Su Rong did not stay until the end of the banquet. She dragged Zhang Su’er away and headed straight for the palace. Su Rong could scarcely imagine it. So many women in Yao City actually liked Ye Chu. Yet after he announced he was leaving, one woman after another came to plead on his behalf, urging her to go to Ye Chu and offer him some comfort.
Su Rong could only laugh and cry at the same time. She thought to herself, had these women not once despised Ye Chu the most? Whenever his name came up, they spoke of him as if he were a fly. Yet now they were all swooning like infatuated girls.
Left with no choice, Su Rong could only retreat to the palace to escape them. Surely they would not follow her there to persuade her further?
Yet just as Su Rong was about to reach the palace, she discovered many palace guards lying scattered on the ground. The sight made her expression change. Shock surged through her heart.
“Someone has attacked the palace!” Zhang Su’er was equally terrified. She could not imagine who would be so bold as to strike at the palace guards.
“King of Yao! This national teacher invites you to visit the Sand Country as a guest!” An arrogant voice exploded through the air. In front of the sprawled palace guards stood two men. Both radiated overwhelming presence. They hefted enormous logs and smashed them viciously against the palace gates.
Boom after boom resounded. The impacts spread outwards, alarming the palace and the surrounding residents. Guards from within the palace surged towards the scene. Soldiers defending the royal city also converged from all directions.
Su Rong looked at the two men outside the palace. Her expression shifted. “The Sand Country’s national teachers!”
One of them was the leader from the Sand Country during the martial contest. The other wore identical robes, clearly of equal status. Both were innate realm experts.
“Two innate realm experts!” Zhang Su’er swallowed hard, her heart trembling. Yet she quickly sneered. “Courting death! Two innate realm experts think they can storm the palace. Do they believe Yao Country has no innate realm national teachers?”
Zhang Su’er’s sneer did not improve Su Rong’s expression. Instead, her face grew even paler. Yao Country’s two innate realm national teachers had been severely injured by that mysterious woman that night. They had not yet recovered. No one in the palace could stand against innate realm experts now.
“How do they know?” Su Rong stared blankly at the Sand Country national teachers. The king had tightly sealed news of that night’s theft, precisely to prevent outsiders from learning the palace lacked high-level protection and targeting it. Yet what they feared most had come to pass. The Sand Country national teachers had come straight to their door.
For them to dare this, they clearly knew the Yao Country national teachers were gravely injured.
“Su Rong! What is wrong?” Seeing Su Rong’s face drained of all colour, Zhang Su’er quickly supported her.
“Hurry! Go notify the Weiyuan Marquis at once!” Su Rong shouted to Zhang Su’er. At this moment, the only innate realm expert in Yao City was the Weiyuan Marquis. Only he could stop innate realm opponents.
It was the first time Zhang Su’er had seen Su Rong so panicked. Without asking questions, she turned and ran towards the Weiyuan Marquis’s residence.
Boom… boom…
The massive logs slammed repeatedly into the palace gates. The gates began to give way bit by bit. Shockwaves rippled out, shaking the hearts of every Yao Country citizen.
“Fire!” Yao Country soldiers surrounded them and loosed arrows. A dense rain of shafts shot towards the two men.
The two Sand Country national teachers held their logs and swung them forward to block. Every arrow struck the wood. One national teacher laughed loudly, seized his log, and swept it horizontally.
The enormous log swept out, smashing into soldiers and rupturing their organs. Blood flowed across the blue stone in front of the palace, the scene utterly gruesome.
“Hahaha! Who dares to stop me?” One Sand Country national teacher charged into the soldiers. His log swept out again and again, power tyrannical and brutal. Soldiers were flung away. He advanced as if into an empty realm.
Innate realm experts were terrifying. With logs sweeping out, the soldiers’ formations instantly collapsed. They could pose no threat to the pair. Swept by the national teachers, the soldiers scattered in defeat.
“Sha Tianyun, strike and break open the palace gates!” While wielding his log to fend off countless soldiers, one Sand Country national teacher shouted.
“Good!” The one called Sha Tianyun suddenly channelled his power and hammered the palace gates viciously. The gates could not withstand it. Under his assaults, cracks slowly widened.
“Stop them!” Yao Country soldiers roared. Fearless of death, they charged forward to block the two from entering the palace.
Yet they underestimated the terror of innate realm experts. The pair were fierce tigers. These soldiers were not even sheep. Under the sweeping logs, blood splashed everywhere. The stench was piercing.
Su Rong stood at a distance, watching the soldiers defending the palace die one by one before her eyes. Tears streamed from her beautiful eyes. They turned red. Yet she could do nothing. Though she had some strength, before innate realm experts she was merely a lamb.
“Stop them! We must stop them. We cannot let them enter the palace.” Yao Country soldiers shouted. They knew what it meant if these two broke in. If the king were truly captured, Yao Country would be finished.
Boom…
Another strike. The palace gates were smashed open. A group of guards who had braced their bodies against the gates were shaken to the ground. Sha Tianyun stepped inside. Guards thrust weapons viciously towards him.
“Hahaha! A bunch of trash daring to block this national teacher!” Sha Tianyun laughed loudly. His arm swung. A spiked club appeared in his hand. He smashed several guards. Flesh blurred. Blood sprayed, dyeing the palace gates red.
“Get out of the way! Bring your king out!” Sha Tianyun laughed wildly, staring at the crowd. His tone was icy and cruel. A savage smile played on his lips. He reached out and tore apart a guard who rushed him. Flesh scattered across the ground.
“Stop him! We must stop him!” The guard captain directed the guards to shout. He attacked Sha Tianyun first.
“My lord! Hurry and summon the national teachers!” Some guards, unaware of that night’s events, shouted upon seeing no national teachers appear.
“Haha! Your national teachers are lying in bed. This national teacher will deal with them shortly.” Sha Tianyun laughed. When he first learned this news by chance, he had not believed it. Only after repeated probing did he confirm it was true. That was why they dared to storm the palace.
With no innate realm experts to stop them, who could stand in their way? Capturing the Yao king would allow them to force Yao Country to submit.
His words caused everyone’s expressions to change dramatically. They looked sharply at the guard captain. They wanted to know if the news was true. From the captain’s ashen face, they received their answer. The answer chilled them all to the bone. One by one, they looked on in disbelief.
“Those who do not wish to die, get lost!” Sha Tianyun bellowed. His spiked club lashed out.
“Stop him!” Though terrified, the soldiers saw Sha Tianyun charging towards the palace. They blocked his path. They knew clearly that they could not retreat now. Retreat meant national ruin and family destruction.
Su Rong watched living people die one after another under the pair’s weapons. She covered her mouth with both hands. Tears fell endlessly. Her eyes were bloodshot. She stared fixedly ahead, despair rising in her heart.
