This was the first time that many people were seeing a Transcendent.
Transcendents and Martial Emperors were collectively known as Sovereigns.
There were only thirteen Sovereigns in China, and there might be a few more, but there were definitely no more than twenty of them.
Such people represented humanity's strongest fighting power, and they were revered and worshipped by the entire nation.
Hong Tao was stationed in the Bedlam Lands all year round, and even some of the Guardians of Shangjing were seeing him for the first time.
Hong Tao wore a gray jacket and cloth pants, and he looked to be in his forties or fifties. He had short hair, and his sideburns were slightly white. He had a square face, and his skin was slightly tanned. He was 1.8 meters tall, and his body was extremely sturdy. He did not look like an important person, but rather an old farmer.
At this moment, his eyes were slightly sunken, and there was a trace of exhaustion in them.
A Transcendent was like a myth to the masses.
No one would have thought that such a mythical figure would be in such a sorry state.
Furthermore, this Transcendent was Hong Tao.
Among the thirteen Sovereigns of China, it was rumored that Hong Tao's strength could be ranked in the top three.
He was an absolute powerhouse who could seal a Heaven List beast.
A Transcendent's body could be elementalized, and they could be said to be inhuman existences.
Even such a person had his right arm severed, and he was fleeing in a sorry state.
As soon as Hong Tao appeared, the various Guardians immediately rushed forward to protect him.
Without needing any instructions, three healers hurriedly rushed forward to cast healing spells, but the severed arm showed no signs of recovery.
The atmosphere became somewhat restless when Hong Tao appeared, but it soon fell into a deathly silence. Everyone's bodies were slightly stiff, and their gazes were fixed on the spatial door. Their palms were slightly damp.
"Sha Mi!"
Hong Tao's expression changed slightly, and he looked towards the northwest. He had sensed Sha Mi's aura.
He could even faintly hear an ear-piercing shriek.
Fortunately, Sha Mi had not broken free from his seal.
Hong Tao knew how terrifying this Heaven List beast was. If Sha Mi had not been injured on Shenwu Continent, Hong Tao would not have been its opponent, and he would not have been able to seal it.
Seeing that everyone was on guard, Hong Tao frowned and said, "There's no need to heal. Don't worry, the foreign race will not come out for now."
Although his arm had been severed, Hong Tao did not seem to care, and his expression even turned slightly cold.
"Flood Emperor, what's the situation inside?"
Yang Qingtian asked Hong Tao in a respectful tone. Knowing that the Outsiders couldn't appear, he let out a sigh of relief in his heart, but he didn't let down his guard.
"I said I don't need treatment. You guys can't treat me well."
Hong Tao waved his left hand and said impatiently.
This made the healers smile bitterly and leave helplessly.
"The outsiders used some unknown means to forcibly fuse the Land of Chaos," Hong Tao glanced at Yang Qingtian and explained.
As the Patriarch of the Yang Clan, Yang Qingtian is a pinnacle Martial King expert. He's only a step away from becoming a Martial Emperor. Furthermore, as a Demon Spiritualist, if he were to make a breakthrough, his strength wouldn't be any weaker than Yang Qingtian's. Therefore, he's qualified to speak with Yang Qingtian.
Everyone frowned slightly, but they were not surprised because this was the same as what they had guessed.
He just didn't know what kind of method it was.
"What do you mean by that?"
Yang Qingtian continued asking.
This question was also the focus of everyone's attention.
"Why are you so nervous?
Are you scared out of your wits by the alien race? "
Hong Tao said with dissatisfaction and mockery. His words made the Guardians smile awkwardly, but they didn't dare to refute.
"We have so many people here and all kinds of weapons. Unless the Outsiders launch a large-scale attack, it's useless no matter who comes," Hong Tao said.
His words made everyone heave a sigh of relief.
Indeed, they were too nervous.
At this time, there were hundreds of King-level experts gathered outside the Space Gate with all kinds of modern weapons. Even an invincible expert would die if he entered.
An invincible expert was still a human, not a god!
If his body was destroyed, he would still die.
In the face of a large-scale attack, he wouldn't be able to resist.
As for a large-scale attack by the Outsiders, it was impossible because such a big commotion was impossible for them not to know.
"So their real purpose is to fuse the Space Gates in preparation for a future invasion?"
An old man guessed.
Even if a Space Gate was fused, it wouldn't be a big threat because as long as the experts and firepower were concentrated, no matter how many people came, they would all die.
The real worry was the fusion of the other 10-star Space Gates. In that case, the Guardians and firepower would be scattered and unable to concentrate.
If Space Gates were fused all over the country, it meant that the invasion of the Outsiders was coming.
Hong Tao didn't explain to the old man's question.
In his opinion, there was no need to explain to an ordinary King-level expert.
The old man looked at Hong Tao but didn't get an answer. He was slightly stunned and finally reacted. His expression changed slightly, but he didn't dare to flare up.
"Emperor Hong, how did the Outsiders fuse the Space Gates?" Yang Qing asked.
Hong Tao glanced at Yang Qing. This son of Yang Qingtian had obtained a 9-star key not long ago and caused a great sensation. Naturally, he knew about it.
Yang Qing's talent was far better than his descendants. He might also become an Emperor in the future, even more so than his father, Yang Qingtian.
Looking at the headless corpses all over the ground, Hong Tao's expression didn't change. He shook his head slightly.
"I don't know, but the price is definitely not small. It's not that easy. Otherwise, they wouldn't just fuse one."
There was a hint of seriousness in his tone as he said, "In fact, the Space Gates are still in the fusion stage. They haven't really succeeded yet."
Speaking of this, Hong Tao paused and looked at the flickering Space Gate in front of him. Compared to before, the Space Gate had expanded by five times. It was five to six meters wide and ten meters long, and it was still expanding.
"What do you mean?"
The fusion hadn't succeeded yet, which meant that there was still a possibility of stopping it.
"Has the key appeared?" Yang Qing guessed.
The key to the Land of Chaos had appeared once ten years ago, but no one had obtained it.
Today, when the Space Gate was fusing, many people wondered if the key would appear.
If they obtained the key, they could forcibly close the Space Gate.
This seemed to be the only way to close the Land of Chaos.
At this time, the Space Gate had been forcibly fused and was very stable. Even if they bombarded it without caring about the consequences, they couldn't forcibly close it.
The higher the star level of the Space, the greater the impact of forcibly destroying it.
Even if they succeeded, it was very likely that the Space would collapse. By then, half of Shangjing might be destroyed.
If the Space Gate was in the wild, they wouldn't have to worry about this. They could just bombard it directly, but not in the base city.
Apart from the base city, the other satellite cities and the wild didn't have 10-star Space Gates.
There used to be, but they would be destroyed directly. Even if they had great development value, they wouldn't be kept. This was to prevent situations like today's.
The other countries in the world were the same. If they didn't have the strength to protect it, they would destroy it by force.
"Yes, there's already a phenomenon inside. The key should appear in two days."
Hong Tao replied.
Hearing that the key would appear, many people's eyes were filled with desire.
This was a 10-star key, which was far more precious than keys of other stars. Moreover, the probability of it appearing was extremely low.
Currently, in the world, only three people had a 10-star key. Only one person in Huaxia had one, and that was Heavenly King Meng of the Pure Land.
Among the 12 Heavenly Kings, Heavenly King Meng was the most mysterious and seemed to be the most powerful.
Moreover, when the Space Gate was successfully fused, it might be an 11-star key, the only one in the world.
The key was very precious and was a treasure to everyone. However, the battle for the key was extremely bloody and tragic. The geniuses of various races fought, and no one could guarantee that they would survive.
Only geniuses who were invincible among their peers could obtain the key.
Even Emperors could enter a 10-star Space Gate.
"Do you know who cut off my right arm this time?"
Hong Tao asked with a hint of bitterness and self-mockery.
The Guardians looked at each other. The person who could make Emperor Hong flee must also be an Emperor of a foreign race. It might even be the invincible Dragon King.
After all, Lin Feng had just killed Hai Wei and massacred the geniuses of other races. The possibility of the Dragon King's revenge was very high.
Although they had been curious before, that was not the main point, so they had not asked. Now, it seemed that there was more to the story!
"Who was it?"
Could there be someone stronger than the Dragon King on the Shenwu Continent?
"Jue Tian!" Hong Tao said.
When these words came out, everyone was stunned. They simply couldn't believe their own ears.
Jue Tian!
How could it be him?!
Although Jue Tian was very famous, he was not a Transcendent or even a King. He should only be a Grade 7 Skysoar Realm cultivator.
A Skysoar Realm cultivator cutting off a Transcendent's arm?
This was definitely the most unbelievable joke that anyone had ever heard!
If word got out, people would laugh their heads off.
Super geniuses could challenge those of a higher realm, and this was even more true for demon spiritualists.
It was possible for a Grade 7 Skysoar Realm cultivator to defeat a Grade 8 Grandmaster or even a Grade 9 Soaring Cloud Realm cultivator.
Lin Feng, who was an 8th stage body cultivator, could defeat a martial artist, and this was not something rare.
However, no one had ever heard of a King defeating an Emperor, unless multiple Kings attacked together.
It was impossible for a King to do so, let alone a Skysoar Realm cultivator.
Any one of them could easily crush a Skysoar Realm martial artist.
However, they had been crushed by Hong Tao. They were on completely different levels.
No one dared to believe it, but these words had come from Hong Tao's mouth, so there was no doubt that it was true.
"Jue Tian!"
Lin Feng was shocked.
He was not far from the protectors, and Hong Tao had not deliberately lowered his voice. Thus, he had heard everything clearly.
He had also heard of this name before. In the past few years, there had been people talking about this name from time to time.
This was a foreign genius who had refined the 18th ranked Night Demon and hunted humans for fun. He was known as an invincible Grade 7 Grandmaster, and he had sealed off an entire door by himself.
His existence had allowed Guanglin to seal off a 7-star dimensional door.
However, no matter how monstrous a genius was, there was still a huge gap between him and a Transcendent. How could he have cut off Hong Tao's arm?
These two should not have had any chance to come into contact with each other, so how could they have fought, and how could Jue Tian have won?
'Unless his strength was suppressed!' Lin Feng guessed.
This was the only possibility!
Hong Tao's next words confirmed Lin Feng's guess.
"The foreign race forcefully fused the dimensional door, but it also caused some changes to the space, making it extremely unstable. It is even more unstable than a 1-star dimensional door. Everyone can enter, but they can only display the strength of a Grade 1 martial artist. Furthermore, most of their soul skills cannot be used, and they can only use their innate skills!"
When these words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed again.
It was no wonder that Jue Tian had been able to cut off Emperor Crimson's arm.
With his strength suppressed, even Emperor Crimson could only display the strength of a Grade 1 martial artist and could only use his innate skills. At this time, it was a test of battle experience and the rank of a demon spirit.
Although Emperor Crimson was a Transcendent, he had not refined an Earth Ranking demon spirit, but a Grade 9 one.
On the other hand, Jue Tian had refined the Night Demon, which was ranked 18th on the Earth Ranking. It was the best demon spirit for an assassin.
When comparing the two, Jue Tian naturally had the advantage. Even if Emperor Crimson had rich battle experience, his strength had been suppressed, and his battle experience would not be as effective.
Furthermore, Shenwu Continent was the foreign race's territory, and Emperor Crimson could have been surrounded. It was not easy for him to escape.
"This key is not easy to obtain!"
Many people sighed.
In the past, only those who were invincible within the same realm would have a chance of obtaining the key.
However, in this fusion of the dimensional door, there was a possibility that Emperors, from Grade 1 to Kings, would encounter opponents. Everyone's strength would be suppressed, and they would all be at the same starting point. The difficulty of obtaining the key would be tens of times more difficult.
The fight for the key would be even more desperate.
While everyone was still sighing, Hong Tao's gaze swept across the group of people sitting cross-legged in front of him. After a while, he asked, "Who is Lin Feng?"