Chapter 11604 — So Be It

The situation was indeed a little awkward, a case of riding a tiger with no way down—but they trusted that Wei Zhao was no fool. He knew what mattered and what did not, and surely he would not defy the world's condemnation by openly making an enemy of the entire Inner Royal Court!

Yet Wei Zhao merely spread his hands and said to Wei Baizhan, "In that case, then, let us grant them their wish. Clear the field."

"Right away."

Wei Baizhan bared his teeth in a savage grin, and his murderous aura surged at once; like a ravening wolf, a ravening tiger, he lunged straight at the assembled host of Night's End Palace.

The folk of Night's End Palace, so utterly certain of themselves a moment before, were now scared out of their wits.

He truly meant to wipe them out?

How dared he?

The presiding councilor, first in the line of fire, saw Wei Baizhan come hurtling at him and felt his legs turn to jelly, frightened into a flood of tears and snot.

At the last moment, a cold snort rang out of thin air.

"Hold!"

With the voice came a human-shaped phantom a thousand zhang tall, descending from the heavens—none other than the present King of Qi.

Hard on his heels, the Kings of Chu, Yan, and Wei, and even the newly enthroned King of Han, who had taken the throne only a year ago, also cast their phantoms into being.

The Night's End Palace crowd was wild with joy at the sight.

Wei Zhao narrowed his eyes. Of the six royal houses of the Vertical Alliance, only the King of Zhao had failed to appear.

To think that, back then, had he not run about working the gears, there would have been no Vertical Alliance at all.

And yet what a fine turn of affairs—when his Institute of Rule Design was swallowed up, the five royal houses had stood by as one, tacitly giving their blessing.

Now that he had come to settle accounts with Night's End Palace, those same five royal houses stood as one against him.

Even though Wei Zhao had long foreseen this turn, the sight before him could not but leave a complicated look on his face.

Truly, the ways of the world are fickle.

Looking at the five kings' phantoms, Wei Zhao gave a light laugh. "You mean to stop me? I had thought that even if you all deigned to appear, you would be queued up behind the others—not so impatient to be first."

A dead silence fell over the scene.

The King of Qi spoke in a heavy voice. "If you have grievances, we can talk. We will have Night's End Palace compensate you—but swallowing Night's End Palace whole is out of the question."

The other four kings said nothing, but their meaning was plain enough.

Wei Zhao snorted in derision. "Night's End Palace is the compensation I want, and I consider it a quite reasonable compensation. If you gentlemen find it unacceptable, then my next bid will not be this. You had best think it over carefully."

The King of Qi gave a cold laugh. "Are you threatening us?"

In that same instant, the five phantom kings unleashed their kingly might as one, aiming it squarely at Wei Zhao.

The ground beneath Wei Zhao's feet burst apart with a thunderous crash.

The seven great princely houses held an exceedingly special place within the Inner Royal Court; each successive prince of the seven enjoyed immense augmentation from his princely house, so that ordinary cultivators, however formidable their strength, found it hard to withstand their kingly might.

And now, all five kings pressed down at once!

Yet though the ground beneath him was split beyond all recognition, Wei Zhao himself did not stir so much as a hair.

Wei Zhao smiled a smile rich with meaning. "So you threaten me, do you?"

At that, not only the assembled host of the Nightfall Palace, but every faction watching these developments closely was shaken to the core.

What was he playing at?

Was Wei Zhao, having gone to war with the Nightfall Palace, now preparing to fight the Coalition Alliance as well?

Had he lost his mind?

Such was the thought of the vast majority.

True, the strength Wei Baizhan had displayed moments ago was peerless and transcendent, enough to sweep the Nightfall Palace clean—but against the five great princely houses headed by the Prince of Qi's house, it was still far from sufficient.

The foundations of those five houses were not a thing the Nightfall Palace could ever compare to.

Even if, on the surface, the Nightfall Palace's momentum seemed enough to eclipse most of the princely houses, such momentum counted for nothing at all before the true foundations of a princely house.

That the Nightfall Palace could shine so brightly was owed to chains of shared interest, forming a vast community of profit with the seven great princely houses and the various powers that led them.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of the seven great princely houses, the Nightfall Palace was nothing but their white glove.

Nothing more.

That Wei Zhao meant to challenge these princely houses with a single Wei Baizhan was, to anyone who knew the score, plainly a case of grossly overreaching, of hurling eggs against stone.

The Prince of Qi spoke in a heavy voice. "Wei Zhao, in consideration of the service you have rendered me in the past, I will indulge you this once and overlook your earlier disrespect. But the Nightfall Palace is not to be touched—that is the bottom line. Otherwise, do not blame me for showing no mercy!"

Wei Zhao nodded and snapped his fingers.

"Then let me put it plainly too: the Nightfall Palace is mine to take today. No one can save it. I said so."

The whole Inner Royal Court erupted in an uproar.

Was this bastard out of his mind?

The Prince of Qi had already offered him a way out of his own accord, and still he refused to take it, only growing more brazen still—just who had given him such nerve and such confidence?

"Insolence!"

The King of Qi flew into a rage on the spot, and his kingly authority condensed into a tangible giant hand that slammed down toward Wei Zhao.

At the same moment, the other four kings followed suit.

Five giant hands pressed down on Wei Zhao from five directions, instantly covering the sky above his head so completely that not a sliver of light could pass through.

The Suppression of the Five Kings!

Joy spread across the faces of everyone in Night's End Palace.

Many of the big shots watching from afar likewise gloated over the spectacle.

They did not necessarily bear Wei Zhao any grudge, but his conduct a moment ago had been far too arrogant—if he did not come to grief now, then the ones whose understanding of the world had to be overturned would be themselves.

Never mind that in their eyes Wei Zhao's strength was merely so-so; even if he were as formidable as Wei Baizhan, he could only submit before the suppression of five kings. Did he really think the renown of the seven princely houses of the Inner Royal Court was given away for free?

Everyone was waiting to see Wei Zhao's downfall.

Wei Zhao lifted his head slightly and said two words in a flat tone: "Scram."

The moment the words fell, the five giant hands formed of kingly authority shattered in unison with a resounding crack, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

The whole of the Inner Royal Court fell into dead silence.

The people of Night's End Palace had been all set to pop the champagne and celebrate; now they were dumbstruck as one—what the hell was going on?

Could it be that the five kings were putting on a show with Wei Zhao, deliberately staging this for our benefit?

The same suspicion rose in the minds of the big shots on every side.

Absurd as this conjecture was, it was still far more plausible than the notion that a single word from Wei Zhao had repelled five kings.

Otherwise, was one to suppose that Wei Zhao's strength had already defied the heavens to the point of surpassing all five kings?

To be sure, apart from the King of Qi, a recognized peak-level sovereign-power expert, the five kings individually were not necessarily all that outstanding in personal strength.