The battle beneath the Imperial Ancestral Temple was stranger than anyone had anticipated.0

When Wang Daoning was still being held up by Tang Wanzhuang—far longer than his allies had predicted—every heart was filled with dread. Each additional second of delay increased their burden. In a confrontation with a powerhouse like Xia Longyuan, the absence of a Profound Control Realm ally was no trivial matter.0

However, they could not simply sit and wait for Wang Daoning to finish his duel before acting. Xia Longyuan was no fool. If fighting had already erupted in the palace, he would surely leave this sanctuary. If he escaped, everything would collapse—the fake emperor would be worthless, the palace guards would rally to the true sovereign, and Xia Longyuan could easily flee, beyond anyone’s ability to stop him. Therefore, they had to trap him here, in the secret chamber beneath the Imperial Ancestral Temple, forcing his sanctuary to become his tomb.0

They had feared that without Wang Daoning, they would be routed in moments, casualties littering the floor.0

Yet, reality proved different. They’d expected Xia Longyuan to be weaker than normal, yet he was far weaker than expected. The dragon vein ritual had exacted a toll far greater than anticipated—the backlash was astonishingly...0