Ever since he had been crowned emperor, Han Xintian had not needed to personally fight a single battle. That didn't mean that he was weak–rather, it was the exact opposite: He was by far the strongest member of the local Han Empire!
Despite having been the youngest, after his father's death, he had almost single-handedly triumphed over all of his siblings and a few other troublemakers who had coveted the throne. His aptitude and Talent represented the absolute pinnacle of all nearby Imperial Han Family branches. If it hadn't been for the age limitation, then it might have even been possible for him to eke out an existence as a somewhat decent Heaven's Chosen.
Having long since reached the peak of the Dawning Numen Stage, Han Xintian had been unable to progress any further, leaving him frustrated for a while, but then he set his sights on expanding his empire instead. During his reign, close to a dozen worlds had already been attacked, some of them having successfully been transformed into new states.
During his stable rule, no issues which he couldn't easily deal with had cropped up–until the beginning of the Heavenly Succession. At first, he had looked down upon it, thinking of it as a great opportunity for his people to rise, but then that Dragon Family descendant's slaughter had mercilessly slapped him in the face.
But that alone would have been fine, it had merely motivated him to sharpen his combat expertise in preparation for the duel. However, when more states started to fall mysteriously, his calm gradually began to shatter, replaced by an irascible mood.
Whenever he wasn't tending to court matters, accompanying his harem or sharpening his skills, he blew off steam by torturing the plentiful slaves available. This was the sole way for him to keep the bubbling fury more or less contained and under control.
Even as someone whose Divine Will had blossomed, he couldn't resist the mind-warping effects originating from his bloodline. At most, he usually retained a smidgen more rationality than the majority of Hans, yet at the end of the day, it didn't make much of a real difference.
'Although I'll be facing an inferior creature, I shouldn't underestimate them. We have all rested on our laurels for too long, which has allowed those 'Heaven's Chosen' to walk all over us, who rightfully should be their supreme rulers. Seriously, what have all worlds come to...?'
"Your Majesty, excuse the disturbance. The promised moment is almost upon us."
Snapped out of his reverie by the voice of one of his retainers, Han Xintian rose from his throne, then grabbed the delicately ornamented blade leaning against it. He was clad in a specially crafted reinforced yellow dragon robe, which would allow him to move properly even during high-intensity combat. If he had insisted on wearing his usual garments, then they would most likely have got in the way throughout the duel.
Within the blink of an eye, Han Xintian appeared far above in the sky, quite a distance from Longxin City. There, a massive area had already been demarcated to be the 'ring' where their violent exchange would be taking place.
Spreading his perception all around, he took in the terrifyingly large megalopolis that was almost covering the entire continent upon which it was located. The amount of Hans residing in it alone was approaching 100 billion, and if the undesirables were included, then the number of living beings toiling away here daily was in the trillions.
And this was merely one small part of the Longxin World, albeit its most prosperous one. Ever since the creation of this Han Empire, the Xin branch had produced one emperor after the next, eventually culminating in Han Xintian. Now, he was forced to contend with multiple potentially empire-ending threats, the burden on his shoulders just as terrifyingly overwhelming as the one that the founding emperor had borne.
Yet, he stood tall and unbending, the conviction in his eyes not faltering in the slightest. He had never lost, and his invincibility had become a known fact throughout the ages. These challenges would be overcome successfully in due time, and today's duel–which he would undoubtedly win–would mark the beginning of yet another epic tale that would be added to his reign's chronicles.
In preparation to showcase his glorious victory to his people, countless Arrays had been set up by his retainers, which would allow every person in the entire state to follow along with the events occurring here. Both visuals and audio were being displayed live, with barely any delay. There was also the option to slow down important moments, as the laypeople would otherwise have no clue what was happening.
Therefore, when the figure of their respected emperor came into sight, the people's elated cheers caused the entire world to tremble a little, further emboldening Han Xintian. A slight but regal smile on his lips, he acknowledged the citizens with a minute nod, then trained his gaze upon a certain spot in the distance, where a Teleportation Array connecting directly to the Gulong State had been laid out.
Seconds of silence trickled by, until finally, a bright light bloomed in its centre, eventually revealing a figure too astonishingly gorgeous for mortal eyes to comprehend. Despite knowing that they were looking upon a mere inferior creature, a dragon descending from a lesser bloodline, the violet-red haired woman's appearance was far more irresistible than anyone they had ever seen before.
Both the audience as well as Han Xintian felt their breath catch in their throat, staring wide-eyed at Eleanora, who slowly rose into the air until she stopped at the same height where her opponent was waiting for her. Despite the Hans' generally heavenly looks, when comparing her to the emperor, anyone who wasn't blind could tell that the gulf in beauty between them was wide enough to make their ruler appear akin to a country bumpkin meeting a goddess.
Very soon, excited howls filled with yearning and depravity shook the world, as both the men and women of the Imperial Han Family felt their bloodline take over completely, subduing and conquering Eleanora being the sole thing on their minds. It was akin to countless rabid dogs barking in lustful thirst and excitement, yet the target of their 'affection' didn't even acknowledge their ruckus by raising an eyebrow.
"You're... qualified. Submit to me, and become my concubine. Despite your inferior ancestry, I can make an exception for you. What do you say?"
Barely suppressing his desire to pounce on her right there and then, Han Xintian made an unprecedented offer, one that he had never even thought of prior to today. Yet, this fated foe of his was clearly extraordinary enough for him to consider giving her special treatment.
"No, thanks. Draw your blade, and attack me with all you've got."
Unperturbed by his 'generous' words, she motioned at him to begin, giving him the first move. Witnessing their most powerful fighter's all-out assault amount to nothing at all would significantly shock the vast majority of Hans, making them fall into despair. What more could she possibly want?
"Impudent! How dare you, junior?! You're quite bold! I extended an olive branch to you, yet you shrugged it off in such an unceremonious manner. Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit, how unbelievably foolish! It looks like I'll need to properly educate you on your parents' behalf!"
Feeling an uncontrollable rage burst forth from inside of him at having been rejected, Han Xintian unsheathed his sword, before raising it above his head. At the same time, he stirred the Energy flowing within him and utilized his Divine Will to command the Energy in his surroundings, transforming an area of thousands of kilometres into a massive vortex.
Many bolts of blackish-purple lightning gathered around the blade, initially appearing quite unimpressive and underwhelming. However, wherever they crackled by, Longxin State's spacetime was erased, leaving terrifying wounds which the world would slowly have to recover from over a lengthy period of time.
Once the entirety of his power had been condensed to the greatest extent that he could muster, he stepped forward and slashed down his with weapon at the same time, appearing right in front of Eleanora in this exact instant. With merely a few tens of centimetres separating the lightning-covered sword and her, if she couldn't react fast enough, she would have to face the same fate as all which it came into contact with–utter eradication.
Yet, akin to a deer in the headlights, she simply stared at the approaching blow, not moving at all. Fractions of a microsecond before his attack would make contact with her, Han Xintian even considered halting his slash, fearing that he might wound her too heavily. However, he chose to be cold-hearted this time–no matter what, this lady needed to be taught a lesson!
As the entire world was watching, everyone observing this exchange soon staggered backwards in disbelief, their eyes almost popping out of their skulls. For when the extremely slowed-down version of the nearly live-transmitted recording finally arrived at the point where the blade met flesh, it didn't even manage to leave a mark on her skin!
"H-How is that... possible...?!"
Staring at her arm, which he had chosen to aim for because he didn't want to actually kill her, Han Xintian felt as if he had seen a ghost–nay, thousands of them. His strongest attack having no effect whatsoever on this lady, whose cultivation realm was clearly lower than his, simply made no sense to him at all. It felt as if his brain was overflowing with error messages, and his worldview was collapsing.
Nobody–not even the world itself–had ever managed to tide through his full-force blow unscathed, leading him to believe that he had already become undefeatable. Yet, Eleanora's simple inaction had proven him wrong.
"... is that it? What a disappointment."
Shaking her head with a look of pity in her eyes, she casually shrugged off the blade, then drew her own in a swift yet elegant motion. Not wasting any more words or even thinking about leaving her opponent a way out, she thrust it straight into his heart then moved it upwards and bisected both his upper torso as well as his head.
Her movements had been so quick that by the time that she had sheathed her weapon and moved past Han Xintian, to the viewers, he still appeared to be in one piece. But moments after, his physical vessel transformed into a gruesome sight, brain matter, blood and minute bone fragments gushing out of him.
Naturally, Eleanora wouldn't be stained by them. She had long since begun her leisurely stroll to the imperial capital, not bothering to send a single glance to the disfigured corpse plummeting from the skies behind her. Han Xintian's soul had been eradicated by her during her attack, therefore there was no way for him to ever stir up any waves again.
As the seconds trickled by, the entire world was silent, then panic and gloom began to spread like innumerable wildfires. No matter where they were, the Hans rushed towards their most fortified positions, or to any places which they judged to be well-hidden. Many even tried to utilize the manifold Teleportation Arrays located in important areas, yet they all soon realized a terrifying fact: None of them worked! Sometime after Eleanora's appearance, someone had hijacked the world's entire Array network, cutting them off from all other states. There were no more avenues for escape left!
Yet despite how flawless everything had gone, the ones responsible for this–Theodore and Eleanora–weren't in the mood to celebrate. Although neither of them displayed any sort of negative emotions outwardly, ever since they had stepped foot in the Longxin State, they had already realized that something was profoundly wrong.
Although they couldn't figure out what exactly it was that was responsible for giving them this impression, their gut was nonetheless warning them. With no discussion necessary, they independently chose to proceed In the same exact way–to continue on like normal, so that they might lure out what- or whoever it was that was lying in wait.