363: The doorplate is hung with divine power!

Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu only felt a chill run through his body. He looked down and was horrified to find that his luxurious imperial robe had disappeared from his chest down, revealing his aged skin.

And the magnificent chair he was sitting on, and the deck beneath his feet, had all vanished cleanly at the same level.

His upper body was thrown forward by inertia. Before the intense pain could register, his vision was once again filled by that crimson figure.

Lu Jiuyuan had appeared before him at some unknown point, still standing with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze indifferent, as if the ship-splitting sword strike just now had nothing to do with him.

“Ugh ah—!”

Only at this moment did Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu feel the terrifying, intense pain of his lower body being instantly vaporized, and the chilling sensation of life rapidly draining away.

He let out an inarticulate wail, his eyes filled with fear, agony, and disbelief.

Lu Jiuyuan didn't even glance at his miserable state, merely casually joined his fingers like a blade and lightly swiped twice through the air.

“Chh! Chh!”

Two faint crimson Qi streaks flashed.

Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu’s remaining arms were severed at the shoulder joints!

The cuts were equally smooth and instantly sealed by the high temperature, with not a single drop of blood flowing out.

This Dominator behind the scenes of Dong Ying, in the blink of an eye, became a “human swine” with only his head and torso remaining.

The intense pain and extreme terror prevented him from even screaming. He could only gape, like a fish out of water, his eyes filled with the grey-white of despair.

Lu Jiuyuan swept his sleeve, and an invisible Qi current lifted this limbless “human swine” into his hand. The boundless vitality of the Sacred Heart Art continuously poured into his body, repairing the injuries at the severed points.

He didn't even look at the two halves of the ship's wreckage slowly sinking into the sea, nor the debris floating with the waves. His figure blurred again, transforming into a crimson stream of light, and in an instant, he had crossed a vast distance, returning to the sky above the World Society’s flagship.

“You all take your time, I’m heading back first!”

The crimson stream of light that Lu Jiuyuan transformed into, in just one or two hours, had already crossed the vast East Sea and returned to the sky above the grand and solemn Tianxia Hui Headquarters.

His figure solidified, like a deity descending, and the “human swine” with only a head and torso, held in his hand, looked particularly jarring in the sky above the Tianxia Hui Headquarters plaza.

The patrolling and on-duty World Society Disciples below were first startled, but upon seeing it was Lu Jiuyuan, they immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, their shouts echoing like mountains and seas, reverberating through the clouds:

“Welcome back, Alliance Leader, in triumph!”

Lu Jiuyuan nodded slightly, his figure slowly descending, landing directly in front of Frost of the Qin, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.

He casually tossed the “thing” emanating fear and Death Qi in his hand at Frost of the Qin’s feet, where it landed with a dull thud.

“Master!”

Frost of the Qin bowed in salute, his gaze sweeping over the twisted, writhing “human swine” on the ground. Even with his Heart-Nature, a trace of shock flashed in his eyes.

He recognized the tattered imperial robe that remained, it was none other than Dong Ying’s Dominator, Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu!

“This fiend,”

Lu Jiuyuan’s voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority, spreading across the entire plaza: “Bind his shoulder blades with heavy profound iron chains, and hang him beneath the main gate plaque of the Headquarters.”

He paused, his tone chilling to the bone:

“Feed him regularly to sustain his life, maintain his vitality, and make sure he stays alive.”

“Issue my imperial decree, proclaiming to all under heaven: this fiend shall be hung for three years!”

“I will use this to warn all within and outside the Central Plains: anyone who invades my territory or covets the Central Plains shall meet this end!”

“Disciple obeys!”

Frost of the Qin’s spirit was awestruck. He took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and bowed to accept the order without hesitation.

He understood that this was Master’s way of using the most brutal and direct method to deter all those with ill intentions!

He immediately waved his hand, summoning his trusted subordinates to bring the specially forged heavy profound iron chains used to shackle peerless Masters.

The chains were as thick as a child’s arm, gleaming with a cold, eerie light, and tipped with sharp barbs at both ends.

Two elite World Society members, expressionless, skillfully plunged the barbs of the heavy profound iron chains deep into Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu’s shoulder blades!

“Ugh—ah!!!”

Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu, whose consciousness had been blurred by extreme pain and fear, was once again stimulated by this excruciating pain, letting out a horrific, inhuman shriek, his remaining torso convulsing violently.

However, Lu Jiuyuan flicked a finger, and a wisp of pure, gentle Sacred Heart Art True Qi entered his body, not only instantly sealing the wounds and stopping the bleeding,

but also forcibly sustaining his last breath of Origin Qi, making even fainting a luxury. He could only clearly feel every bit of pain and humiliation.

Frost of the Qin personally took action, lifting the chains, and leaping up, he hoisted the constantly twitching, wailing “human swine” high, directly beneath the massive, majestic plaque of the Tianxia Hui Headquarters!

The heavy profound iron chains wrapped several times around the beam behind the plaque, locking it securely.

Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu’s body, stripped of its limbs and with only a head and torso remaining, dangled helplessly in front of the Tianxia Hui Headquarters gate, like dried cured meat, or a pig nailed to a pillar of shame.

“Overlord…”

“Hmm?” Lu Jiuyuan looked back at the hanging cured meat: “Do you have something to say?”

“I am the Emperor of Dong Ying, how can I be exposed like this before others… Please… please cover my face with a silk handkerchief, hide my visage… so that I am not… too ashamed to face people!”

The mention of a silk handkerchief covering his face immediately reminded Lu Jiuyuan of the distant past. How long had it been since he carried a silk handkerchief on him?

Time flowed like water, years flew by. The current Lu Jiuyuan was no longer the Lu Huatong of the past!

“Granted!”

Soon, news of World Society Alliance Leader Lu Jiuyuan’s great victory in the East Sea, where he slew Dong Ying’s elites, captured their behind-the-scenes Dominator Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu, reduced him to a human swine, and hung him outside the Headquarters for three years, spread like wildfire, at an astonishing speed, throughout the entire Martial Forest of the Central Plains, even extending to regions beyond the Great Wall and Dong Ying.

Countless Martial Forest figures, Jianghu heroes, and even ordinary citizens, upon hearing the news, rushed to the Tianxia Hui Headquarters to witness this unprecedented spectacle with their own eyes.

When they saw the Old Celestial Emperor of Dong Ying hanging beneath the World Society’s plaque, his face covered by a silk handkerchief, swaying in the wind, occasionally even swinging like a pendulum and splashing water on the onlookers, they all gasped, feeling a chill rise from the bottom of their hearts.

Exclamations, curses, discussions… merged into a single roar.

When the news reached Dong Ying, the entire nation was horrified, and the imperial family was terrified.

The news of Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu being reduced to a human swine and publicly displayed froze all remaining ambition and fantasy like the coldest current.

In its place was a deep-seated fear that permeated all of Dong Ying.

After a brief period of chaos and despair, the remaining Dong Ying imperial family and ministers had no choice but to face a cruel reality—if they did not quell the wrath of that Demon God of the Central Plains in time,

the next thing to descend upon Dong Ying would likely not be the hanging of one person, but complete annihilation and slaughter.

Thus, with a tragic and utterly humiliating sense of almost martyrdom, the newly appointed Showa Heavenly Emperor, son of Old Heavenly Emperor Shenwu, accompanied by a few remaining old ministers and imperial guards, boarded a small, unarmed boat flying a white flag, and sailed towards the Central Plains.

They did not choose any port to land, but cautiously navigated along the coastline, eventually docking at a secluded beach near the World Society’s sphere of influence.

Showa Heavenly Emperor shed his luxurious robes symbolizing his imperial status, changed into a plain white sackcloth, let his hair down, went barefoot, prepared a thorn branch, and carried it on his back. In a gesture of “begging for punishment with thorns,” he walked step by step towards the direction of the Tianxia Hui Headquarters.