The seal was broken, and the scroll unfurled itself in an instant.

“Imperial Divine Edict!”

****

Whoosh!

A regal aura manifested between heaven and earth as a perverted pressure descended with unmatched power.

Poof!

The scroll escaped Yaomu Qiang’s hand before it soared up high and remained suspended there when violet flames suddenly engulfed it.

The flames blazed with the intent to burn all dissenters to ashes, but curiously the scroll remained unharmed despite the fire that enveloped it.

Without warning, a line was being engraved on the scroll by some unseen force. It was quickly turning into a character of some kind.

Rumble!

A furious quake rocked the land, sending countless chasms that ran rampant and scarred the horizon from end to end!

“W-What’s happening!?” The experts that retreated felt as if the end of the world was approaching.

“This is the power of an Imperial Divine Edict when executed by those venerated by the heavens! Just what level has the demon race’s King reached!?” The Noble Attendant observed what was happening with a grave expression.

D-D-D-Dum!

Several detonations went off that forced everyone to look skywards where they saw a line scarring the void itself.

A few keen souls saw that whatever was being drawn on the scroll matched the one that appeared in the void.

The character was eventually completed, and its prestige appeared within the heavens in full splendour!

Suppression!

This was the character that appeared on both the scroll and the void.

"Long Di, this is the fate of those who dare to go against her Majesty the King! Be suppressed and accept your fate!"

Yaomu Qiang shouted in delight when he saw the power of the Imperial Divine Edict.

Long Di's gaze quickly slid to the young yuan demon asking, "so you're reneging on our bet?"

Hearing this, Yaomu Qiang nearly guffawed before explaining, "what do you mean? I told you that I'd release your friends and no longer attack you. As you can see, I held up my end of the bargain. The Imperial Divine Edict, however, hehehe… well it has a will of its own."

Long Di knew it was useless to continue this conversation. Yaomu Qiang obviously unravelled the seal on the Edict, spurring it into action. He was just petty that he lost… Long Di had a strange sense of respect for that level of pettiness. He could do well without the consequences, though.

Right now, however, it didn't matter what the reason was. He had to deal with this thing as the danger alarms in his head were blaring something fierce!

“This is the Suppression Seal of our King, cur! Now die a dog’s death!” a malicious sneer marred Yaomu Qiang’s face.

Boom!

The Suppression seal descended, causing cracks to appear within the void!

The sky splintered as the ten thousand daos wailed in agony! Karma was in disarray and the yin and yang shuddered in the wake of Suppression’s descent!

The laws of the heavens reigned supreme and granted power to this seal.

All other laws broke down and lost authority in the face of this Edict!

All must submit before the venerates!

Hong!

Profound Myriad Heavenseize Physique on!

Long Di stopped holding back and brought out the full force of his physique!

The cosmos manifested within his body as countless stars dotted the vastness of the universe that existed within him.

One star in particular with a serpent rune engraved upon it shone with divine brilliance. Its radiance spread far and wide, outshining many of its neighbouring stars, and appearing inexplicably sacred.

Soon, the scene shifted to a land of death set alight by a scarlet sun. A snow-white chrysanthemum was all that graced the plains. However, this herb was death incarnate.

Many that saw it felt their vitality draining at a frightening rate as they aged rapidly. Their hair turned grey, and wrinkles as deep as tree bark covered their faces. The end of their lives was quickly approaching, and it took their strength with it.

“Don’t look at it!” a shout filled with spiritual force from one of the Sacred Celestic shook many experts from their stupors.

The ones who were affected earlier quickly felt their face and hair and sighed in relief when they were still smooth and silky.

Soon after, however, a feeling of terror welled within them. The vision a while ago was too scary!

"W-What kind of physique is that?" An expert was taken aback by Long Di's physique.

They quickly turned to the Sacred Celestic who saved them and cupped their fists in thanks. The Sacred Celestic didn’t pay attention to them. The only reason he bothered saving them was because the Noble Attendant ordered him to do so.

The experts didn’t feel offended by this. Sacred Celestics were long known for their arrogance. For one to save them was more than considerate.

They soon turned their attention back to Long Di and couldn’t help but wonder where such a terrifying expert came from.

Not to mention them, even the Noble Attendant was near petrified by what she saw.

Surprisingly, however, what stole the spotlight for the Noble Attendant was the herb in Long Di’s physique. It triggered a mix of terror and hope within her. A contradiction, sure, but that was what it was.

“That flower… i-is that the deathdrink ghost chrysanthemum?”

Suddenly, the scene within Long Di's physique shifted to that of a realm of lightning and thunder.

Krrrsh!

Long Di willed the tribulation lightning outside the physique and it lashed out in supreme fury!

He didn’t stop it or rein it in. He needed all that it could give him.

“That lightning!” The Noble Attendant instantly recognised the lightning that Long Di called forth!

After all, she had used her mental energy to unravel it earlier. The Noble Attendant wasn’t at the realm where she would come in contact with lightning tribulation, so she wasn’t able to tell how frighteningly dangerous this energy was.

Nevertheless, she was confident in her instincts that this energy was not something someone at Long Di’s realm should be in possession of. Yet here he was, breaking her cognition of how the world worked.

Her interest in Long Di reached an all-time high. She was sure that it was Long Di she was searching for. She could only hope that he would survive this.

Her Mistress had charged her with locating the boy who would create countless storms and miracles. The search was to start within the Spiritual Bingqi Realm. She wondered if her Mistress was aware of how miracle-inducing and storm-causing the boy she was searching for was.

“Come at me.” Long Di whispered to the Suppression seal above and as if in response to his provocation its descent quickened.

Boom!

Space exploded due to its movement and the area all around Long Di sank a great deal under its pressure!

“What did this Long Di do to the demon region’s King!?” one of the Sacred Celestics asked in horror.

They couldn’t begin to fathom what a mere peak cauldron-forging realm boy could have done to offend the demon King to warrant such extreme measures.

It was as if he needed to die by any means possible!

The Noble Attendant said nothing knew more than she let on. She looked to Er Jinshu who had paused in his battle with Yaomu Shou.

She was well aware that he knew little about Long Di and his status. However, she didn’t care much about this at the moment, and only played the role of an observer for now.

Krrrsh!

A bolt of lightning streaked through the air and struck the Suppression seal with a powerful blow!

Boom!

The lightning was blasted apart with little resistance, causing an insane backlash to Long Di whose spiritual force propelled it up there.

Blood leaked from his mouth from the backlash while just standing proved a challenge due to the ever-increasing pressure!

Whoosh!

“Crimson Horizon Earth Flame!”

No one knew who said it first, but the minute Long Di summoned his earth flame it was like a bomb went off in the midst of the spectators!

“How does a peak cauldron forging realm expert get his hands on an earth flame!?”

“In addition, it’s one on the Earth Flame rankings! The Crimson Horizon Earth Flame ranked 192!”

“How is he able to control such powerful flame energy!?”

“His spiritual force must be incredible!? But how far could he have possibly cultivated it as a peak martial disciple!?”

“W-Wait, could he have really killed those two deacons from the Iron Body Forge Sect!?”

A flood of speculations gushed forth when Long Di unleashed his earth flame! However, he couldn’t pay attention to them!

This looming disaster took precedence.

Whoosh!

His spiritual force gushed out, touching the edge of the peak of the core formation realm

It wrapped around the coruscating tribulation lightning and the searing tendrils of the earth flame!

Instantly, tens of lightning spears and flame javelins materialised under Long Di’s skilful moulding.

‘Go!’

S-S-S-Shu! Shu! Shu! Shu! Shu!

The experts watched in awe as the multitude of javelins and spears rocketed towards the giant Suppression seal intending to take it down!

B-B-B-Boom!

Countless deafening explosions rang out as the spears and javelins crashed into the seal with world-ending power!

The pressure lessened slightly, giving Long Di some much-needed breathing space. However, the seal only shuddered under the countless barrages, yet the last vestiges of tribulation lightning remained inside his physique.

D-D-Dum!

The Suppression seal soon continued its descent and Long Di was being forced down, but even then, his knees didn’t bend. He stood in the face of its arrival and stared it down, since nothing he used was working.

The pressure eventually caused his body to shake under its immense weight.

C-Crack!

Cracks appeared all over his body while blood oozed from between the fractures.

‘Oh no!’ Yaomu Shou gritted her teeth in a panic. She had warned Long Di about the Edict, but never did she think it was this strong and dangerous!

She closed her eyes as in prayer. Hoping that Long Di would make it out of this.

Fresh blood soaked his body instantly, but he remained unmoved, his expression unperturbed.

There was some sort of feeling deep down that told him that should he kneel here, it would be his end.

So his knees remained unbent. They were in danger of shattering, but only that was acceptable.

He could break, but not bend!

There was no flexibility here. The overbearing nature of his cultivation technique didn’t allow him to submit in the face of anything!

“What a powerful will!”

The experts here were impressed that Long Di was able to last for so long. They were aware that the Imperial Divine Edict had a certain pressure to it that could crush another’s will.

Once this will was broken, the descent of the Edict would quicken and crush the opponent. With their will broken, this would no doubt result in their death!

Of course, even if one’s will was miraculously unbroken, the power of the Edict would still kill that person. The only difference is that the pain would be many times greater, and the time prolonged.

Yet, even with this knowledge, Long Di didn’t lower his head. This Suppression would never suppress him.

Still, he was not resigned to death. He was desperately trying to find a way out of his current predicament, but nothing came to mind.

Suddenly, a gentle voice echoed in his mind, ‘Use the deathdrink ghost chrysanthemum.’