"Ah?" the minds of everyone present was sent into chaos as soon as they heard the trio calling the White figure as 'Imperial Overseer!'
"This person is the one that they called as the.. Imperial Overseer?" Elder Cheng Chao, Princess Meixiu and the rest of her expedition party had their mouth agape, and their countenance changed drastically from elated to being terrified!
This was a person that stood above the Emperor!
They had heard the rumors about this newly inaugurated Imperial Overseer of the Jiu Empire. It was said that during his coronation ceremony, two immortals from the heavens descended to kill him for possessing powers that were not of this world. However, instead of killing him, it was the immortal himself that ended up being killed by the other party while the other one had to escape with his tail between his legs!
Such rumors were of course denied vehemently by the public when it spread. After all, it was far too outlandish to be real, and those that claimed to see the event happening with their own eyes were thought to be delusional or was bought for some ulterior purposes!
Who were the immortals? They were mythical beings thought to live above the sky of the Tian continent!
The immortals possess immeasurable power that could wipe all life in the Tian continent with their thoughts. Thus, how could it be real?
This was also their previous mindset about the Imperial Overseer, thinking that the story was botched and exaggerated in order to prop up his name. However, now seeing the capability of the other party with their own eyes, this mindset of theirs began to change!
Casually slapping the Skull Centipede Emperor that was on the level of a Nascent Soul realm as if swatting an annoying fly?
Most of them were experienced cultivators and had witnessed a few bizarre things, but there was no precedence of such sight before in their life!
"P-Paying respects to the Imperial Overseer of the Jiu Empire!" Elder Cheng Chao swiftly corrected herself with a visible change in her tone. Her cultivator's instinct was screaming to herself that the person in front of them were not to be offended at all cost!
"P-Paying respects to the I-Imperial Overseer!" the rest of them followed suit with stuttering voices, feeling terrified!
"Un." the White figure nodded in satisfaction after everyone realized who he was. Turning back to the undead monster that he just slapped, he then spoke coldly;
"You are still not lowering yourself before my presence?"
KREEEEEE!!
Due to the White figure's intimidating stare, the survival instinct of the Skull Centipede Emperor kicked in. Like a cornered rabbit that had no choice but to bare its fangs, it began to dash towards the White figure!
Of course, this thoroughly enraged the White figure instead!
"Impudent!"
With this single word coming out from his mouth, a murderous red aura flooded the entire cavern like a broken dam before freezing the monster on its spot!
"W-What a killing intent!" Elder Cheng Chao widened her eyes in horror. This was her first time feeling such a deep killing intent from someone to the point that she could feel her bones becoming cold!
She had felt the Doulou's Emperor killing intent before, and it wasn't as intense as this!
"H-Hey... don't you think that... he is a little different?" Wang Dong whispered to Shen Murong.
With a confused expression, Shen Murong nodded, "Yeah, he is not this hot-tempered and callous in his words before..."
Even Wei Wang had to agree with them. This was their first time seeing their Lord like this!
Could it be that its another person? But that cannot be!
"Sh*t... why is he this mad? It's not like his life was on the line fighting it before... we are!" Shen Murong said to himself as he looked at his trembling hands. He didn't know why, but he felt afraid at this moment.
This was especially the case with the weaker people in the expedition party. Some were even so scared that they peed themselves! It felt like if they move for a bit, the killing intent around them would suck out of their life from their mouth!
Tap! Tap!
The Imperial Overseer who was the source of this killing intent approached the Skull Centipede Emperor with a frosty expression under his mask.
"Baring your fangs against the Overlord of this entire land, such act of insolence will not be tolerated! Hmph!"
With a wave of his hand, several interlocking runic formation began to appear one after another below the monster!
"Since you are an undead, while I do have more than enough power to completely grind your existence to dust, that is far too lenient for you. Therefore, under my decree, you shall be sentenced to... indefinite torture!"
A series of blazing pillars of flame began to coil around on his right arm, looking like a pair of angry fire serpent!
He then punched out not to the Skull Centipede Emperor, but to the empty air above him!
"Nine Fists Shattering Meteor!"
BOOOOMMMMMMMM!!
With the force of a meteor behind his fist, the ceiling above them was blasted off into huge chunks of ground like the eruption of a volcano, sending the debris tens and hundreds of kilometers away! The effect from this event inevitably destroyed the nearby landscape!
Furthermore, it was fortunate that they were within the Red desert region, otherwise there were bound to be casualties!
When these phenomena stopped, the underground cavern was of no more. Replacing the dark and damp ceiling of the cavern was the blue sky of the Tian continent!
"T-The Imperial Overseer's fist... forcefully tore the ground open..." everyone swallowed a mouthful of saliva and felt like this was all a dream!
Only now did they realized they were a few kilometers deep underground after seeing how far the sky were!
But... why did he destroyed the ceiling?
Wengg!!
As if to answer the question in their mind, the Imperial Overseer tore open a portal before shoving his hand in, pulling out a ragged figure by the neck!
This person was all bones with not a single flesh could be seen, and one could easily mistaken him as another undead skeleton if not for the bone crown on his head!
"An Elder Lich?!" they gasped in surprise!
"I see... so that Elder Lich is the source of the curse!" Elder Cheng Chao said in realization.
"You were running away like a scared rat. Did you think that I wouldn't be able to find and catch you?" the Imperial Overseer scoffed with a mocking tone.
Previously, when he cast the numerous runic formation onto the Skull Centipede Emperor, one of it was a tracking formation. It was then that he was able to pinpoint the source of the curse that allowed the undead monsters in the ruin to revive again and again!
"H-How... did you managed to find me?!" the Elder Lich who were all bones were trembling before a thought hit him.
The killing intent!
"You used your murderous aura to lure me out from hiding!" he answered shortly after with a horrified voice!
Before, he was in a perfect hiding spot as he watched the fight between the expedition party and the Skull Centipede Emperor for entertainment. But it all turned around when this person came!
The released killing intent sent shivers down to his spine, him who was already an undead and devoid of an emotion called fear! That was supposed to be impossible, but he was no fool, feeling such an emotion, it was obvious that it was his survival instinct screaming out to him!
After all, even undead would still have such primordial reaction as an entity!
Therefore, he chose to escape from his hiding spot, and with the Imperial Overseer's tracking formation, his location was found, which was when he was trying to escape the ruin above them!
"What? You think I'm wasting my words before on that puppet monster of yours? Obviously I was talking to you through it! I already know someone like you has to be around. Since you didn't dare to greet your Overlord here, I went through the trouble to call you out personally." the Imperial Overseer that was currently hanging him by the neck said.
Then, he brought the face of the Elder Lich closer to his mask before continuing, "Could it be that you are displeased? Is that it?"
Snap!!
Flicking his fingers together, the Skull Centipede Emperor that was trapped inside his runic formations before suddenly screeched out!
KREEEEE!!
The runic formation began to blaze out one element after another that ranged from fire, water, wind, earth, thunder and more, grilling the monster from top to bottom!
This scene could only be described as bone crumbling!
"As long as there are spiritual Qi in the air and my will, that pet of yours will be tortured like that eternally! I wonder if an undead Elder Lich like you would still feel fine once your spirit was crushed, maimed, cooked, disintegrated, boiled and chopped without pause?"
Hehehehe! Hahahahahahaha!
The cackle from the Imperial Overseer in front of him made him felt like sweating buckets.
Additionally, why does it sound more evil than my own voice when I laugh?
"P-Please... d-don't torture me! I... I am willing to do anything! I'll be your slave! Yes! I can conquer any empire for you without you dirtying your hands!" he said desperately. He was thoroughly scared by the deranged person holding him by the neck right now!
Pahh!!
His cheek bones got a tight slap from the other party, causing his head to spin around before being berated by the other party, "Ah? You think I need your measly power? Which empire will not fall if I placed my eyes on them? You dare to tell me?"
He then turned around, "Anyone here dare to tell me?! Ah?!"
BOOMMM!!
This shout from the Imperial Overseer caused turbulence in the air and the ground to rumble as his aura spiked, pressing everyone to the ground! Not even Shen Murong, Wang Dong and Wei Wang were an exception!
"This person... is crazy strong!" Elder Cheng Chao remarked in her heart as her face was planted into the ground from the sheer pressure of the released spiritual Qi!
How can anyone possess this kind of overpowered strength? It's unfair!
Dear Heavens, have you become blind?
"Your Excellency, p-please cease your anger!" she called out with a pleading voice.
"P-Please ceaser your anger Your Excellency!" the others followed.
This Imperial Overseer is way too dominant and overbearing!
Mommy! I'm scared! This person is too scary!
Some of them began to cry and wailed out loud like a child that got bullied!
"Shut up!" he shouted feeling annoyed, causing them to immediately bit their lips to seal their mouth!
"Y-Yes!!"
Seeing that no one was making noises anymore, he then harrumphed and turned his attention back to the Elder Lich.
"Because of your stupid game, I am forced to come here in my busy schedule!"
Pahh!!
The Elder Lich got slapped and his head spun around once more.
"Do you know how busy I am for you to force me to come here? I have to read a lot of old documents that were left unchecked by the bastard and lazy Jiu Emperor!"
Pahh!!
"There are a lot more stuff that needed my attention back in the empire! Like the military, the education, the transport system, the agriculture, the land amendments and more!"
Pahh!!
Pahh!!
Pahh!!
Just like that, the Elder Lich got slapped countless of times, such that his neck began to feel loose from his head spinning non-stop like the wheelbarrow in a construction site. At this rate, he might be downgraded into a Dullahan instead!
...
"Ah? What's that? I can't hear you!!"
"Uuuwuu! I'm sorry! Uwuuuu!!" the Elder Lich cried. Even when his grandparents were angry at him back when he was still alive a few millenniums ago for massacring a clan, he was never treated in such a harsh manner!
This was truly an eye opener for him. From now on, he swore to be a good person so that in his next life, he would not have to meet with this devil!
Meanwhile, the people around him was able to at least lift their head from the ground to take a peek, but they quickly planted their head back in after witnessing such a tragic scene!
Lunatic!
This Imperial Overseer of the Jiu Empire is a total lunatic!
No one then dared to look anymore, but the continuous torture sounds and slaps made everyone tremble, hoping that they will soon wake up from this nightmare!
After what seemingly to be an eternity, he finally finished venting his frustrations on the Elder Lich and threw the other party away like a raggard cloth.
"From now on, you are responsible for their safety! If I ever need to come out again..."
"Uwuuu!! Y-Yes! I understand my Lord! Uwuuu!" the Elder Lich got to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Hmph! That is for the best!" turning around, the Imperial Overseer then tore open a portal before disappearing at the next instant.
It seems that he had returned to his 'busy' life, and the atmosphere in the broken cavern was now silent.
"...." everyone.
...
Yup, that's the clone alright lol. Enjoy and thanks for reading! ;)