Chapter 69

The intense battle continued. Although Yang Zhen was not born with superhuman strength, with the help of his skills, his strength, speed, and all other attributes reached an extremely high level. After thousands of rounds of combat with Marshal Tianpeng, Yang Zhen gradually gained the upper hand. Every move and every technique forced Marshal Tianpeng to use all his strength to defend, leaving him almost no room to counterattack.

The celestial beings watching this scene could hardly believe their eyes. They never expected that the usually formidable Marshal Tianpeng would be defeated by an unknown minor deity.

However, some of the gods who were familiar with Yang Zhen believed his victory was inevitable, as he had yet to use his ultimate skill, the Three Pure Fires. Marshal Tianpeng, although the commander of the ten thousand water troops of the Heavenly River, had no means to counter the Three Pure Fires. Moreover, the other celestial beings would never come to his aid, so Marshal Tianpeng had no chance of winning.

What surprised them, however, was that Yang Zhen did not rely on the Three Pure Fires to win this time. Instead, he defeated Marshal Tianpeng with his weapon skills, overpowering him head-on.

"It seems that in the battle at Huaguo Mountain over three hundred years ago, he didn't use his full strength!" Li Jing thought to himself as he watched Yang Zhen completely suppress Marshal Tianpeng.

Li Jing could never have imagined that in just over three hundred years, Yang Zhen's strength had far surpassed what it was back then. For other cultivators, without any extraordinary encounters, three hundred years would not bring about a dramatic change in their strength. But Yang Zhen was different. The skills from the shop gave him the ability to challenge opponents far above his level. Now, no one would believe that Yang Zhen not only didn't use the Three Pure Fires but also had many other powerful skills he hadn't used.

However, Li Jing was also puzzled. When did this cat demon come to the Heavenly Court, and how did it become a deity?

Feeling himself at a disadvantage, Marshal Tianpeng was furious. "If I, the mighty Marshal Tianpeng, can't even deal with a minor deity like you, what face will I have to stand in the heavens?" he roared.

With a loud cry, Marshal Tianpeng raised his nine-toothed rake, ignoring the Qingming Sword that Yang Zhen thrust at him. Instead, he used all his magical power to swing the rake at Yang Zhen with all his might. This move was a desperate one, aiming for mutual destruction. However, Marshal Tianpeng believed that his armor would protect him from serious injury from Yang Zhen's Qingming Sword, while a full-strength blow from his rake would create nine transparent holes in Yang Zhen's body.

Seeing that Marshal Tianpeng was willing to fight to the death, Yang Zhen laughed loudly. "Don't waste your effort; you can't win against me!"

Before he finished speaking, Yang Zhen suddenly disappeared from Marshal Tianpeng's sight and reappeared behind him in the next instant, his Qingming Sword still in the attacking position.

By suddenly changing his position, Yang Zhen instantly nullified Marshal Tianpeng's plan for mutual destruction.

At this moment, Yang Zhen used the shop skill "Spatial Shift." Although this skill was only at level 5, it allowed him to teleport within a ten-meter radius.

Although the range of the teleport was not very large, it had a miraculous effect in battle.

This was the first time Yang Zhen used the "Spatial Shift" skill, and it immediately put Marshal Tianpeng in a desperate situation, leaving him no way to counter Yang Zhen's attack.

"You lose!" Yang Zhen sneered, but suddenly retracted his sword and instead struck Marshal Tianpeng's back with his left hand, not taking advantage of the situation to kill him.

The Jade Emperor, Tai Bai Jin Xing, and others watching from a distance frowned when they saw Yang Zhen hold back, clearly having other thoughts.

Yang Zhen, of course, would not kill Marshal Tianpeng. There were many reasons for this, but the main one was that he did not want to get too deeply involved in the conflict between the Jade Emperor and the Purple Micro Emperor. If Yang Zhen really killed Marshal Tianpeng, he would inevitably make an enemy of the Purple Micro Emperor, forcing him to fight on the Jade Emperor's front line.

If he spared Marshal Tianpeng's life, the main enmity would still be on the Jade Emperor, and Yang Zhen would merely be a powerful DPS.

As soon as his left palm touched Marshal Tianpeng's back, Yang Zhen used the "Five Elements Sealing" skill to seal all of Marshal Tianpeng's magical power. However, since Marshal Tianpeng had not been injured and his magical power had not been significantly depleted, Yang Zhen estimated that the "Five Elements Sealing" skill would only last about ten seconds.

Without hesitation, taking advantage of the sealed magical power, Yang Zhen struck Marshal Tianpeng's back with his sword, knocking him to the ground and causing him to spit blood continuously.

Marshal Tianpeng looked at Yang Zhen coldly, opening his mouth but saying nothing. Although Yang Zhen did not kill him, the final blow almost cost Marshal Tianpeng his life. The "Five Elements Sealing" skill sealed his magical power, leaving him to use his physical body to withstand Yang Zhen's final attack.

Fortunately, Yang Zhen thought of this at the last moment, allowing Marshal Tianpeng to survive.

Bringing Marshal Tianpeng before the Jade Emperor, Yang Zhen stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the rogue who disturbed the Heavenly Court has been captured. Please decide his punishment."

The Jade Emperor nodded in satisfaction and said, "Well done, Minister Yang. Your strength is truly formidable, even Marshal Tianpeng is no match for you. With such a powerful expert in our Heavenly Court, what need do we have to worry about the peace of the three realms? This time, you have done a great service. After this rogue is punished, I will certainly reward you generously." Although the Jade Emperor was dissatisfied with Yang Zhen's earlier restraint, he could not openly express it, so he pretended to praise Yang Zhen.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yang Zhen said.

At this point, celestial soldiers stepped forward, sealed Marshal Tianpeng with talismans, and bound him with iron chains. They then escorted him to the Lingxiao Hall under the protection of the celestial soldiers.

Inside the Lingxiao Hall, Marshal Tianpeng knelt in the center, with the celestial beings on both sides and the Jade Emperor sitting on his dragon throne, looking down at everyone below.

"Marshal Tianpeng, do you know your crimes?" the Jade Emperor asked.

"I know my crimes, Your Majesty!" Marshal Tianpeng admitted. He knew there was no way to escape this time, and that the one who had plotted against him was the Jade Emperor himself. Whether he begged for mercy or denied it, it would be useless. Therefore, he confessed to all the charges without any hesitation.

"Tai Bai Jin Xing, what punishment should be given for Marshal Tianpeng's crimes?" the Jade Emperor asked.

The Jade Emperor and Tai Bai Jin Xing had already discussed how to deal with Marshal Tianpeng, so Tai Bai Jin Xing stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, although Marshal Tianpeng molested the Fairy Chang'e, considering that he was drunk and not in his right mind, and did not harm her, it is not a major offense. However, after sobering up, he attacked the celestial soldiers and generals who tried to stop him, and even resisted when the Jade Emperor arrived. According to the laws of the Heavenly Court, Marshal Tianpeng should be punished with the Five Thunder Punishment and then sent to the cycle of rebirth, with the Heavenly Court never employing him again."