142: Fourth Generation: Overlord (Thirty-Eight)

"Wang Zhengqing!"

Shen Jun forced himself to stay calm, shouting with a fierce expression, "My Shen Family has already abandoned our ancestral land; we only seek a path to live! Why must you push us to the brink of extinction?! Does Wang Yuan really intend to commit such an act of total annihilation? Is he not afraid of offending the natural order?!"

Wang Zhengqing heard this, his face showing neither joy nor sorrow, only saying flatly: "His Majesty's mind is made up; it is not for me to question."

"If the Shen Family Head is willing to surrender and return with me to face His Majesty, perhaps some of your clansmen's lives can be spared."

"Surrender? And then be slaughtered to the last person just like the Xiao Family?!"

Shen Jun roared; he knew there was no path to survival in surrender, and Wang Yuan's order of 'no survivors' still rang in his ears.

"If that is the case..."

Wang Zhengqing said no more. The blue spiritual light around him surged, and his powerful wood-type spiritual power caused the surrounding vegetation to grow wildly. His Aura locked tightly onto Shen Jun and his core spirit boat. "Then, I must offend you."

He did not launch a destructive attack directly but instead unleashed a Divine Ability for entanglement and binding. A massive phantom of green vines emerged from the Void Realm, coiling toward the Shen Family's spirit boat, intending to trap them completely.

"Break through! Scatter and break through!"

Shen Jun's eyes were splitting with rage. He knew he could not hesitate and immediately gave the cruelest and most helpless order, attempting to sacrifice some to buy an escape for the others.

The scene instantly descended into chaos. The remaining spirit boats of the Shen Family tried to flee in different directions, with cries, roars, and the sounds of colliding Spells filling the air.

However, after the initial panic, Shen Jun's gaze locked firmly onto Wang Zhengqing, who was blocking the path alone ahead. A thought flashed through his mind:

He is alone!

Only Wang Zhengqing, a Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator!

If the Shang King's main force were here, they would never have sent only Wang Zhengqing to intercept!

What did this mean?

It meant Wang Yuan had adopted a strategy of splitting his forces! The vanguard elite led by Wang Zhengqing was only meant to entangle them and buy time for the main force to surround them!

This realization gave Shen Jun a glimmer of desperate hope!

If he could quickly shake off Wang Zhengqing's entanglement and dash through the Black Wind Valley not far ahead before the Shang King's main force arrived, entering the territory of the Heavenly Wolf Dynasty, they would truly be free!

Conversely, if they were pinned down here by Wang Zhengqing, once the subsequent army arrived, they would have no wings to fly and would surely die!

In a flash, a trace of madness and resolve flashed in Shen Jun's eyes!

He jerked his head around and shouted sharply at the few Elders beside him who were also preparing to block Wang Zhengqing:

"Ignore him! Do not get dragged down by Wang Zhengqing!"

"All Foundation Establishment Elders, protect the core disciples' spirit boats and break through with all your might!"

"At all costs, charge through!"

"He is only one person, he cannot stop us all!"

Shen Jun's voice carried a hoarse, desperate tone. He stared fixedly at Wang Zhengqing, his Late Foundation Establishment Stage spiritual power boiling as if on fire, and a tragic Aura rose to the sky!

"Wang Zhengqing! Your opponent is me!"

He was actually going to use his own strength, risking his life, to forcibly entangle Wang Zhengqing, who was also at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, to create an opportunity for the others in his Family to escape!

"Family Head!"

The few Elders' faces changed drastically upon hearing this; they understood what this meant.

The Family Head was going to sacrifice himself to cover their retreat!

"Go!! This is an order!"

Shen Jun roared, no longer looking at them. His figure transformed into a resolute streak of green light, actively meeting Wang Zhengqing, who was currently casting his vine-binding Divine Ability!

He pinched a seal with both hands, and the Artifact Refining fire of the Shen Family's Legacy burned out of thin air, transforming into a roaring fire Dragon. It did not attack Wang Zhengqing himself but smashed fiercely into the spreading green vines!

"Boom!"

Fire and wood collided, erupting with violent roars and sparks of spiritual energy filling the sky.

Shen Jun's attack was precise and violent, with a clear purpose—to destroy Wang Zhengqing's binding technique, clear a path for the spirit boats behind him, and simultaneously use himself as bait to attract Wang Zhengqing's full attention!

"Hmph, a cornered beast's struggle!"

Wang Zhengqing frowned slightly and snorted coldly.

Shen Jun's desperate fighting style did indeed interfere with the execution of his Divine Ability to a certain extent. The few spirit boats carrying the Shen Family's core disciples took advantage of the gap and burst forth with maximum speed, like fish escaping the net, desperately charging toward the north.

Wang Zhengqing wanted to pursue, but Shen Jun pounced like a mad tiger, using various powerful Spells, and even burning his own Origin to detonate Magical Artifacts, pinning him down so he could not break free for a moment.

"You all go!!"

Blood spilled from the corner of Shen Jun's mouth, and he looked crazed as he let out a final roar at the departing spirit boats.

He watched those spirit boats gradually disappear into the night, a trace of relief and release flashing in his eyes, only to be immediately drowned by even deeper resolve.

He knew he did not have much time left. Wang Zhengqing's strength was already above his own; he was only holding on by sheer blood and Qi.

He turned to face Wang Zhengqing, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and a miserable smile appeared on his face: "Wang Zhengqing, come! Let this old man see what abilities you, an Elder of the Wang Family, truly possess!"

He abandoned all defense, completely igniting his remaining life force and spiritual power, and launched his final, most brilliant attack, like a moth flying into a flame, without hesitation.

However, Wang Zhengqing looked at Shen Jun, who was rushing toward him with the Aura of burning everything to the ground, and a trace of undetectable coldness quietly flashed across his solemn face.

"Family Head Shen, you underestimate this old man, and you underestimate His Majesty's arrangements."

He did not dodge or evade. Facing Shen Jun's final blow, which condensed all his life and cultivation, he formed an ancient and complex Dharma seal with his hands in front of his chest.

As the seal formed, the originally vast Green-Wood spiritual power around him suddenly changed its nature!

It was no longer the long-lasting, life-filled vitality that spurred the growth of vines, but transformed into a heavy, dense power of suppression, like a ten-thousand-foot mountain and an endless forest!

"Green-Wood Suppress-Yuan, All Laws Forbidden!"

Wang Zhengqing gave a low shout, and the heavy, dense green spiritual light radiated from him like ripples, instantly enveloping the space for several miles!

The air in this space seemed to solidify, and the spiritual energy became incredibly viscous, as if trapped in an invisible quagmire!

Shen Jun, who was charging madly, felt his body sink, as if countless invisible mountains were pressing down on him. Every movement became abnormally difficult and sluggish, and the flow of the surging, burning spiritual power in his body was also severely hindered. The power of his desperate, condensed strike was forcibly suppressed and scattered by more than 30 percent!

"What?!!" Shen Jun's face, full of madness and resolve, was instantly replaced by horror. "You... you didn't use your full strength before?!"

He only then realized that the vine-binding technique Wang Zhengqing had used earlier, while seeming to have great momentum, was actually more about area control and had not demonstrated such terrifying individual suppression and Domain imprisonment!

"Since His Majesty ordered this old man to intercept, he naturally knew you would attempt this 'severing the tail to survive' tactic."

Wang Zhengqing's voice still came clearly through the stagnant space, carrying a composure of total control. "If it comes to slaughter and breaking formations, this old man might not equal even one ten-thousandth of His Majesty; but when it comes to trapping people, hindering enemies, and maintaining stability... this old man still has some reputation in the Wang Family."

He had been in charge of the enlightenment and admonishment of Family disciples for over a hundred years, and he was most skilled at using absolute power and rules to "grind" those Family Geniuses with wild Heart-Nature and lack of discipline into being smooth and rule-abiding!

His "Green-Wood Suppress-Yuan" Divine Ability was considered a specialty of the Wang Family in terms of imprisonment and defense!

It was perfectly suited for dealing with Shen Jun, who was focused on fleeing and was already at the end of his rope!

Xu Yuan sent him here precisely because he valued this point!

It was not to have him kill many enemies, but to have him act like the most stable nail, firmly pinning down the core of the Shen Family's escape, making it impossible for them to break free!