The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 458: Against the Traitor

Rumble! Rumble!

Suddenly, heavenly lightning erupted from Aldrian. The dozens of king-stage cultivators who had attacked him were stunned, their expressions quickly turning to shock. Aldrian stretched out his palm in their direction, and from it, countless strands of heavenly lightning shot forward.

Their scalps tingled as they sensed the overwhelming power within the lightning, strong enough to fatally injure them. They tried to dodge, but the lightning appeared to have its own will, chasing after each target individually. The king-stage cultivators were indeed quick and agile, but not quick enough to truly evade the speed of the heavenly lightning.

Rumble! Bzzt!

"Argghh!"

When the heavenly lightning struck their bodies, they were instantly electrocuted for several seconds, leaving them covered in burnt wounds. The injuries were severe, with the burns spreading across their bodies, charring them like charcoal, yet they were still breathing. One by one, they lost consciousness and fell to the ground like dying flies, their souls directly shaken by the power of the heavenly lightning.

Fortunately, the fall wasn’t from too great a height, so their lives were spared. Their king-stage physiques were just strong enough to withstand the impact.

Seeing dozens of king-stage cultivators easily subdued by Aldrian, many onlookers felt a chill run down their spines. The king stage, once regarded as one of the strongest realms on the continent, looked like child’s play in that man’s eyes.

"Fire!" Prince Wilmar suddenly shouted, and lightning cannons and standard cannons began firing one after another. Aldrian glanced at the incoming barrage and calmly raised another spatial barrier. But then, from behind him, several figures appeared, emerging from nowhere as if they had been waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Aldrian barely looked at them before activating a spatial lock. To their shock, their bodies froze in place, completely immobilized.

Boom! Boom!

The lightning cannons and other artillery finally struck Aldrian’s spatial barrier, causing a massive explosion. The lightning cannons continued to fire, relentlessly trying to break through. Aldrian maintained the spatial barrier’s stability while simultaneously keeping the sudden assassins frozen in place with his spatial lock.

But then, another figure shot up from beneath him, moving with such incredible speed it looked as if he had teleported.

Aldrian didn’t have time to form another spatial barrier or lock this new attacker in place, so he teleported away to create distance. As a result, the spatial lock and barrier were both released. The assassins regained their mobility, but at that moment, the lightning cannons, still firing their beams, redirected and struck in their direction instead.

The figure, who was also in the path of the lightning beam, moved swiftly and managed to evade it. The same couldn’t be said for the assassins, they were instantly obliterated by the beam.

Rumble!

Thunder echoed through the air as the lightning beam shot across the horizon before finally stopping, the cannons return to their recharge phase.

Aldrian watched everything unfold with a calm expression, then turned his gaze toward the figure who had suddenly appeared beneath him as if by teleportation.

That figure was none other than Cardinal Carsius, who had attempted to strike him with a high divine-grade spear artifact. It seemed the cardinal had used a teleportation artifact to position himself directly below him, planning to attack while he was preoccupied with blocking the cannonfire and dealing with the assassins.

Cardinal Carsius grinned and dashed forward at full speed, unleashing the might of a peak emperor-stage cultivator. Aldrian also smiled, this man had almost got him.

He could sense how dangerous that spear strike had been. If he had been even a moment late, he could have been split in two. The spear radiated tremendous power, and in the hands of a peak emperor-stage cultivator like Cardinal Carsius, it was a deadly combination. His strength was also clearly boosted by the domain of the Heavenly Sovereign Sanctuary, making him stronger than ever.

Aldrian teleported again to evade the cardinal’s next strike, but Carsius’s senses had become sharp enough to follow him instantly. He moved straight toward Aldrian’s new location, continuing the assault. Aldrian kept teleporting from place to place, but the cardinal relentlessly chased after him, attacking without pause.

"Hahaha! Is evading like a rat all you can do?" Cardinal Carsius taunted as he continued his relentless assault. But Aldrian kept dodging each of the spear’s strikes through precise teleportation.

Every attack missed by only the slightest margin, as if Aldrian could predict and react with perfect control. He had no time to channel his energy or unleash any techniques, so his only option was to rely entirely on his domain’s teleportation abilities.

From a distance, it appeared as though Aldrian was being pushed back by the cardinal’s fierce offensive. All he could do was evade.

"Uwoo!"

"Keep attacking! Don’t back down!"

"Don’t stop!"

The morale of the troops soared as they watched the scene unfold. Cheers erupted across the battlefield—they believed they were finally gaining the upper hand. For the first time, it looked like Aldrian might actually be within reach of defeat.

However, Prince Wilmar and the other high level cultivators watching the battle remained on high alert, especially Wilmar himself. He knew better than to relax. Despite how things looked, he couldn’t afford to let Aldrian speak any further about the devils.

He had chosen to send Cardinal Carsius earlier because the cardinal was the best suited to keep Aldrian occupied. But even that wasn’t enough. Aldrian had to be utterly crushed before he could say another word.

"First Legion, attack!" he shouted.

At his command, one hundred thousand troops stationed at the frontlines surged forward. Their spirits were already high from watching the battle unfold, and the holy territory of the Heavenly Sovereign Sanctuary staff gave them an extra boost. They advanced in a tight, disciplined formation.

Each of their steps rang out with the sharp, metallic clang of iron striking iron, an intimidating sound in itself. And how could it not be? One hundred thousand troops moving in unison was a spectacle to behold. The ground trembled slightly beneath their synchronized march.

The army was divided into brigades of five thousand men, each forming a battle formation capable of unleashing a combined technique that exceeded the limits of their individual cultivation power.

Aldrian, still evading the cardinal’s rapid spear attacks, sensed the approaching army. It seemed the second prince was truly determined to keep him from speaking any further.

Yet a faint smile appeared on Aldrian’s face.

That smile made Cardinal Carsius’s grin falter and he felt confused. Why was Aldrian smiling?

He suddenly saw Aldrian teleport again, but this time, he was nowhere to be seen. Cardinal Carsius couldn’t sense him nearby either. He extended his senses to the maximum and finally detected Aldrian, far above, high in the sky—so high that he was now outside the holy territory.

Aldrian hovered silently in the sky, where the dark clouds seemed to part for him, revealing the vast scenery below. He looked down at the massive army and the capital city, which now appeared like mere toys in his eyes.

A creeping sense of danger suddenly gripped Cardinal Carsius. He sensed the emergence of a middle divine-grade artifact as Aldrian pulled something from his spatial ring.

It was a sword.

He instantly knew this was bad news. Only now did he realize, Aldrian hadn’t used his sword at all until now. He had been fighting solely with his elemental comprehension, something unusual for a sword cultivator. That was why, for a moment, it had slipped his mind... Aldrian was the Mysterious Swordsman.

Some of the high-ranking cultivators on the ground came to the same chilling realization. In their fleeting sense of having the upper hand, they had forgotten the most dangerous truth.

How could they forget that Aldrian was a swordsman, the one known for cutting down entire mountains and devastating vast stretches of land with a sword technique?

Now that Aldrian had drawn his sword, it could only mean one thing.

He was ready to unleash his terrifying sword techniques.

"This is bad!" Sensing that Aldrian had drawn a divine-grade sword, Cardinal Carsius repositioned himself in mid-air, raising his spear like a javelin. His body tensed, muscles bulging as he poured every ounce of power into his next move.

Heaven’s Judgment: Splitting Apocalypse.

"HAA!"

With a roar, he hurled the Heaven’s Punishment Spear toward Aldrian. The force behind the throw was immense. Winds howled violently in its wake, surging upward toward the sky. As the spear tore through the air, the space along its path began to collapse, ripped apart by the sheer power of the strike.

The spear cut through the fabric of space itself, leaving behind a trail of chaotic void and spatial storms.

The spear traveled at a speed nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye. Cardinal Carsius kept his gaze fixed upward, watching for the impact, until a sudden wave of dread washed over him.

Goosebumps rose along his skin as a blinding golden light burst forth from Aldrian’s direction, shining brilliantly, and it was headed straight for the spear... and for him.

He could feel it. The terrifying power behind that golden light—it was deadly for him!

"Shit!"

From the ground below, countless eyes widened in shock. At first, they saw a golden light piercing through the dark clouds. But then a chill ran down their spines as they watched a massive golden light pillar instantly descend from the heavens, roaring toward the earth.

Rumble!