Chapter 130: The Empress's Transformation

"Go ahead without me."

Lin Fan’s gaze was grave. With a swift motion of his large hand, he sent Yi Xiaoxian and the Flowerfall Gentleman several hundred feet away, leaving himself alone to face the Empress Consort’s capture.

“Brother Lin!” “Young Master Lin!”

Two voices called out, different titles but identical urgency.

“No matter.”

Lin Fan shook his head, signaling them not to approach. He then looked up at the firmament, remaining motionless from beginning to end.

“In that case, I shall meet you.”

Lin Fan was confident. He had already guessed some things, and the ancestral artifact he carried gave him ample assurance.

The void shattered. In the blink of an eye, Lin Fan found himself suspended midair before the Empress Consort, who wore a golden mask—the very woman who had slumbered in the crystal coffin.

“So you have indeed awakened.”

Lin Fan spoke calmly, without the fear others might expect, treating the figure before him as an equal.

Yet in truth, the pressure he bore was immense. The Empress Consort was of the Phoenix clan, born with the highest noble bloodline. Anyone who approached would instinctively prostrate themselves. Moreover, she was an Emperor, her realm surpassing Lin Fan’s by an unfathomable margin.

However, because of the Sovereign Emperor’s sacred image embedded within him, Lin Fan wielded a domineering aura that allowed him to disregard the Phoenix bloodline’s reverence. Nothing in this world was nobler than the Sovereign Emperor—except perhaps the gods of the Nine Heavens.

“You did not wish to see me awake?”

Cold light radiated from the Empress Consort’s eyes. She did not strike immediately but watched Lin Fan with great interest, or perhaps she was observing the image of the Sovereign Emperor over his heart.

“Indeed.”

Lin Fan’s voice was neither servile nor arrogant, but calm and measured—exuding the demeanor of a grandmaster.

At that moment, the mysterious figure regarded Lin Fan with newfound seriousness, beginning to sense his difference. Gradually, the figure’s brow furrowed.

“His aura is similar, but his soul is not. Moreover, there’s a fluctuation from his heart that shakes my spirit—what could it be?”

The Sovereign Emperor’s sacred image was not something ordinary people could discern. Without prior contact, no one could detect its secrets. This was the case for the mysterious man. Unlike the Empress Consort with her Demon-Slaying Staff and the Judgment Spear, he had never seen a genuine Sovereign Emperor’s image since ancient times.

“Why?”

The Empress Consort’s eyes gleamed brightly like blazing torches, but faintly a red glow flashed through, hinting at murderous intent.

“Because a few of my friends told me you missed the best moment—you shouldn’t have awakened now.”

Lin Fan stared directly into the Empress Consort’s eyes, as though searching for some anomaly.

Almost as his words fell, the red glow in her eyes surged fiercely, swelling like a tidal wave. Black veins then appeared on her body, radiating a malevolent aura.

Lin Fan’s expression shifted. He retreated swiftly, clearly taken aback by her transformation—so much so that even the mysterious man was stunned.

“Since I have awakened, then begone!”

The Empress Consort roared, invoking secret arts. Flames erupted, attempting to burn away the black magical veins, but to no avail.

The dark patterns spread even across her arms before finally ceasing.

“And your friends? I wonder why you say it’s ill-timed.”

Her voice turned icy, like profound ice, utterly devoid of emotion.

Without further hesitation, she struck. A radiant light trapped Lin Fan, and she slowly extended a hand towards his heart.

“This is not something you should possess. He gave me a part long ago; thus, all of it belongs to me.”

The red glow intensified in her eyes. Suddenly, a spectral image appeared above her head—long red hair spreading wildly like a mass of venomous serpents.

“What is this?”

The mysterious man stepped back, horror flashing in his eyes. Even he could not discern the nature of this apparition, nor understand the emergence of the Empress Consort’s peak Emperor power—just one step from the ancestral realm!

“You shouldn’t have awakened now. Perhaps one day, you will still be yourself.”

Lin Fan’s gaze grew serious. He summoned the power of his ancestral artifact robe within, unleashing a tremendous force that shattered the Empress Consort’s binding.

Lin Fan struck. Golden divine light engulfed the heavens, vast and majestic. At that moment, he seemed a true god descending, unstoppable.

A colossal hand smashed forth, reversing the cosmos, collapsing chaos into void. Lin Fan exerted all his strength, fully aware of the opponent’s terror and his own inability to match it.

Meanwhile, the mysterious man and the two other Void-Breaking Realm figures had long since departed—one had lost connection with his true body and suffered a sharp drop in power; the others could not sustain the ancestral artifact’s use for long.

“Crack!”

A shattering sound echoed through the sky. Lin Fan’s face paled as he staggered back, blood dripping from his knuckles. He was no match for the Empress Consort.

This was only natural. Even in ancient times, the Empress Consort’s peak Emperor power made her an absolute powerhouse, especially now. Lin Fan was merely at the Celestial Human Realm. Even with the ancestral artifact’s aid, he couldn’t overcome her.

“You won’t escape next time.”

The Empress Consort’s face showed no change. She struck again, fingers spread wide, as divine runes flooded forward, enveloping Lin Fan entirely.

A suffocating pressure swept through him. His whole body trembled, bones clashing with a chilling sound. Lin Fan’s complexion changed dramatically—he could feel his bond with the ancestral artifact weakening, unable to activate it.

The Empress Consort’s fingers were slender yet now deadly weapons—like the scythe of death, wielding unmatched power. The light around her fingertips dimmed but the force was terrifying.

“Empress Consort, long time no see.”

At that moment, a tremendous voice came from the horizon, gradually growing until it roared like thunder, as if the heavens themselves were enraged.

“I thought you would not intervene.”

The Empress Consort sneered coldly, then turned, throwing a punch toward the sky.

The Milky Way hung inverted, chaos spread across the cosmos. The Empress Consort had not truly attacked Lin Fan—he was but a trivial figure to her. Killing him now or later was the same. Her real target was the two who had long hidden in the shadows.

“You should not have awakened at this time. Though it is no longer the ancient era, the time has not yet allowed you to fully recover.”

The void collapsed. A gleam of spear light streaked across the sky, the river of time itself breaking down. A figure slowly emerged from the temporal flow, hands clasped behind his back, expressionless, radiating overwhelming dominance and righteous majesty.

“The Judgment Spear!”

A sharp voice exclaimed—it was Wang Lun, eyes filled with terror. In ancient times, it was the Judgment Spear that had pinned him to the ground. Had it not been for that intervention, he would have long perished.