### Chapter 5: Female Emperor (2)
When Fatty and Trissa laid their eyes on Liao Chen, floating in midair and clad in a black robe, they were utterly shocked.
None of them, including Leng Yi and the others, expected that the boss leading the Fallen Species army in this surprise attack would be the legendary monk Master Liao Chen from Shaolin.
But anyone with a brain could tell that Liao Chen was not the same as before.
It was as if he had transformed into someone else entirely; not only was there a swirling mass of black fog around him, but the killing intent wrapping him felt like a towering tsunami, ready to engulf everyone at any moment.
“Where is our Great King?” Fatty mustered his courage to ask.
Liao Chen remained silent, but the murderous aura seemed to lessen—just a smidge.
Trissa, with her keen senses, immediately sensed that something was off, but she soon realized that this monk was not someone they could provoke lightly.
Better to keep quiet.
But of course, Fatty couldn’t hold back, practically losing his mind as he yelled,
“Hey! What did you do to our Great King? Is he dead or alive? Speak up!”
A few Fallen Species, seeing these two brave souls disrespect the Monster King, swooped down from the air, ready to make an example out of them.
However, they met an invisible wall about five meters from the ground and crashed into it like birds against glass, instantly knocking themselves out cold.
“Before this poor monk changes his mind, you two… better disappear!” Liao Chen said grimly.
Fatty was about to say something else, but Trissa quickly covered his mouth and dragged him aside.
“Hey, why are you pulling me? That monk is obviously hiding something!”
“You think you’re the only one who can see it? I’m worried our Great King is being detained by him, so we can’t afford to anger him too much. We just hope that the Human Emperor and the Demon Emperor go at each other, and both lose in the end. Isn’t that our best hope?” Trissa replied.
Fatty slapped his thigh with a thud. “You’re right! Let’s hustle back to the Mountain Stronghold and round up everyone, plus our pack of hunting dogs—it’s finally time for them to shine!”
The duo stealthily scrambled back the way they came.
Fortunately, thanks to Liao Chen’s orders, the Fallen Species didn’t attack them.
They made it to the mountain peak without a hitch, but what greeted them was a grim sight: the withered corpses of some members of the Demon-Subduing Alliance and the Giant Wave Gang.
Meanwhile, Lin Nan slowly walked out of the Underground Palace, feeling wonderful about regaining control of her body.
Moreover, this body was nearly identical to Frost North Snow’s. She had barely tried when a piece of Black Snow appeared at her fingertips.
This meant that to some extent, the System had lifted the restrictions on her original skills.
Of course, given that this world was a Low Martial World, she couldn’t use her skills to their fullest.
But regardless, the sensation of regained abilities was exhilarating.
She was not just the Human Emperor; she was also the Cold Moon Witch of the Asking Dao Continent.
“Demon Emperor? Long time no see!” Lin Nan tilted her head and looked at Liao Chen, shrouded in black demon energy.
As expected, Liao Chen nearly jolted out of the air upon seeing her, almost falling flat on his face.
But he quickly steadied himself and returned to normal.
“You’re the Human Emperor!” Liao Chen pronounced each word with heavy emphasis.
Just now, “Frost North Snow” had almost slipped out, but the memory of placing her in an ice coffin loomed fresh in his mind.
Plus, though she looked almost identical to Frost North Snow, this version’s power was leagues beyond her; in fact, they seemed comparable now.
And some highly skilled practitioners were exceptional at disguise.
Surely the Human Emperor wasn’t trying to fool him by donning Frost North Snow’s appearance to weaken his will to fight!
That was Buddhism’s illusion for you.
How could he be so easily tricked?
“Human Emperor, this poor monk needs your power, so prepare for d*ath!”
Liao Chen didn’t want to waste time. Even though the ice coffin made of ten-thousand-year-old ice could keep Frost North Snow’s body from decaying, the thought of her soul potentially suffering in endless nothingness tightened his heart.
Thus, he needed to achieve his goal quickly.
Faced with Liao Chen’s challenge, Lin Nan felt truly helpless.
If not for the System’s restrictions, she’d be more than happy to surrender, even if he drained her of all her power.
As long as her original body could be revived, what did it matter if she cast aside her identity as the Human Emperor?
But alas, she had to act completely oblivious and scoff at Liao Chen.
“How dare you! A mere monk dares to speak so boldly before me!”
To the onlookers, Liao Chen’s words appeared to incite the Female Emperor’s rage.
She spread her arms and slowly floated into the air, her flowing sleeves and skirt swaying like fish in water, exuding an otherworldly grace. It was hard to believe that this Human Emperor had sealed herself away due to demon energy.
Liao Chen, not wanting to chatter on, had substantially increased his power after becoming the Demon Emperor.
Now, he intended to prove to everyone that the Demon Emperor was the supreme ruler of the realm.
“Demon-Subduing Formation! Activate!”
The previously scattered Buddhist beads, drained of energy, reformed around him.
With that, he was ready to unleash an upgraded version of the Demon-Subduing Formation. Once his opponent stepped inside, even a Human Emperor would have no choice but to bow down.
As the beads flew into the air, they immediately began to shatter into pieces.
But unlike before, these beads were now infused with demon energy. They quickly grew from grape-sized to the size of basketballs as they spun rapidly in place, creating visible beams of light connecting them.
The whole valley was ensnared in this web of light.
Before Lin Nan could give any orders, a muscular lion statue suddenly charged out, trying to leap away from this so-called formation with its remarkable jumping ability to save face for the Female Emperor.
The lion statue knew better than to touch those strange beams, deftly bouncing out of the dense light strands, emerging unscathed on the outer perimeter of the Demon-Subduing Formation.
“Haha! The so-called formation of the Demon Emperor is just this pathetic! You think you can show off in front of the Emperor with a few simple tricks? That’s just laughable!”
The members of the Giant Wave Gang who had sided with the Female Emperor all burst into laughter.
But at that moment, a crack suddenly appeared above the lion statue’s head.
It didn’t notice and continued to laugh loudly.
In the next second, the crack rapidly widened, and everyone present could even hear the sound of the lion being split in half from above its head.
“Crack! Crack!”
The statue instantly shattered into countless pieces, scattering into the air.
Leng Yi and the others were dumbstruck.
How could such a method of combat possibly be within the reach of mere mortals?
Thinking back to their previous attempts to k*ll the Human Emperor, it felt like a childish joke.
The Demon-Subduing Formation laid out by the monk could likely only be broken by someone of the Human Emperor’s caliber.
And just then, snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky in June.
