Eternal Villain: I can enslave Reality!

The Divine Empress remained seated, her crimson eyes fixed on Xu Shan as he boldly presented his reasons for her to spare his life. More than reasons to spare her life, his words felt like a threat.

There was a long moment of silence in the room, broken only by the soft, almost melodious tinkling of the wine glass in her hand.

"Three reasons," she finally spoke, her voice still devoid of emotion, "and yet, I am unconvinced."

She further stated, "Your first reason is that you were attacked from behind? Will your enemy give you a warning before attacking you? If you couldn't even protect yourself from my men, what gives you confidence to think that the Celestial Lotus belongs to you?"

"You also said that our goals are different and don't get in each other's way? To know that your plan doesn't get in my way, you'll have to know my plan first. Should I take your words as you know my intentions?"

The woman's words contained clear killing intent. Even her father who stood behind Xu Shan went pale. The killing intent made him feel like he was pushed back into the battlefield stained with blood.

The Divine Empress placed the wine glass on a small table beside her, finally standing up and turning her attention fully toward Xu Shan.

Her beauty was ethereal, her presence otherworldly. Her long, obsidian hair cascaded down her back, framing her delicate features.

Her piercing gaze held a sense of both wisdom and danger, as if she could see through Xu Shan's every thought and plan. The room seemed to grow still and silent.

She leaned forward, her gaze intensifying. "And thirdly, it's not the first time I'm being underestimated. Did you really think I'm incapable of dealing with you?'

With a flick of her wrist, a glimmering, divine weapon materialized in her hand, which she aimed at Xu Shan. "Should we really see what you're capable of?"

"If you don't want the City to be destroyed, I am fine with that," Xu Shan still replied in a carefree manner.

Up until now, his aura had remained concealed. However, as he began to speak, he relinquished control over his aura, unleashing it like a swirling tornado that engulfed the entire room.

The air grew heavy and charged with energy, crackling with an immense power that seemed to shake the very foundations of the Palace.

This wasn't the Strength of a Heavenly Celestial. Instead, it was the strength of a Half Step Immortal.

It was the aura of a person who was just a single step away from surpassing the boundary of the Heavenly Celestial and becoming a true immortal.

In the entire Divine Realm, there was only one Half Step Immortal and that was the Divine Queen. To go from Peak Heavenly Celestial to Half Step Immortal was something that was a feat that couldn't be achieved with just effort and talent alone.

In the Divine Realm and the Celestial Realm, the Heavenly Laws didn't allow a person to become an Immortal. That's why, in thousands of years, not a single immortal had appeared.

Until the appearance of the Divine Empress, achieving the status of an Immortal or even a Half Step Immortal had remained an elusive feat for all individuals.

A Half Step Immortal was one whose Aura had started transforming to Immortal Aura. It was something that mortals couldn't understand. Even Hundreds of Peak Heavenly Celestials could be killed by a Half Step Immortal.

As for a complete Immortal, they could even destroy the entire Divine Realm with a flick of their fingers.

It was because of her strength, the Divine Empress had managed to rule over this vast Empire. But her journey wasn't easy. She was untalented, unlike her younger sister, always feeling overwhelmed.

Because of that, she even ran away from the Palace in the past, traveling to faraway lands in search of strength. She went to Ancient Dungeons and many other Forbidden Lands, barely returning alive. But her strength still wasn't enough.

That was when her entire world changed. She discovered a Book... A Cursed Book that allowed her to achieve something that was said to be impossible. It was a book called the Book of Devouring.

The Book allowed her to Devour the strength of the people she chose! Not only could she devour their strength, but she could also steal their talents

From that moment onwards, she never looked back! She destroyed everything that stood in her path! She stole everything that she didn't possess, be it strength or talent! She didn't even leave her sister, destroying her talent and her Celestial Spirit.

She took over the Palace and slowly the Entire Empire, even capturing her father and sealing him in the prison.

Under her, the Empire achieved great heights. All other Empires that stood in her path of conquest were destroyed or conquered. Every forget that could threaten her was crushed! Only a few Organizations like the Shadow Hall managed to survive as they went into hiding. 𝚋𝚎ｄｎｏｖ𝚎𝚕．𝚌ｏｍ

The Divine Empress became what she was, thanks to the ability of Devouring and the knowledge she received from the book. Even the Heaven's Chosen couldn't stand in her path as the book allowed her to discover and crush them.

She had already forgotten how many Heaven's Chosen she had killed. She didn't believe anyone could threaten her, but in just a single day, her beliefs were shaken. Today was the day when she saw another person who could use Devouring as well.

That made her heart tremble, a feeling she never thought she was going to feel ever since she found that book. Only one thing was in her favor. It was that the enemy had a weaker Cultivation, because he was still hiding and not fighting her openly.

When she saw prisoners escaping, she was even more certain that the enemy was still weaker than her. Why else would he use such tactics? That's why she grew confident and came here to wait for Xu Shan.

She wanted to see the looks on his face when all his hopes were crushed, but she didn't expect he was in the same realm as her. Her expressions were twisted.

She didn't realize that it was thanks to absorbing the strength from the mysterious woman in the prison, he managed to cross the threshold and become a Half Step Immortal, which gave him confidence to stand here.