At this moment...

Xu Xiaojun and the nobles stared at the group, their initial terror completely evaporating the moment they realized the giant chief had been shrunken down and sealed away into a harmless rock.

The trembling scions quickly smoothed out their luxurious and unsoiled robes, before they puffed out their chests, and finally smiled with an audacity that stunned the battle-weary soldiers of the Spirit Hall.

"As expected! You have not disappointed the empire!" Xu Xiaojun shamelessly said, stepping forward with his arms spread wide as if he were a supreme commander welcoming his vanguard back from a routine exercise.

"His Highness is right! You have brought undeniable honor to the empire!" One of his cronies followed.

"Truly worthy of being geniuses of Immortal Lineage!"

Xu Xiaojun nodded at his cronies as he adjusted his pristine golden armor and smoothed his hair. "With our brilliant tactical rearguard support, you have successfully defeated the invaders. The Imperial throne will be highly pleased with this flawless victory!"

"That’s right!" Another one of his cronies chimed in, his face suddenly full of a disgusting, obsequious arrogance. "I will ask my father, the duke, and give you compensation! Just tell him about my extreme bravery on the frontline! Tell him how I held the wall against the barbarian tide!"

"Indeed! I can do that too!" another noble laughed, completely ignoring the massive canyons of magma and the heaps of ash surrounding him. "Our clans hold immense political weight in the Capital! A few words of praise from us, and your sects will receive wealth and fame beyond your wildest dreams!"

The crowns and the others glared at them with a look of pure, unadulterated loathing.

However, they remained silent, still completely unable to move on from Haoran’s previous cold scolding.

Their pride had been thoroughly broken by the golden youth, leaving them with no energy to argue with these parasites.

At that moment, Haoran walked slowly towards Xu Xiaojun and his cronies, his golden robes did not bear a single speck of dirt, and the heavy aura of Azathoth still clung to his silhouette like cold fog.

Huo Yue, Zhu Ziyan, Medusa, and Shangguan Mu’er followed directly behind him, a phalanx of absolute power that made the air freeze with every step they took.

"Young master Haoran," Xu Xiaojun rubbed his hands together like a sleazy businessman closing a deal, completely oblivious to the shift in temperature. "Congratulations on the victory. Truly, a masterful display of martial prowess. I—"

"Kneel down, or I’ll break your legs," Haoran stated, staring directly at him.

His voice was flat, devoid of any anger, which only made the command sound like an absolute law of the universe.

Xu Xiaojun froze mid-sentence, his hands remaining glued together as his smile stiffened. "P-Pardon? Young Master Shen, surely you are joking? I am the Crown Prince of the Tian Yuan Empire—"

"Not only are you an incompetent coward, but deaf as well," Haoran said, bringing his face dangerously close to the royal heir as his golden eyes seemed to burn straight through Xu Xiaojun’s skull, incinerating his soul. "Now, I will repeat it one last time for your slow mind to understand... kneel, or I will personally break your legs."

Xu Xiaojun felt incredibly humiliated, his royal blood boiling as the elite disciples of the Central Region watched him cower.

Ans at that moment, his pride and arrogance won as he suddenly glared back at Haoran, his face flushing crimson as he tried to summon his pathetic imperial authority. "Shen Haoran! Do you think I’m afraid of you just because you’re from the Shen Clan!? I am the bloodline of the Emperor! You dare insult the throne—!"

Haoran didn’t wait for him to finish his words.

Moving with a velocity that bypassed the mortal eye, he stepped heavily on Xu Xiaojun’s right foot, pinning it to the bedrock.

In the same motion, his left leg lashed out, delivering a brutal, localized kick directly to the Prince’s knee cap.

*SNAP.*

The joint bent violently backwards, letting out a wet, sickening sound of tearing ligaments and crushing bone.

"Aaahh!" Xu Xiaojun screamed in absolute agony, his royal poise vanishing instantly as he fell down heavily onto the molten dirt. "Aaaahh! It hurts! It hurts! Shen Haoran! How dare you! This is treason! Treason I tell you! You traitor! I will kill you! I will execute your entire lineage! I will wipe the Shen Clan from the face of the earth! How dare you harm me!"

Hearing that direct threat, Huo Yue’s eyes instantly flared with a terrifying, blinding crimson light.

She seemed to have been triggered by the threat against her fiancé, and she stepped forward protectively, her four Heavenly Flames erupting from her skin in a violent surge of thermal energy. "Say that again, imperial dog, and I’ll break your jaws into splinters."

"You—" Xu Xiaojun glared at her, clutching his deformed leg while tears of pain streamed down his face as he turned to his noble followers, expecting them to draw their swords. "What are you doing!? Kill her! Kill them all!"

But at that moment, Huo Yue summoned her heavy, dark ruler, slamming the base of the massive weapon into the earth with enough force to create a localized tremor.

The sheer weight of her peak Golden Core cultivation, backed by the volatile heat of multiple Heavenly Flames, instantly shut up Xu Xiaojun as he swallowed his tongue, trembling beneath her shadow.

Haoran ignored the groveling prince and turned his icy gaze towards the rest of the cowering nobles. "Kneel."

They instantly folded and knelt, their knees slamming into the sharp gravel without a single second of hesitation.

The sight of the Crown Prince’s broken leg was a lesson they did not need to be taught twice; they completely discarded their noble titles, not wanting to end up like Xu Xiaojun.

Haoran then calmly took out a brush and a sheet of high-grade spiritual paper from his spatial ring as he rapidly wrote a paragraph on the paper, his handwriting elegant but sharp, before showing it directly to their pale, sweating faces.

"Now, say these words clearly." He then turned his head slightly towards Huo Yue, his voice flat. "Have the recording artifact ready."

At that command, everyone, including the Crowns and Lu Xinglan, stared at the words written on the paper, and their faces instantly paled.

The content was so utterly, brutally degrading that once they said these words, they would surely lose all their reputation, their political standing, and their human dignity across the entire continent!

"Read it," Haoran glared at them, his aura pressing down until their foreheads almost touched the dirt. "This is not a request, but a direct order from someone who can erase your clans overnight."

And just like that, broken by the absolute weight of his dominance, even the proud Xu Xiaojun folded.

He clutched his broken leg, his face completely red in a mixture of intense shame, tears, and helpless anger as he began to read the humiliating words aloud, his voice recorded clearly by the glowing jade artifact in Huo Yue’s hand:

"I, Xu Xiaojun, the spineless and incompetent Crown Prince of the Tian Yuan Empire, along with my pathetic, parasitic noble dogs, hereby confess our absolute cowardice before the Heavens."

"While the brave warriors of the Spirit Hall and the true geniuses of the Central Region shed their blood to save the Eastern Region, we hid behind the city walls like frightened rats, wetting our expensive silks and praying for retreat."

"We are nothing more than useless gluttons living off the glory of our ancestors, completely unworthy of the air we breathe or the land we rule."

"We crawled out only to steal the achievements of our betters, proving that the royal lineage is nothing but a circus of cowards."

The other nobles joined in, their voices trembling and weeping as they recited the passage, their eyes glued to the dirt in absolute, crushing defeat.

It was a political execution performed without a single drop of blood.

Haoran turned towards Huo Yue, who was holding the recording artifact steady, its lens capturing every tear and every flush of shame on the nobles’ faces. "Did you get that?"

Huo Yue nodded, a cold, satisfied smile gracing her lips as she tapped the jade device. "Yep. Clear video, clear sounds. Every single word of their confession is captured perfectly."

Haoran nodded, his golden eyes cold. "Now, I want that video spread throughout every corner of the empire as soon as possible. Let the commoners see the true face of the throne they serve."

"I can help with that, young master," Su Xishi suddenly spoke, her white fox ears twitching with amusement as she stepped out from the crowd and walked towards them with a fluid, mesmerizing gait.

Huo Yue glared at her instantly, her internal flames flaring up in a possessive warning, but she said nothing, waiting for Haoran’s response.

Haoran stared at the fox-kin enchantress, his expression unreadable.

Su Xishi smiled flirtatiously, batting her wine-red eyes as she gestured toward the horizon. "Our Blissful Immortal Coupling Palace has secret branches, entertainment houses, and information networks throughout every major city in the empire. When it comes to spreading scandalous rumors or getting sensitive information out to the masses, we are the absolute best in the business. By tomorrow morning, every tavern from the Capital to the Southern Border will be playing this performance."

Haoran nodded, appreciating the efficiency over the flirtation. "Very well. Do it thoroughly."

Huo Yue clicked her tongue in irritation, but knowing the strategic value of the move, she handed the recording jade over to Su Xishi, making sure her fingers didn’t touch the enchantress’s skin, as if the very act will dirty her.

Su Xishi chuckled, finding her actions quite cute.

She then turned towards Haoran, holding the recording,."Are you sure about this young master? This might cause a massive political backlash that could destabilised the empire, you know?"

"And I don’t see how that’s any of my problem," he said, looking completely calm. "I only care about my own self satisfaction, and I absolutely wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t do this much to these cowards."

Su Xishi smiled and nodded. "Very well, I can understand your reason."

Haoran then looked around the ruined battlefield, his golden hair catching the final rays of the sun as the dark clouds completely dissipated. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The threat of the Fire Giant Tribe was broken, the Crown Prince was crippled, and the political balance of the empire had just been shattered by his hand.

He turned his back on the groveling royalty, his voice echoing over the quieted plains.

"The war is over. For now, let us celebrate our victory."