At the banquet, there were a total of twelve saints, almost all of whom were descendants of former ministers of the Central Empire of the Ming Dynasty. They were among the top powerful men under the throne of Ming Jiang.
Of course, there are still some saints who are too far away from Shengming City and will not be able to come back for a while.
"Ruochen, is it really you? Eight hundred years, eight hundred years, where have you been?"
King Mingjiang, who was sitting at the top, suddenly stood up and approached Zhang Ruochen with a somewhat excited expression.
King Mingjiang looks to be fifty years old, nearly eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and a broad body. He wears a silver crown carved with a dragon on his head, and wears a silver robe and holy clothes. His body contains rich holy energy and blood, just like skin.
There is a divine dragon dormant inside.
When facing Zhang Ruochen, the momentum emanating from King Mingjiang's body became stronger and stronger.
In Zhang Ruochen's eyes, the opposite side was like an overwhelming wave, rushing toward him.
"The king among the saints, the Twelve Emperors have indeed entered the realm of saint kings." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
If it were another saint, even a true saint, who was impacted by the holy power of a holy king, he would inevitably lose his composure, feel fear, retreat, bow to salute, or even kneel down.
A big difference in realm is the difference between a python and a real dragon.
Zhang Ruochen, however, remained calm as he summoned Shen Yuan's Ancient Sword and thrust it into the ground. Suddenly, a fierce sword intent burst out, tearing apart the surging power of the Holy King.
"Uncle Twelve Emperors, as a Saint King who has been practicing for nearly a thousand years, he still can't control his power freely?" Zhang Ruochen said coldly.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen came to see King Ming Jiang with the mentality of meeting a relative.
But the other party didn't think so, and actually tried every means to scare Zhang Ruochen, and even tried to suppress Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen naturally wanted to change his mentality and show a strong side as the crown prince.
"You are so bold. You dare to talk to Master Twelve like this. You are too presumptuous."
An old man wearing holy armor spoke with an accent and scolded Zhang Ruochen.
This person's name is Yan Kaixuan. His cultivation has reached the realm of True Saint. He is also known as the "True Saint of Triumph". His strength is enough to rank among the top three under King Mingjiang.
The True Saint of Triumph stood up and said: "You dare to show off your weapons in front of a holy king. Fortunately, you may be the son of Emperor Ming, otherwise, you would have turned into a dead body at this moment."
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the True Sage of Triumph and said, "What does it mean to be possible? In other words, are you doubting the identity of this prince?"
"Yes, I doubt your identity. As we all know, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince died in a palace incident eight hundred years ago. At that time, many court elders and ministers saw his body with their own eyes. Even the Crown Prince
His Highness is not dead, and should be over eight hundred years old now, instead of a young boy like you." The Holy Saint of Triumph said very rudely.
Next to him, another Holy Mirror figure echoed, saying: "You are a prince from a small border country, but you claim to be the crown prince of the Shengming Central Empire. Do you think we are all fools?"
Granny Bai Su snorted coldly: "Yan Kaixuan, Wang Ji, your fathers are still alive, and you must salute the prince when you see him. How dare you two speak to His Highness the prince in such a tone, I will never let you go today."
.”
Zhang Ruochen stopped Granny Bai Su who was about to take action, and then walked towards the True Sage of Triumph, stared at him carefully, and said: "You practice the "Shen Zhao Tian Gong", you should be a descendant of the Yan family, right? Yan Xuan is you
who?"
True Sage Triumphant was slightly shocked. This man just glanced at him and actually saw through his cultivation technique, which was quite impressive.
True Saint Triumph's face remained unchanged as he said, "It's my father."
"Wow——"
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the hilt of Shen Yuan's ancient sword, and in an instant, the flow of time in the palace became extremely slow.
The force inscriptions in Shen Yuan's ancient sword emerged, making the sword weigh more than ten million kilograms, and it swung directly towards the neck of the True Saint of Triumph.
True Saint Triumph never expected that Zhang Ruochen would suddenly attack him.
In the realm of swordsmanship and time, even with his early stage True Saint cultivation, he had no time to resist.
"Pfft."
Shen Yuan's ancient sword split the holy armor and struck at the neck of True Saint Triumph. The sword sank downwards, cutting off his collarbone, and pressed True Saint Triumph's legs to bend and he knelt heavily on the ground.
"boom!"
Spider web-like cracks appeared on the ground, and even the underground defensive formations were unable to hold up.
Zhang Ruochen's time sword technique is still at the third level, and the condensed time field can only last for one breath.
After one breath, the flow of time returns to normal.
The hands and feet of the triumphant true saint simultaneously erupted with a mighty holy light, causing the entire temple to shake.
"Zhang Ruochen, you...you dare to take action against me..."
The triumphant true saint's hands grasped the sword body of Shen Yuan's ancient sword and wanted to stand up again.
Zhang Ruochen held the sword with one hand, but the power was greater than that of True Saint Triumph's hands. The sword body of Shen Yuan's ancient sword continued to press downwards, as if it was about to split the body of True Saint Triumph in two.
The faces of other saints in the palace changed dramatically.
Yan Kaixuan, who had reached the realm of true saint, was knocked to his knees by Zhang Ruochen's sword and was unable to stand up. Zhang Ruochen's strength was too terrifying.
All the saints looked towards King Mingjiang.
At the scene, I am afraid that only King Mingjiang himself can suppress Zhang Ruochen and save the True Saint of Triumph.
King Mingjiang's face was a little cold, but he did not take action.
Because King Mingjiang knew very well that Zhang Ruochen's identity would not be false.
The national destiny and destiny of Shengming City, and even the will of successive Ming emperors, have already recognized him, how could it be false?
The crown prince of the Shengming Central Empire was suppressed by his uncle just after he promulgated the crown prince edict. If word of this spreads out, Zhang Ruochen and King Ming Jiang will definitely become a joke in the entire Kunlun world.
Originally, King Mingjiang just wanted to suppress Zhang Ruochen's arrogance first and make him calm down, so that Zhang Ruochen would not seize his power. However, he did not expect that it was self-defeating and gave Zhang Ruochen an opportunity to establish his power.
King Ming Jiang tried hard to suppress the anger in his heart, stepped forward and persuaded: "Ruochen, Yan Kaixuan is indeed quite impudent in disrespecting you. However, his father, King Yan Xuan, once commanded a thousand people in the Shengming Central Empire.
An army of four million, and one of the top figures in the army, followed your father into the wilderness to open up new territories, and together they conquered the undead blood clan. They experienced no less than a thousand battles, large and small, and made unparalleled achievements. The ancestor of the Yan family
, and he has been loyal to the Shengming Central Empire for generations. For their sake, how about sparing his life today?"
"If his fathers and ancestors had not contributed to the Shengming Central Empire, would the Twelve Emperors think that he could still be alive? This prince could cut off Mu Qingtian's hair crown with only three swords. Twelve Emperors, what do you think of Yan?
How many moves can the triumphant victory be made in Mu Qingtian's hands?"
Zhang Ruochen took back Shen Yuan's ancient sword and waved it toward the ground. A large amount of holy blood slipped from the sword's edge and spread on the ground in the center of the hall.
At this moment, all the saints present realized that the young man in front of them was not only the Crown Prince of Shengming, but also a sword master who could defeat Mu Qingtian and suppress Yan Kaixuan. It was not something they could handle casually.
Yan Kaixuan stood up again, with a look of fear in his eyes, not daring to look down on Zhang Ruochen like before.
Zhang Ruochen carried the bloody sword, walked step by step to the top of the palace, and sat down.
That position originally belonged to King Mingjiang.
The corner of King Mingjiang's mouth twitched slightly, and finally turned into a laugh: "Ruochen, something incredible must have happened to you. Now, the monks in the entire Kunlun world are saying that it was Saint Monk Xumi who saved you.
I took you and brought you to today eight hundred years later. In short, Uncle Twelve is very happy that you can come back. However, this time you did something a little reckless. You should not have issued this prince's edict. You should have talked with Tenth first.
Second uncle, let’s discuss it.”
Zhang Ruochen asked: "Why?"
King Mingjiang said solemnly: "The current situation is different from before! The Queen has become a god and is so majestic in the world. All the ten blood emperors died under her sword. No major race in the world dares to disobey.
, the Demon Sect, the Black Market, and the Death Zen Sect either chose to surrender or withdrew from the Kunlun Realm. By announcing your identity in such a high-profile manner and issuing the Crown Prince's Edict, wouldn't you have pushed yourself and the old troops of the Shengming Central Empire to the forefront?"
Zhang Ruochen said: "Are the Twelve Emperors worried that the imperial court will destroy us? Should we continue to hide in Tibet and live in darkness, without a fixed place to live, and with no guarantee of survival?"
Yan Kaixuan said coldly: "This is called hiding one's strength and biding one's time!"
"Hide your capabilities and bide your time? Chi Yao has become a god, and it will be easy to live for another hundred thousand years. How long are you going to keep your capabilities and bide your time?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Everyone was suddenly speechless.
Zhang Ruochen said: "Instead of keeping a low profile and biding time, wouldn't it be better to actively seek refuge with the imperial court and submit to the First Central Empire?"
"Impossible. The Yan family has a sworn feud with the First Central Empire. Even if it means death, it is impossible to surrender to them." Yan Kaixuan said.
Wang Ji snorted coldly: "For eight hundred years, we have been fighting and fighting with the imperial court. The hatred is getting deeper and deeper. If we take the initiative to seek refuge with them, it will be tantamount to being trapped without mercy, and the end will only be worse."
"I don't know how many elders of our Bai family were brutally killed by the imperial court. I don't know how many female relatives have become playthings on the beds of imperial officials. Even if they die, it is impossible to submit to them."
Zhang Ruochen said: "In other words, everyone is just going to continue to hide in the dark corners and live an ignoble existence? There is no way to take revenge, and there is no way to surrender and submit. If we are caught, the fate will be worse than death. Isn't that true?"
The whole place was silent.
Some people wanted to refute, but in the end they just moved their lips, but no words came out.
It has to be said that Zhang Ruochen touched their sore spot.
"How difficult it is for you to live, why don't you follow this prince? Maybe this prince can give you a different future. Maybe the Shengming Central Empire can be rebuilt, and it will be more glorious and prosperous." Zhang Ruochen said.
Yan Kaixuan bit his lips tightly and said, "Your Highness, you are too confident, aren't you? Anyone can say bold words, but that doesn't mean that everyone can do it."
"If so, within ten days, I can destroy the Lingxiao Palace. Do you still believe me? Do you still surrender to me?"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were a bit fierce, staring in the direction of Lingxiaotian Palace, and the Shen Yuan Ancient Sword in his hand gave off a frightening cold light.
Hearing this, all the saints present were shocked in their hearts.