The incense offering willpower that had been gathering in the Imperial Capital for three thousand years manifested within the incense offering magic domain, forming into a massive authority token that descended from above.
"Those who defy the command of the Mortal Emperor shall be executed!"
A sudden intense sense of crisis surged in Shen Yuan’s heart, and he used Pot’s Heaven Divine Power to tear through space and flee far from that place.
As Shen Yuan departed, a beam of light carrying the willpower of tens of thousands of people’s intent to kill landed where he had just been standing.
Within that beam of light, it seemed as if the shadows of countless beings that had been beheaded over the past three thousand years were projected, their immense resentments merging with the incense to form this strike.
The light ignored all defensive Divine Skills and sliced directly at the True Spirit, posing a challenge even to Return-to-Void Great True Beings.
Shen Yuan, once hidden, reappeared tens of miles away, but before he could pause, the light struck down again, following him like a shadow.
Shen Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly, realizing avoidance was futile, and without any hesitation, he waved his robe towards the light descending from the sky.
Secret Realm Square-Inch, Sleeve Space!
The entire space became still at that moment, and the mini black hole that opened within the sleeve effortlessly swallowed the light, exiling it within the Secret Realm Square-Inch.
This was a technique Shen Yuan had comprehended after reproducing the Secret Realm Square-Inch, incorporating everything into the Secret Realm; it had an essence of the Great Divine Power Space Sleeve, yet it was fundamentally different from that world-renowned Great Divine Power.
That the edict bearing the resentment of three thousand years of the Imperial Capital’s spirits couldn’t affect Shen Yuan in the slightest sent a tremor through Emperor Xia’s heart.
Within the incense offering magic domain, the Capital City God’s eyes flicked, and with a wave of his hand, another authority token descended from the sky.
"Heretics and demons shall be eternally suppressed!"
Within the incense offering magic domain, the newly established realm pressed down on Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan remained fearless, as the Qi of heaven and earth stirred within the Secret Realm Square-Inch, utilizing the Sleeve Space as a medium to perform the Nine Breaths Qi Absorption Great Divine Power, forcibly resisting the suppression from the incense offering magic domain.
Even as the entire incense offering magic domain of Jing Province weighed upon him, it still couldn’t fully suppress Shen Yuan, and the vast Qi of heaven and earth even began to show signs of resistance.
At the uppermost layer of the great sacrificial altar, Emperor Xia’s face looked exceedingly grim.
Although the Capital City God had resumed his position and the incense offering magic domain enveloped the lands of Great Xia, time was ultimately too short.
Among the three thousand six hundred and fifty City Gods under heaven, only barely enough had congregated to form the embodiment of the City God, leaving none with extra incense offering willpower to supply the Capital City God.
The thousands of years of incense willpower stored by Great Xia had all been used to establish the incense offering magic domain, leaving the Capital City God with a title but no power to exert.
Adding to this, the civil and military judges, along with the ghost emissaries within the City God Temples, had not returned to their positions, and the Capital City God Temple was not complete, merely equivalent to a Return-to-Void Great True Being.
In a true battle for life and death, the Capital City God might not necessarily overcome a Supreme Taoist.
With this thought, Emperor Xia’s gaze suddenly turned toward the Imperial City.
"Enter the incense offering magic domain, assist the Capital City God in suppressing the Supreme Taoist!"
Inside the Imperial City, several eunuchs with soft features hesitated, not immediately obeying the command of Emperor Xia.
Seeing this, Emperor Xia let out a cold laugh:
"If the Capital City God is defeated, do you think you can save yourselves?"
At these words, the hesitation in the eunuchs vanished. Their bloated bodies tore through their splendid clothing, transforming into fearsome Flesh Asuras.
And their presence was unmistakably at the Spirit Refining Stage, just like Zhou Kuang.
Without any action from Emperor Xia, these Flesh Asuras voluntarily tore open the dim incense offering magic domain and stepped into it with large strides.
With the arrival of several Flesh Asuras, the color within the incense offering magic domain grew even denser, to the point that Shen Yuan even felt a familiar presence.
Within the incense offering magic domain, several Flesh Asuras walked on air, heading straight for Shen Yuan who was being suppressed by the incense offering magic domain.
Shen Yuan, locked in a stalemate with the incense offering magic domain, revealed a hint of surprise as his Darkness-Light Sword suddenly unsheathed.
A fierce sword light tore through the incense offering magic domain, slashing towards the Flesh Asura that stood several zhang tall.
The Yang God Sword tore apart flesh comparable to that of deities, severing three Flesh Asuras at the waist, and then continued onward without losing momentum, cleaving again.
Under the Earthly Destroyer Sword Technique, the Flesh Asuras had no power to resist and were effortlessly obliterated.
Just as Shen Yuan was preparing to sheath the Darkness-Light Sword, under the dull glow of the incense offering magic domain, the destroyed Flesh Asuras began to slowly wriggle, with their torn bodies healing once again.
Shen Yuan’s brow furrowed deeply as his sword light once more tore the Flesh Asuras apart, cutting their intact bodies into countless tiny pieces.
But even this was to no avail; the sword light could only tear apart the bodies of the Flesh Asuras, whose spirit souls seemed to have merged with the incense offering magic domain, allowing them to recover no matter how many times Shen Yuan killed their physical forms.
But under the sharp sword light, not even the multiple Flesh Asuras could pose a threat to Shen Yuan, any Divine Arts they employed were easily cleaved in twain by a single stroke of his sword.
The situation once again fell into a strange stalemate, much like before, seemingly unchanged.
Emperor Xia’s expression was one of furious shock; he never imagined that, even after playing his trump card, Shen Yuan remained an insurmountable challenge, his strength far beyond Xia’s predictions.
"To thoroughly suppress him, the only way is..."
"No, it won’t do! I have not yet stabilized the situation. If I reveal myself prematurely, even if I were to crush the Supreme Taoist, it would invite great trouble."
As Emperor Xia hesitated, a soft, feminine voice slowly resonated in his ear.
"What are you hesitating for?"
"Could it be that you still cannot bear to part with this burdensome human body?"
"By achieving a pantheon seat with the body of a Mortal Emperor, one can ascend to the heavens in a single step, surpassing the position of the local deities below. Even in the Upper World, such status would be comparable to that of a Star Monarch, wielding the grand power of heaven and earth.
Compared to that supreme divine position, what is there in this flawed Mortal Emperor’s body that’s worth clinging to?"
Insanity flickered in Emperor Xia’s eyes, but within his true spirit, a last shred of clarity remained.
"To completely give up the position of Mortal Emperor is to surrender initiative and add unneeded uncertainty to the future—this, I absolutely cannot accept!"
The soft voice let out a faint sigh:
"Very well! Since you insist, I will impart to you the method of soul splitting, allowing a part of your spirit to inhabit the divine body of the Capital City God."
"Once the Capital City God attains the Divine Monarch’s rank, you shall still control the great tides of the world and hold humanity fate in your hands."
"Good!"
As the words fell, a flood of complex information poured into Emperor Xia’s mind.
Within the incense offering magic domain, Shen Yuan glanced questioningly at the spot outside the domain where Emperor Xia was located, then once more, the sword light around him sliced the Flesh Asuras to extinction.
Within the confines of the Primal Chaos Realm and without the home field advantage of the Secret Realm Square-Inch, Shen Yuan indeed experienced a substantial reduction in strength.
However, even with that reduction, handling the Capital City God deities and Flesh Asuras that could only resort to rudimentary tactics was still not an issue.
The reason Shen Yuan feigned a stalemate was to lure Emperor Xia into exposing his own secrets.
He did not believe that Emperor Xia had paid such a hefty price merely for the current minor benefits, suspecting that greater schemes lay behind it all.
Suddenly, an eerie aura began to rise from Emperor Xia’s body atop the grand altar.
Shen Yuan’s eyes narrowed, and he witnessed a fragmented spirit soul split from Emperor Xia’s body and ascend into the incense offering magic domain, merging with the figure of the Capital City God.
That Capital City God, a mirror of Emperor Xia, now seemed infused with a different kind of life force, as a mighty aura continuously surged from the deity’s body.
At this moment, the Capital City God appeared like a sovereign descended to the mortal realm, its rank starkly reaching the echelon of Divine Monarch, comparable to an Immortal.
As the Capital City God’s rank rose, the incense offering magic domain solidified at a rate visible to the naked eye. Shen Yuan, who had been faking a deadlock, finally felt a hint of a lethal threat under the immeasurable pressure of the Capital City God.
A trace of humanized madness now played across the majestic face of the deity.
"This is the might of a deity?"
As Capital City God slowly spoke, the words sent ripples throughout the incense offering magic domain, terrible strength contained within its divine body—the simple act of raising an arm seemed as though it could hold sway over the vast world of the magic domain.
After a brief indulgence in divine power, Capital City God’s gaze suddenly turned to Shen Yuan, eyes flashing with disdain.
"I gave you a chance, yet you failed to cherish it."
"The era of the Supreme Taoist should thus come to an end!"
With five fingers spread, the world seemed to topple, and the Qi of heaven and earth around Shen Yuan dispersed in the blink of an eye.
In the face of that terrifying pressure, Shen Yuan appeared utterly unfazed, his lips curling into a slight smile as he said:
"I’ve been waiting for you."
At this moment, the Gods Purging Divine Power, which reached the second realm, was summoned, and the long-silent Unimpeded Netherworld Divine Power also responded to Shen Yuan. The first and second Divine Powers of the Earthly Destroyer concentrated upon him.
The spirit soul of the City God on the divine throne suddenly trembled, inexplicably feeling an unprecedented fear emanating from Shen Yuan’s presence.
It was as if the supreme authority of the Celestial Vault and the nether ruler bellowed in unison, their commanding presence echoing through the incense offering magic domain.
"Kneel!"

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