440: Chapter 440 The Heavenly Emperor (Part 5)

The Empress's might, like the heavens collapsing and a tsunami crashing, instantly enveloped the entire great hall.

It was not killing intent deliberately aimed at anyone, but an innate arrogance and indifference born from her Bloodline and status.

It was the purest disdain for the ants who dared to provoke her majesty.

The members of the Liu family, from the Liu Family Head to the Elders, and even those young Prodigies, all trembled under this Quasi-Emperor might, their Divine Souls quivering.

Especially Liu Yan; she felt that even breathing had become incomparably difficult.

Her prized Glazed Sacred Physique could not even muster a single thought of resistance in the face of this pressure.

Inside the great hall, the young Disciples of the Ye family, the moment they felt this pressure, did not feel fear; instead, their blood boiled, and they felt a sense of pride.

This is the majesty that our Ye family's Empress should have!

"Do you think my Ye family has no one?"

"Liu Yan! What are you! How dare you humiliate the Imperial Son!"

Several young Prodigies of the Ye family could no longer hold back; they shouted angrily, their spiritual power surging, ready to strike at the slightest disagreement.

The Empress slowly stood up. She ignored the clamoring Ye family Disciples, her gaze calm yet icy as it fell upon the Liu Family Head.

"The marriage contract has been set, spoken with golden words; do you wish to break the engagement?"

Her voice was not loud, yet it seemed to carry the majesty of the Heavenly Dao; every word struck heavily upon the hearts of the Liu family members.

The Liu Family Head's face turned ghastly pale. Enduring the terrifying pressure that was enough to make his Divine Soul crack, he struggled to step forward.

He knew that if he could not give a reasonable explanation today, it was likely that none of them from the Liu family would leave the Ye family's gates.

"Empress, please calm your anger."

The Liu Family Head forced a smile that looked worse than crying and cupped his hands.

"My Liu family has absolutely no intention of breaking the engagement, nor do we dare to have even a shred of disrespect toward the Ye family."

He changed the subject, attempting to place himself on the moral high ground.

"It is just that the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body is a cursed Physique; this is known to everyone in the Three Thousand Dao Provinces. When the Ye family was discussing the marriage, you did not mention this at all. This... how is this any different from deceiving my Liu family?"

"My Liu family does not look down on the Imperial Son, but if I were to marry my Liu family's most outstanding heavenly daughter to a useless... Mortal who is destined to be unable to cultivate, this would not only be trapping my Liu family in injustice, it would be trampling on my daughter Yan'er's lifelong happiness!"

"Empress, my Liu family is also a victim!"

These words were spoken with tears and sobs, pushing all responsibility away completely.

The Empress's eyes grew colder, and she was about to speak.

Suddenly, she noticed something unusual about her son beside her.

Ye Yun's body was trembling violently.

His face, already pale from humiliation, was now completely devoid of color. He held his head in his hands and let out a painful groan.

He watched his mother, in order to protect him, confront the entire Liu family without hesitation, potentially even triggering a war between the two families.

He looked at the gazes of his Ye family peers, some filled with sympathy, others with pity.

He looked at the unconcealed contempt and disgust on Liu Yan's face.

An unprecedented sense of humiliation and self-reproach, like a breached flood, instantly overwhelmed his twelve-year-old mental defenses.

"I cannot drag my mother down any longer..."

"I do not want to be a burden to my mother anymore..."

This intense thought suddenly unlocked the shackle in the deepest part of his Divine Soul.

Boom!

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, countless images and countless memories surged in madly like a torrential flood.

Ten lifetimes of memories, in this moment, completely merged with his twelve years of humiliation and unwillingness.

"Mother..."

The Empress noticed her son's abnormality, and that Quasi-Emperor might instantly dissipated without a trace, replaced by endless worry and heartache.

She immediately came to Ye Yun's side, shielding him tightly in her embrace, comforting him softly.

"Yun'er, do not be afraid, Mother is here."

She had no time to pay attention to the Liu family for the moment; all her attention was focused on her only child.

In the eyes of Liu Yan and the others, Ye Yun's "weak" appearance at this moment only confirmed his title as a "waste."

The contempt and disdain in her eyes grew even stronger.

A piece of trash who cannot even withstand a bit of verbal stimulation, how is he worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as her?

Just at this moment, the youth who was being held in the Empress's arms, seemingly in agony, stopped trembling.

He slowly opened his eyes.

In those eyes that should have been clear and childish, at this moment, there only remained a vast vicissitude that had seen through the ages, and an indifference that looked down upon all living beings.

Wang Yun had returned.

"Mother, I am fine."

A calm, yet slightly hoarse voice rang out.

Ye Yun gently pushed away his mother's embrace and slowly stood up straight.

In that instant, his entire temperament underwent a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering change.

He was no longer the youth who was inferior and cowardly because of his own Physique.

Instead, he was a supreme Emperor who had walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, who had once reached the Peak and looked down upon the ages.

He surveyed the entire scene, his gaze sweeping calmly over everyone, and finally, it landed on Liu Yan.

"Break the engagement? Very well."

He spoke indifferently, his voice not loud, yet it clearly entered everyone's ears.

The Liu family members were all stunned upon hearing this, and then looks of relief and joy appeared on their faces.

However, before they could rejoice...

Ye Yun changed his tone, his voice suddenly becoming cold, carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"However, your Liu family is merely an ordinary Imperial clan. To be able to form a marriage alliance with me, the Imperial Son of Desolate Heaven, and the Ancient Ye family, is us thinking highly of you."

"Who would have thought you all would be so short-sighted and ungrateful."

His gaze landed again on Liu Yan's pretty face, which was stunned and bewildered, his tone filled with unconcealed disdain and indifference.

"This marriage indeed is not worthy."

"It's just that it is not you breaking my engagement..."

Ye Yun's voice paused. Every word was like a heavy hammer, striking hard at Liu Yan's heart, causing the blood to instantly drain from her face.

He raised his hand and pointed from afar at that heavenly daughter who had been proud her whole life, and with a declarative, unquestionable tone, spoke the words that she would never forget for the rest of her life.

"But rather, it is I, Ye Yun, who today, in front of everyone—repudiate you!"

Once these words were spoken, the entire hall fell silent.

Liu Yan was struck as if by lightning, her mind going blank.

She had been proud her entire life and had never suffered such a great humiliation.

To be "repudiated" by a "waste" in her eyes, in front of all the powers of the Three Thousand Dao Provinces.

Humiliation, anger, disbelief... various emotions engulfed her like a tide, causing her beautiful face to twist.

The Liu Family Head and the Elders' faces turned from white to green, and from green to purple. They were trembling with rage, yet were speechless.

The initiative of the situation had been completely reversed.

They had become the side being humiliated.

On the Ye family's side, the Empress was shocked at first, but then, she looked at her son's back, which was still youthful but incomparably straight, and looked at the pride and dominance in his eyes that was identical to Desolate Heaven back then, and her eyes erupted with unprecedented brilliance.

Her Ye Yun had grown up.

The young generation of the Ye family, after a brief moment of stagnation, erupted with unprecedented fanatical worship.

This is the spirit that the biological son of the Desolate Heaven Emperor should have!

This is the demeanor their Ye family's Imperial Son should have!

The great hall was silent.

Everyone's gaze was focused on the youth whose figure was still youthful, yet who radiated supreme majesty.