Boom—
Lightning flashed and thunder roared. The heavenly tribulation arrived so suddenly, so violently and overwhelmingly, that it instantly drowned this stretch of heaven and earth.
Even this ancient continent spanning over a million li could not withstand it. Already riddled with cracks from the previous battle, it now began to crumble and disintegrate.
This was Ye Chen's heavenly tribulation punishment, terrifyingly astonishing, terrifyingly excessive. Tens of thousands of thick heavenly thunderbolts crashed down, illuminating all heavens and shattering the firmament and earth.
This was less like mere heavenly thunder and more like a vast sea of lightning pouring down, inundating the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The starry sky was filled with the deafening roar of thunder, shaking heaven and earth.
Even in the distant Imperial City, separated by countless li, the sound was ear-splitting. Looking up, one could see an incredibly brilliant radiance illuminating that part of the starry sky, outshining even the ten suns.
"Such a powerful heavenly tribulation, beyond imagination!"
"Even a Heavenly King's tribulation probably wouldn't be much more than this."
"Could it be that Qian is undergoing tribulation, attempting to break through to the Heavenly King Realm?"
Many were shocked, startled by the scale of Qian's tribulation.
Ye Chen stood within the endless tribulation, neither dodging nor avoiding it. He allowed the myriad layers of tribulation to assail him. Golden radiance flowed around his body. Even the most powerful tribulation thunderbolts striking his Battle Sacred Body only produced wisps of green smoke, utterly incapable of harming his Invincible Golden Body.
The whole world was shaken!
In the distance, Shen Rong's gaze shifted. He actually took a great stride forward and charged directly into the heavenly tribulation.
"Shen Rong has barged into Qian's Heavenly King tribulation!"
The world exclaimed in shock. Under such a terrifying thunder tribulation, the destructive power one would have to endure was unimaginable. Even a peak powerhouse entering would surely die; Heavenly Kings wouldn't dare to rashly enter.
One should have avoided it. Yet Shen Rong not only didn't avoid it, he actively charged in. Was he trying to prove his own invincibility?
Boom—
Having returned to the Heavenly King Realm, his true body was clearly a whole level stronger than before. Traversing the starry sky, his figure was blurred and fearsome, making the stars of the heavens seem to tremble, as if about to fall.
That part of the starry sky shattered, forcibly opened up into a divine light passageway. Shen Rong's true body was peerlessly terrifying, far stronger than before, releasing an immortal, peerless aura that caused everything to crumble and perish.
Tens of thousands of heavenly thunderbolts struck his body, all were blocked, not even drawing a single cough of blood.
He said coldly, "So this is your so-called Heavenly King tribulation. It is indeed stronger than an ordinary Heavenly King tribulation, but it falls far short of what I imagined."
He had the right to say this, because the Heavenly King tribulation he had contended with in the past was countless times more terrifying than the one before him now.
Now, the thick heavenly thunderbolts striking his body merely produced wisps of green smoke, nothing more. They could not harm his fleshly body.
His power was like an ancient Great Emperor revived, ruling over the world. The invincible aura of the Heavenly King Realm wantonly released, even forcing the heavenly thunderbolts to veer away, unable to approach his person.
One had to admit Shen Rong was truly too powerful, to the extent that even Ye Chen's Heavenly King tribulation could not approach his supreme treasure body.
His true body charged into the sea of thunder, raising a fist to strike at Ye Chen, peerlessly powerful. The fluctuations from that strike would make even Heavenly Kings pale, far beyond what they could hope to match.
Ye Chen's figure shifted sideways, responding coldly, "You are mistaken. This is not my Heavenly King tribulation. It is merely the Saint Vault tribulation I did not finish undergoing back then. Although it is far inferior to a Heavenly King tribulation, I suggest you'd better suppress your cultivation realm to undergo it next. Otherwise, you will regret it."
Back when Ye Chen underwent tribulation in the Demon God Ruins, at the very end, a portion of the tribulation was missing. Now it reappeared.
This was his deliberate doing. At that time, he felt it would be of great use in the future. Using an unorthodox method from the Battle Saint Art, he had temporarily suppressed it until now, and now he used it on Shen Rong. The true great terror was about to appear.
Shen Rong was just about to sneer in response, but the next moment, the heavenly tribulation above his head suddenly became terrifyingly more intense. Higher up in the firmament, an even more vast sea of tribulation light and thunder appeared, mighty and boundless, drowning the entire starry sky as endless thunder poured down.
The destructive aura was countless times stronger than before.
One by one, the stars in the starry sky that had been damaged in past battles were now, under the envelopment of the sea of tribulation light and thunder, completely shattered.
This time, Shen Rong finally became somewhat serious.
But this was not yet over. Above this layer of the sea of tribulation light and thunder, an even stronger and more expansive sea of tribulation light and thunder also appeared. Layer upon layer, reaching a total of nine layers, as if representing the nine heavens.
Nine layers of vast sea of tribulation light and thunder, many times more powerful than the one that had first arrived.
And above the nine layers of tribulation light and thunder sea, an immensely grand and mysterious giant gate of thunder appeared, towering deep into the starry sky, unimaginably huge, exuding an ancient, vicissitudinous aura of time.
This was astonishing. Clearly, it was merely condensed from tribulation light and thunder, yet it possessed such an ancient, vicissitudinous intent, as if it truly existed.
The moment he saw the gate of light formed by thunder appear, Shen Rong immediately shuddered all over, revealing a look of shock.
Not only him, but even Imperial Wuming, who was in the azure jade carriage in the distant starry sky, couldn't help but step out, standing there, gazing intently at this scene, his gaze piercing.
Because after the gate of thunder opened, one mysterious figure after another strode out from within. There were heroic and peerless ones, elegant and jade-like ones, graceful and charming ones, tall and burly ones, and also clear-featured and handsome ones.
There were both men and women, but undoubtedly, each one was supremely invincible, releasing this peerless, matchless aura of the Great Dao, supreme ones of the same realm, like the youth of ancient Great Emperors.
There were a total of nine figures, each one so terrifying. They only possessed the aura of the early Saint Treasury Realm, yet their presence was powerful enough to rival Saint Lords, fearsome beyond imagination.
Nine figures, like nine mythical Emperors and Sovereigns descending, ruling over the world, looking down upon the heavens.
"Human-shaped lightning has appeared within the heavenly tribulation!?"
Many exclaimed in shock and astonishment, because such a scene, throughout ancient and modern times, at least for the powerhouses of the Ancient Emperor World, had never truly been encountered before.
"Human-shaped lightning? Emperor and Sovereign incarnations? Heaven's Avatars?"
Both Shen Rong and Imperial Wuming had flickering gazes, containing astonishing brilliance.
They appeared calm on the surface, yet their hearts were roiling with shockwaves. Because they were true Emperor and Sovereign scions, having stayed by their fathers' sides, hearing with their own ears some astonishing rumors spoken by their fathers in their youth. Among them were rumors concerning the Tenth Heaven.
The mythical Emperors and Sovereigns had all deduced, knowing of the great destruction of the Mythical Epoch, and also learned that in the next epoch, the Heavenly Dao would be somewhat incomplete, having lost one heaven. In this epoch, the Great Dao was deficient, allowing cultivation only up to the ninth heaven.
But the outcome was not the only possibility. It was also possible to break through, using oneself to manifest the Tenth Heaven.
If such a person existed, they could be called a young generation's supreme of the Tenth Heaven, complementing the Heavenly Dao, possessing a sliver of hope to become an Emperor in the future, as in the Mythical Era.
However, in this epoch, far inferior to the Mythical Epoch, the hope of becoming an Emperor was truly not great. Even for Emperor and Sovereign scions, it was difficult.
The mythical Emperors and Sovereigns had calculated that in a future great era, the hope to become an Emperor would appear. Only by emerging at that time to contend for it would one have the true hope of becoming an Emperor, becoming the first supreme Great Emperor in the history of this epoch.
Yet they had also prophesied that if a later-generation genius, relying on themselves, achieved the mythical Tenth Heaven, and once Emperor shadows, Heaven's Avatars, and the like appeared in his or her tribulation, then it would prove that this person had already grasped another true opportunity to become an Emperor.
In the future, even if someone achieved the Dao first, he would still have hope to circumvent it, likewise achieve the Dao, break into the realm of Emperors and Sovereigns, looking down upon ancient and modern times, and become one of the supreme Great Emperors of the next epoch.
This rumor was astonishing, known only to an extremely small number of people. Even within the Emperor and Sovereign clans, aside from the extremely ancient existences and the Emperor sons and Sovereign daughters, not many knew of it.
Now that it had appeared, did it not represent that Ye Chen was that prophesied person, possessing the opportunity to become an Emperor?
If that were truly the case, Ye Chen's future achievements would be boundless.
At this moment, Ye Chen suppressed his cultivation realm, his aura precisely that of someone who had just stepped into the Saint Treasury Realm.
"Somewhat special, special human-shaped lightning has appeared. But I don't believe you are that prophesied person."
Yet Shen Rong's gaze blazed with light. He did not believe Ye Chen was the person prophesied by his father's generation of Emperors and Sovereigns. He didn't even suppress his cultivation realm. Instead, he slapped out with a palm, attacking the gate of light formed by thunder with Heavenly King Realm power, intending to destroy all the figures on the gate of thunder with one slap.
Divine energy surged to the heavens, destroying heaven and earth!
Boom—
A great eruption occurred deep in the starry sky. The sea of tribulation light and thunder was mostly shattered. One of the burly Heaven's Avatars attacked, instantly swallowing the endless sea of tribulation light and thunder. Its aura directly climbed to the Heavenly King Realm level and struck out.
Shen Rong's attack was blocked. Moreover, that figure leaped through the sea of thunder, appearing before him with lightning speed, attacking with thunderous force. It caught Shen Rong completely off guard, sending his entire body flying through the air, blood sprinkling across the sky.
Pfft—
Even someone as powerful as Shen Rong at the Heavenly King Realm could not withstand it, sent flying from a single encounter.
Naturally, it wasn't that Shen Rong wasn't strong enough. He was careless, thinking he could suppress with his higher realm, and was caught off guard.
Who would have thought the heavenly tribulation would adjust? Facing Shen Rong at the Heavenly King Realm, the Heaven's Avatar also elevated to that realm, beating Shen Rong until he bled profusely.
Ye Chen sneered, "I told you to suppress your realm earlier. You just wouldn't believe it, making yourself so disheveled. Serves you right!"
Too forceful, even adding insult to injury. This left many speechless.
Boom—
A Heaven's Avatar also descended, appearing before Ye Chen. It immediately launched the most terrifying attack, shattering heaven and earth as it charged over.
Ye Chen clashed head-on, circulating his divine abilities for a peak showdown.
The sea of tribulation light and thunder surged mightily, causing the ancient continent to rumble as cracks appeared, beginning to completely disintegrate.
Swish—
Suddenly, Ye Chen's figure shifted sideways. His entire person was like a Kun Peng, soaring through the nine heavens, swiftly leaving the range of the heavenly tribulation and charging deep into the starry sky.
This stunned many. What was Qian doing? Was he trying to avoid the heavenly tribulation? Didn't he know the heavenly tribulation would follow like a shadow?
But in that direction, there was a divine ship. Everyone on board changed expression. It was precisely the location where the various Heavenly Kings of the Ancient God Continent were gathered.
"Rats, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" A cold smile appeared at the corner of Ye Chen's mouth.