The Purple Thunder Empire is vast and has a long history, with a territory larger than the Vermilion Bird Empire.
The Purple Thunder Empire is the strongest among the eight great empires, and has always been at odds with the Vermilion Bird Empire. However, since the two empires do not share a border, the Purple Thunder Empire has united neighboring countries to provoke it.
Whether through coercion or bribery, under the instigation of the Purple Thunder Empire, the eight great empires, including the Tianxi Empire, jointly challenged the Vermilion Bird Empire.
As for the feud between the Purple Thunder Empire and the Vermilion Bird Empire, it seems to involve ancient secrets, which outsiders are unaware of.
In short, the Purple Thunder Empire and the Vermilion Bird Empire have been locked in open and covert struggles for countless years, but no real war has broken out.
However, for some reason, the Purple Thunder Empire's attack on the Vermilion Bird Empire has become increasingly fierce, showing a sense of mutual incompatibility.
Over the years, as the Purple Thunder Empire has continued to rise and grow stronger, those empires that were once friendly with the Vermilion Bird Empire have all sided with it. Even the Tianxi Empire has faced several crises, but it was only thanks to the Vermilion Bird Empire's intervention that they survived.
The most ironic thing is that the Purple Thunder Empire once attacked the Tianxi Empire, captured the 97th ruler alive, and attempted to annex the Tianxi.
But now, the Tianxi Empire seems to have forgotten history, and even more forgotten the help the Vermilion Bird Empire once gave them. Now, they have become the most active and loyal dog under the Purple Thunder Empire, madly biting the Vermilion Bird Empire.
When Long Chen and the others quietly infiltrated the Purple Thunder Empire, they realized that the cities of the Purple Thunder Empire were far more numerous and prosperous than those of the Vermilion Bird Empire.
Moreover, each city radiated endless divine radiance, with thunderous forces intertwining to form a massive defense, appearing ready for battle.
"No way? How did they know we would come here? Are they already prepared to face the challenge? Zhu Yifeng exclaimed in surprise.
Long Chen led them to infiltrate the Purple Thunder Empire. Even they hadn't dared to imagine it, but the enemy had already started making arrangements. How could they launch a sneak attack?
"That's absolutely impossible. They would never expect us to launch a surprise attack on them. With the two armies facing off, the Vermilion Bird Empire has already shown its full strength, keeping each other in check, and simply can't strike them by surprise.
Moreover, the Eight Great Empires are besieging the Vermilion Bird Empire, and the situation is critical. The Vermilion Bird Empire would never risk attacking other countries, let alone cross two barriers. Our actions are completely illogical—they can't be prepared. Long Chen said.
"But they ..."
Zhu Yunwen and the others looked at the cities amidst the intertwining thunder, unable to think of any other reason.
"Don't worry about it, let's keep moving forward. Everyone stay in top form and ready to fight at any moment." Long Chen said.
The flying boat remained invisible and continued speeding. Along the way, countless cities were entwined with lightning, but everyone noticed that the people inside were extremely lazy, showing no sign of nervousness.
Moreover, they discovered that these cities seemed to be arranged in a strange order, and they could sense that some kind of energy was flowing beneath the earth.
At first, the fluctuations of these energies were very slight, but as they ventured deeper, the fluctuations grew more intense, as if there were rivers underground slowly gathering.
Long Chen and the others rushed to the imperial capital of the Purple Ting Empire, and the direction of the energy transmission was also directed at the imperial capital.
"Could it be that they're planning some big move?" Yu Qingxuan couldn't help but say.
"It should be, but what exactly it is, we'll only know when we see it." Long Chen nodded and said.
Long Chen hadn't expected that, by a stroke of luck, he would encounter an unexpected situation. The reason he chose the Purple Thunder Empire was because Lei Ling'er possessed two of the empire's treasures. With the help of these two items, it would be easy to pass through their barrier.
And having these two as scouts makes things much more familiar and convenient for anything.
Previously, Lei Ling'er obtained two treasures and used her own origin power to nourish them. Now, they were utterly loyal to Lei Ling'er.
Long Chen hurriedly had Lei Ling'er wake the two of them and tried to communicate with them. Long Chen wanted to learn more secrets of the Purple Thunder Empire.
After communicating with Kuangren and Leita, Lei Ling'er told Long Chen that the Purple Thunder Empire had four national artifacts, and Kuangren and Leita were only two of them.
There were also two others: a bell and a sword, four divine weapons, like four keys that could open the seal in the Ziting Imperial Capital.
Beneath the seal lay a sleeping ancient thunder beast. Now, the Purple Thunder Empire seemed intent on awakening the beast, but lacking two divine artifacts, it needed to find another way. They wanted to mobilize the entire nation's strength to forcibly awaken the beast without two artifacts.
"Ancient Thunder Beast?" Could it be to deal with the Ancient Vermilion Bird of the Vermilion Bird Empire? Long Chen was startled, instantly thinking of the woman in the Vermilion Bird space.
If that's the case, then the Thunder Beast of the Purple Thunder Empire must be an extraordinary existence—at least on par with the Ancient Vermilion Bird.
As for the Ancient Vermilion Bird, Long Chen sensed its terrifying pressure and knew it was an unparalleled existence. In front of it, a three-flower-level Earth Venerable was simply no match.
"In that case, you have to be careful. Wait, Lei Ling'er, can you handle this big piece of meat?" Suddenly, Long Chen's heart raced wildly; he thought of a possibility.
"I don't know either, but I think I've subdued two other divine weapons. With their support, there should be a chance." Lei Ling'er said.
"Hahaha, alright, then let's play a big game." Long Chen laughed heartily, his eyes full of excitement. If Lei Ling'er had tamed the Ancient Thunder Beast, this great battle would be going to be interesting.
As Long Chen's flying boat slowly approached the imperial city, the entire city was shrouded in a massive thunderous vortex that covered the entire sky, looking extremely terrifying.
At the center of the imperial city, a pillar of thunder shot into the sky, surging into the vortex, infusing endless power into it, which kept growing larger.
"Brother Long Chen, wait a moment!"
Suddenly, Lei Ling'er called out. Long Chen hurriedly stopped the flying boat. Lei Ling'er formed hand seals, and in her palms, a long blade and a Thunder Pagoda appeared.
"Whew."
Lei Ling'er waved her hand lightly, and the wild blade and Lei Pagoda vanished. After waiting for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, four shadows suddenly appeared in Lei Ling'er's palm: one blade and one sword, one bell and one tower.
"Success!"
Lei Ling'er shouted excitedly. She had Kuangren and Leita try to seduce the other two artifacts, and unexpectedly, it succeeded so quickly—it was effortless.
"Buzz!"
At that moment, the thunder vortex above the Nine Heavens suddenly trembled, and Long Chen's flying boat vanished in an instant, reappearing above the Nine Heavens.
Then the flying boat followed the center of the vortex, swimming upstream straight toward the heart of the imperial city. Endless thunder enveloped the vessel, hidden within the torrent of thunder, making it impossible to see anything unusual from outside.
This torrent was governed by those two divine artifacts, and now both had pledged allegiance to Lei Ling'er. The four artifacts coordinated inside and out, slowly entering the core of the palace.
As the flying boat approached the ground, Long Chen's heart suddenly tightened. He saw a person sitting cross-legged in the void.
"Weng Taibei"
Long Chen's heart raced wildly; he hadn't expected Weng Taibei to personally oversee the scene.
When Long Chen looked at Weng Taibei, Weng Taibei, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, his gaze sharp as a sword, fixed on Long Chen's location.
"Oh no, we've been discovered!" Long Chen's expression changed.