Inside the Temporary Palace, candlelight flickered across the faces of Ya Dada and the others.
Everyone seated here today had once fought alongside you to conquer the entire globe, each having established tremendous military achievements.
After the nation was founded, some had become regional governors, others had become pillars of the court. All of them held positions of utmost power, the kind of existence whose single word or single stomp could trigger a tsunami across the globe.
Although these people revered you, you listened to their inner thoughts every day, so you knew exactly what was on their minds.
Some of them still doubted your true identity and felt they should expose you, perhaps even seizing the opportunity to usurp the throne.
Some suspected your motives for supporting the Human Race were impure, that you might have struck some deal with them, and wanted to bypass you to directly contact the Dragon-Man forces on the First-tier Star, attempting to summon outside troops to assist the king and overthrow you.
Some felt their accomplishments overshadowed their ruler's and that they deserved to do as they pleased on this planet for the rest of their lives, rather than being bound by all those laws you had established. In fact, they were already doing as they pleased within their own territories.
In short, not a single one of them harbored pure intentions.
Even if they weren't of the Alien Race, if you eliminated them today, not one would be wrongly accused.
On the surface, however, the relationship between ruler and subjects remained courteous and proper.
The Chief Palace Steward reported to you.
"Your Majesty, all the ministers you secretly summoned are here. Even the Chenbing Marquis, who was farthest from the capital city, arrived using a flight-type spiritual treasure."
"Very good. I imagine that seeing each other here, you've all guessed why I've summoned you."
The ministers exchanged glances, the smiles on their faces impossible to suppress.
"Your Majesty is finally going to stand up for us! We cannot let those rebels slander and provoke us any longer!"
"A bunch of peacetime soldiers who've never even seen a battlefield want to seize power from us veterans? They should take a good look in the mirror. Thank goodness Your Majesty is on our side!"
"I knew it, His Majesty is perceptive and wise, never muddled!"
Seeing their delighted expressions, you couldn't help but laugh too.
A bunch of fools, on the verge of death, still wanting to use me to solidify your positions?
A toad dreaming of feasting on swan meat, ugly and delusional.
"My dear ministers, quiet down. Tonight, I want to first show everyone a fine treasure."
The hall fell silent.
For the current master of Blazing Star, the Emperor of Heavenly Dragon Nation, to utter the words "fine treasure," it must truly be something extraordinary.
A golden, resplendent slingshot.
"Oh! What is this? I've never seen anything like it!"
"Translucent and radiant, with countless beams of light. It's certainly no ordinary object!"
"Could it be a primal spiritual treasure? Or a Celestial Emperor relic?!"
Just as everyone was speculating, they saw you pull out another clump of matter composed of a mass of text.
Then they watched as you launched this clump with the slingshot into the air above the great hall.
Rows upon rows of text scattered downward, merging into everyone present in the hall.
Everyone was bewildered.
They had just been about to ask questions when they saw you rapidly fire a second clump, then a third, a fourth, a fifth...
It seemed endless!
Finally, someone realized something was wrong, because some people had already begun acting strangely.
"You're Too Beautiful!! You're just Too Beautiful~~"
The former Grand Elder of Tiansha Sect, now the Chancellor of Heavenly Dragon Nation, the elderly Dragon-Man senior Ya Dada, was actually striking seductive poses in the center of the great hall.
And the domineering, majestic Grand Marshal of the Three Armies was publicly weeping to everyone about the matter of his wife cuckolding him, while continuously rhyming in monotone, "the celebratory wine has already been opened for me," and the like.
The steady, seasoned ministers of the Six Boards were actually holding hands and singing in chorus, "Come on~ let's have fun~ we've got~ plenty of time~~"
"What's going on?! Have they gone mad?!"
"It's those things His Majesty just launched, they're poisonous!"
"Your Majesty... you... why are you toying with us?!"
"Stop calling him Your Majesty! I noticed something was off about this guy long ago! He gathered us here today to put us to death!!"
This group finally caught on, belatedly realizing you intended to harm them.
You couldn't blame them for being slow to react.
Who could have imagined that a founding emperor would have the audacity to slaughter all the founding heroes and regional governors in one go.
This was completely disregarding whether the nation could still function normally after these people died.
You had already fired off a pile of negative trait tags using the Trait Slingshot.
Today's battle was even harder than the one at Spearhead Valley.
Because over ninety percent of those present today were at the Transcendent Realm!
Fortunately, they didn't realize something was wrong quickly enough, allowing you to maximize the slingshot's power.
Transcendent Realm cultivators who had eaten a pile of negative trait tags were no longer much stronger than you, a Late Stage of the Ultimate Realm.
Moreover, the resources you commanded today far exceeded those at Spearhead Valley.
"Activate the formations!!"
Ten Second Grade killing formations rose inside and outside the Temporary Palace, interweaving with each other, killing intent surging in all directions!
When Ya Dada and the others sensed the formations' aura, their hearts already went half cold.
"Why do I feel like I'm seeing the Golden Crow Sky-Burning Formation... Isn't this the great killing formation that Qingqiu Sect lost for many years? How..."
"What's there to be unclear about! Our scheming Majesty here must have found the formation manual in Qingqiu Sect's warehouse, then mobilized global resources to restore it!"
"Good, good, good. He really thinks highly of us! Everyone! Nothing more to say, let's fight him to the death!"
"To the death! Whoever survives writes the history books!!"
Many people charged toward you.
But the real you had already transferred outside the Temporary Palace through one of the formations the instant they activated.
What remained there was merely an illusion created by the formations.
Without a word, you continued stacking "prizes" into the prize pool.
"Armored Combat Puppets, activate!"
One hundred thousand puppets forged from adamantine burst from the ground, charging into the great formation, slaughtering the entire court of ministers.
"Release the gu worms, savage beasts, and void-devouring raptors!"
In the distance, buzzing insect swarms, roaring beast packs, and crying raptors sealed off the sky and the ground, ensuring no one could silently leave this place using any secret technique.
That wasn't all. You unleashed every killing move that had ever appeared on this planet capable of threatening High-Grade cultivators.
Every move you used tonight could be a final trump card that any faction would only pull out at a life-or-death moment.
Yet you piled them all on at once.
After all, the entire Blazing Star was yours. You had no shortage of resources whatsoever.
Looking at the fire, beasts, Array Patterns, divine marks covering the mountains and plains...
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner exclaimed without pause.
"Bro! Too ruthless! You're trying to kill them a hundred times over!"
Other than pressing a bunch of "switches," you had barely lifted a finger.
It felt much easier than the Spearhead Valley battle.
"They're all cunning old foxes. Who knows what unknown ultimate moves any of them might have. It's best to be absolutely certain. This is called saturation bombing!"
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner clicked its tongue in amazement.
"My dear mother, these people following you really have the worst luck in eight lifetimes!"

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