The surrounding void twisted, and space itself shattered.

Xu Zimo slowly raised his head.

With a flick of his finger, a torrent of power burst from his fingertip.

A thunderous boom rang out.

The torrent engulfed everything, swallowing the Paragon Dragon Sovereign’s charging figure whole.

“Your Majesty!” the nearby ministers cried out in alarm.

National Preceptor Situ was the first to react. Starlight shone in his palm, gathering into an immense, overwhelming strike.

“You think I’m as merciful as Willow?” Xu Zimo glanced at him.

He responded with a palm strike of his own.

High in the heavens, spirit energy surged like a massive whale devouring the sea, swallowing every trace of power in the air.

National Preceptor Situ had no ability to resist at all, he was slapped away instantly.

He and the Paragon Dragon Sovereign were both sent flying at the same time.

Their bodies smashed into the dragon pillars behind them.

The pillars cracked apart with a thunderous crash.

Both men spat blood as they staggered back to their feet.

“A bunch of ants, daring to fight me,” Xu Zimo said calmly. “Let your ancestor come out. You few aren’t even enough to warm up.”

Hearing Xu Zimo’s words, the Paragon Dragon Sovereign let out a heavy snort.

He raised his hand, unwilling to concede defeat.

A massive dragon surged from his body, tearing through the void as it advanced. Everything in its path crumbled. Dragon might rumbled across the sky.

Its momentum swept through the world like a tidal wave.

Xu Zimo raised his head to look at it.

With a simple wave of his hand, he grabbed the dragon out of the air.

The dragon roared in fury, thrashing wildly.

But it was useless. In Xu Zimo’s grip, it was as if its fate had been seized by the back of the neck.

He crushed it instantly.

As the dragon died, the Paragon Dragon Sovereign vomited a mouthful of blood.

“Your Majesty!” people shouted anxiously.

The Paragon Dragon Sovereign waved them off, signaling he was fine. He looked up at Xu Zimo, his expression now far more grave.

“What? Still unwilling to summon your ancestor?” Xu Zimo asked. “Otherwise, today all of you will be buried here.”

The Paragon Dragon Sovereign snorted coldly.

He swept his arm outward, unleashing a tremendous aura. Centered on him, a vast and majestic force surged into the heavens.

Xu Zimo looked down.

A circular formation had appeared beneath the Paragon Dragon Sovereign’s feet.

Within the formation, more than a dozen divine dragons swam through its patterns. Their auras were overwhelming, their dragon might vast.

This was no simple formation.

It was enormous, based on the entire imperial palace. The palace itself had been embedded into the formation’s structure.

Clearly, the Ancient Dragon God-Empire had prepared well. They had long anticipated the arrival of powerful enemies.

The Paragon Dragon Sovereign said, “This formation was given to us by the Gongshu God-Clan.

Forget God Meridian level cultivators, even Grand Emperors can be buried within it. Today, none of you will escape.”

In his eyes, Xu Zimo’s strength was at least that of a Grand Emperor.

That was why he was so confident that the formation could trap him.

“The Dragon God Extinction Formation.”

He lifted both hands, releasing a surge of boundless power.

The divine dragons within the formation rose into the sky, transforming into actual corporeal dragons of flesh and blood.

“They’re real dragons,” the Willow Ancestor said gravely after studying them.

“It’s said the Ancient Dragon God-Empire is allied with the Azure Green Dragon Race… perhaps even merged with them. Judging from this, the rumors were true.”

“Relax,” Xu Zimo said, waving his hand.

He wasn’t worried at all. He simply let the formation activate.

The ground cracked apart under its terrifying force. The entire palace trembled as if it could no longer withstand the pressure.

Ancient buildings collapsed one after another.

The divine dragons gathered in the heavens, forming a Nine-Dragon Ascension pattern.

Then each dragon transformed into a colossal torrent of power. These torrents roared with the profundities of different elemental Daos.

Not mere Dao comprehension, Grand Emperor–level Dao.

No wonder the Paragon Dragon Sovereign was so confident. With the formation’s might, trapping a Grand Emperor truly wasn’t impossible.

As the torrents descended, they merged together, forming a single world-shattering force.

The wind ripped through everyone’s hair like blades.

Xu Zimo narrowed his eyes slightly, then threw a punch.

The punch looked plain, nothing flashy at all.

But the moment it landed, the void shattered.

The single punch swallowed all torrents and shot upward like a pillar piercing the heavens.

Its momentum didn’t lessen.

It punched through the sky, opening a massive vortex in the broken void.

A black hole.

When the punch dissipated, the entire sky fell into silence.

“This… this is far too strong.”

“Is he really a Grand Emperor?” someone murmured.

“He doesn’t look like one…” another person whispered before sighing.

Xu Zimo slowly lifted his head and looked at the stunned Paragon Dragon Sovereign.

“Sigh… I told you. Call your ancestor. Otherwise you’re all getting swept aside today.”

“Who is calling for this old man?”

A voice suddenly echoed.

Everyone was startled.

The voice wasn’t loud, yet it resonated inside every person’s mind, making their hearts tremble uncontrollably.

“Has the Ancient Dragon God-Empire’s ancestor arrived?”

Just as someone asked, an elderly figure walked through the air.

An overwhelming aura swirled around him.

He was only one meter tall, short, almost comically so.

His appearance was peculiar enough to resemble a clown: hair curled as though permed, a high nose bridge, and narrow, squinted eyes.

At a glance, someone immediately recognized him and shouted.

“It’s the Martial Peak Ancestor!”

His distinct appearance made him instantly identifiable to many.

“The Martial Peak Ancestor isn’t actually the kingdom’s own ancestor, he’s the one they worship.”

“Even so, he should still be a Grand Emperor.”

“The question is… which level of Grand Emperor is he now?”

People whispered among themselves.

But his appearance undeniably raised morale.

The Martial Peak Ancestor looked at Xu Zimo. Behind him, a massive phantom flickered, like a mountain lifting the heavens themselves.

He said calmly, “Who dares cause trouble in my Ancient Dragon God-Empire?”

Xu Zimo glanced at him and shook his head slightly.

“Too weak.”

He pointed a finger.

In that instant, the entire sky seemed to focus on that single fingertip.