Eternal Villain: I can enslave Reality!

In the Eternal Dynasty, there were several powerful Generals who had the ability to conquer multiple kingdoms effortlessly. Out of them, the top four strongest Generals had already achieved the Heavenly Celestial Realm, making them almost invincible.

The Empire dispatched each of its four great generals to one of the four borders, assigning them the duty to safeguard the region.

Among the remaining Generals, many were at the peak of Sky Celestial Realm. But there was one in particular who stood out and was favored by the Emperor for his trustworthiness, strength and talent!

General Ye Han... An orphan whose potential was noticed by the Eternal Emperor! His father personally sent him to the army to train!

Ye Han attributed his rise to power and all his success to the Eternal Emperor's help, and thus felt a deep sense of loyalty toward him.

Ye Han was also one of the most talented Generals in recent years. Usually, even many geniuses couldn't touch the Heavenly Celestial Realm their entire lives. There were only a rare few who could reach that Realm and even they took them a few hundred years.

However, Ye Han was different. He was only a little over fifty years old, and he was already on the verge of becoming the Heavenly Celestial!

Even Xu Shan was slightly surprised that his father sent someone like him. At the same time, another bizarre thought crossed his mind. He couldn't help but wonder just how much his strength would've grown if he was able to absorb Ye Han's strength.

Unfortunately, that was impossible. He could only slowly progress. Moreover, even if he could somehow find a way to kill Ye Han, it wasn't useful. His body wasn't strong enough to absorb that kind of strength.

He didn't want to die just because he absorbed strength beyond his limit! The difference between an early Celestial General and a peak Sky Celestial was too much. Moreover, it was more useful to have Ye Han with him.

Since he was no longer concealing his identity when traveling to the Celestial Palace, it was beneficial to have someone who could provide protection in the event of an emergency.

"Looks like we might be delayed a little." While Xu Shan was lost in thoughts, he heard Xinren's voice.

He came out of his daze and focused ahead. "Hmm? A storm?"

As he scanned the horizon, he could see that the weather conditions were extremely harsh in the distance with occasional bolts of lightning illuminating the sky. The storm seemed to be covering a vast area with no sign of abating.

Passing through the storm was no less than suicidal!

"Strange. I've checked the maps before leaving. There shouldn't have been a region with storms."

He signaled the Gryphon to slow down and waited for Ye Han to approach, seeking his advice.

Ye Han stopped next to him.

"Is this normal?" Xu Shan inquired, glancing to his right. However, without even waiting for an answer, he already knew. Ye Han's expressions were also of someone who was slightly surprised.

"It's not unusual for the weather to behave in a peculiar manner. Although it may not seem like a typical occurrence, we shouldn't regard it as being completely out of the ordinary." Ye Han suggested, "Perhaps it would be best to hold off on proceeding for now and wait until the storm subsides."

Upon observing the vast area covered by the storm, he realized the risks of proceeding through it. Although they could have taken a longer route to circumvent the storm, it would have resulted in an unnecessary waste of time.

It was much better to wait for the storm to pass through. The time wasted was similar in both situations. The only difference was that if they waited for the storm to pass through, they could use that time to rest. Even the Gryphons were getting tired after the nonstop flight for the last twenty hours.

"Is there a place nearby where we can wait for the storm to pass through?" Xu Shan asked.

"We should be near the Esti Kingdom. It's under the Eternal Dynasty so we should be able to rest there without any trouble. I'll lead you there."

****

Ye Han veered Xu Shan towards a new route. But, after half an hour of their departure, a pair of individuals emerged from the midst of the storm.

"As expected, they fell for it." One of the Shadow Guards stated, revealing an amused smirk. "The assassination would be quite smooth this time."

"Don't underestimate the target! He's the most doted child of the Emperor. It won't be as easy as you expect. We can't afford to make even a single mistake," cautioned another Shadow Guard while frowning. "We need to be especially wary of the person who's traveling with him."

"You know that person?" The first shadow guard asked. "He didn't look like one of the four great generals of the Eternal Dynasty."

"He's not one of the four great generals. However, he isn't much weaker than them either. He has already slaughtered many Sky Celestials in the last war between the Eternal Dynasty and Sky Dynasty, making a name for himself," The Second Shadow guard responded, still lost in some thought.

He further added, "You must've heard his nickname back home as well. The Executioner..."

Since Qin Ye was well aware of the companions that Xu Shan would have during his trip, he had meticulously planned every detail. He carefully selected three peak Sky Celestials to carry out the assassination, and set up numerous traps to ensure their success.

Since he failed last time, he made sure that he wasn't going to fail this time. He had to save Yu Fei! And for that, he needed to have Xu Shan killed before he even reached the Celestial Palace!

Furthermore, in the event that Xu Shan did indeed make it to the Celestial Palace, he had already made preparations. He was determined to leave no room for Xu Shan to escape his grasp this time.

****

The Esti Kingdom was among the many kingdoms that thrived during the reign of the Eternal Dynasty. Despite its mediocre strength in comparison to other kingdoms, Esti was a land of abundance, blessed with numerous natural resources.

The Esti Kingdom was currently Celebrating the 60th birthday celebration of their King, having no idea that the Emperor's favorite son was about to enter their Kingdom!

The arrangements for the celebratory feast had been finalized and all the invitees had joined in to express their wishes for the King's well-being on his birthday.

The guards were standing at the entrance of the palace, feeling jealous that they couldn't attend a celebration like that.

Their focus was solely on the celebration that they had overlooked safety measures. Nonetheless, nobody had the audacity to attempt intruding the Royal Palace.

Unbeknownst to the guards, there was another disturbance occurring within the Royal Palace.

The hall had suddenly gone completely silent, for reasons completely unrelated to Xu Shan and Ye Han, who hadn't arrived yet.

"What?"

The hush in the hall was abruptly interrupted by a series of gasps of surprise. However, a majority of the people present in the hall didn't express shock but rather had mocking expressions on their faces as they gazed at a young man who appeared to be shabbily dressed.