear. He might suffer grave injuries, become disabled, or even be left with just a breath, on the verge of death. In such a state, a mere gust of wind could be enough to snuff out his life.

This was not the outcome Huoyang Emperor wished to achieve. He only wanted to join the other four Princes to besiege Jianwu Palace, to strip Emperor Jianwu of the chance to advance further. He never considered paying the price of Wenzhi Palace’s destruction and his severe, life-threatening injuries for this outcome.

Such a cost was more than he could afford, and even if he paid such a price, what benefit would he gain? In a state where he was left with just a breath, would the other four Princes, who hid in the Imperial Palace and refused to show themselves, allow him to snatch the opportunities of Jianwu Palace?

There was no need to think about this question, as it was obvious that it was impossible. At that time, not only would the other four Princes not give him the opportunity, but they might even take the chance to eliminate him, completely raze his Huoyang Palace, and have the lineage of his Huoyang Palace completely vanish from the Imperial Family Secret Territory.

In the past, Huoyang Emperor might have believed that the other Princes would abide by the rules set within the Imperial Family Secret Territory, or the rules established by their ancestors, and they would not instigate a bloodbath between palaces. However, today’s events had given Huoyang Emperor a harsh lesson, making him realize that in the face of interests, sacred and unassailable directives were utterly useless when it came to a critical moment.

With this understanding, if Huoyang Emperor still chose to clash with Emperor Jianwu, to deplete the strength of Jianwu Palace with the power of Huoyang Palace, paving the way for the other Princes, then he would truly be a fool. He wouldn’t have been able to secure the throne of Great Zhao Emperor, nor would he have been able to live through hundreds of years in the Imperial Family Secret Territory in peace and stability.

“Emperor Jianwu, there were aspects of my conduct today that were wrong, I will set a banquet later to apologize to you. For now, I choose to withdraw from today’s conflict. Men of Huoyang Palace, listen to my command, retreat! Use the prowess you showed against our enemies just now, and thoroughly search to see if any of our Huoyang Palace are still alive, and if so, make haste and rescue them.”

Huoyang Emperor chose to back down.

At this point, it was no longer about how he could seize opportunities from Jianwu Palace, but rather about how to preserve the lineage of his Huoyang Palace, how to ensure that Huoyang Palace could still stand tall in Eastern Capital City tomorrow, how to ensure that when people mentioned him in the future, they would still respectfully address him as Prince, rather than becoming a fleeting memory, unable to see even tomorrow’s sun.

Emperor Jianwu had just driven the Killing Array of Jianwu Palace to launch attacks in quick succession, first sniping Shi Yongqing of Yonghe Palace and then destroying half of Huoyang Palace. His ruthlessness and decisiveness had intimidated many, especially those cultivators who were besieging Jianwu Palace, scaring the souls out of quite a few of them.

Watching the people of Huoyang Palace retreating in droves against the flow of the people on the street, Emperor Jianwu’s gaze shifted, a myriad of thoughts surfacing in his mind. If he took advantage of this moment to continue attacking Huoyang Palace, it was certain that he could leave the palace in ruins, reducing Huoyang Emperor to a mere figurehead. However, doing so would not benefit him much, for in the end, there were five Imperial Palaces attacking his Jianwu Palace. Even if he crippled Huoyang Palace, the combined strength of the other four palaces could still erase his Jianwu Palace from Eastern Capital City. The urgent matter at hand was to find a means to repel the joint attack of the several palaces, rather than acting on impulse and relentlessly pursuing Huoyang Palace.

“Huoyang Emperor, considering you’ve withdrawn your men, I will not entangle with you for now. However, today’s affair is not over; I will settle the score with you later,” Emperor Jianwu said, issuing a warning to Huoyang Emperor.

After warning Huoyang Emperor, he shifted his gaze from Huoyang Palace and turned it toward another palace adjacent to Jianwu Palace.

Emperor Jianwu’s gaze was deep as he looked toward the neighboring Wenzhi Palace, a palace he was all too familiar with.

In fact, Emperor Jianwu’s rise from an ordinary prince to become the Emperor of Great Zhao Nation had a lot to do with the very Wenzhi Palace in front of him. Back when he was an overlooked prince in the palace, he accidentally obtained a cultivation resource hidden away by Emperor Wenzhi. It was with this cultivation resource that Emperor Jianwu was able to grow rapidly, ultimately defeating the other princes to ascend the throne.