The Three Immortal Maidens, who trusted Ye Chen completely, nodded their heads and ordered the Heavenly Kings of the nine great imperial dynasties, the Great Power-level divine ships, and the experts of the defensive ancient formations to withdraw, handing the battlefield over to Ye Chen to handle.
However, the other Heavenly Kings all wore gloomy expressions.
Capable of suppressing all enemies?
What did that mean? Were they all being treated as mere clay chickens and pottery dogs?
Ye Chen turned to face the incoming group of Heavenly Kings, his gaze sweeping over them before settling on the Ancient Divine Palace Master and the other Heavenly Kings who had been intercepted by the nine imperial dynasty Heavenly Kings. His expression remained unchanged; instead, he smiled slightly and said, "Gentlemen, I must say I'm a bit surprised you managed to cross the Chaotic Sea and come here."
"Battle Saint King, you've finally deigned to show yourself," the first Heavenly King Xuan Elder spoke, drawing everyone's attention to the Battle Saint King. Had he truly failed in his breakthrough attempt to Heavenly King?
Many were suspicious, as they hadn't sensed the terrifying descent of a heavenly tribulation.
How could one succeed in breaking through to Heavenly King without undergoing a tribulation? It was simply not normal.
Yet, the great tribulation had not descended, which indicated one thing: the Battle Saint King had not yet achieved Heavenly King status.
"Qian Yue, you—" The Goddess was also surprised, while Yi Wu and Chen'er focused their attention on him.
Had Ye Chen truly failed his breakthrough? That shouldn't have been possible, as he had long accumulated enough to ascend to the Heavenly King realm.
His emergence now proved that the two worlds had completely merged, which should have provided him with an even deeper accumulation.
Even the other Immortal True Kings in the distance looked over, their eyes gleaming as they stared intently at Ye Chen, wanting to see through him completely, to understand the truth.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Ye Chen simply shook his head at her with a smile, radiating confidence.
Then he looked at the other Immortal True Kings, each one wreathed in an immortal aura, which made his smile widen. "Gentlemen, it's been a long time. Decades apart, and you've all achieved Heavenly King status, reaching the Tenth Heaven mythical realm. It truly makes me happy. Have you come now to reminisce with me?"
The expressions of the crowd turned grave. To be able to speak so casually and naturally with those Immortal True Kings who had already reached the Tenth Heaven and Heavenly King realm—perhaps only the Battle Saint King could do that. This also caused the Immortal True Kings watching from afar to emanate even more formidable and terrifying auras.
Because they all felt they couldn't see through Ye Chen's depth, causing their expressions to change slightly.
All of this could only prove that the current Battle Saint King had become increasingly unfathomable. Even if they had reached the level of Supreme Heaven's Pride and attained Heavenly King realm, they likely still wouldn't be a match for the Battle Saint King.
This thought made their expressions change one after another.
Could the Battle Saint King truly be powerful to this extent?
"Battle Saint King, are you really not a Heavenly King?" one Immortal True King spoke up. He was the Sun God. After achieving perfection in his Supreme Dharma and reaching Heavenly King realm, he had become many times stronger than before. His Sun God Body constantly resonated with the ten heavenly suns in the sky, drawing in endless Sun Essence Fire to bathe and continuously strengthen himself.
His current strength absolutely surpassed that of ordinary Heavenly Kings; his cultivation was terrifying. Yet, he still felt the Battle Saint King's unfathomable depth, a terrifying sensation like an abyss or prison emanating from him.
Ye Chen smiled slightly. "You could say I am, and you could say I'm not."
What did that mean?
The others were puzzled.
The Ancient Divine Palace Master's expression grew unprecedentedly grave.
At his signal, a Heavenly King Xuan Elder by his side made a move, shooting toward Ye Chen with a whoosh.
"Playing mysterious tricks without even being a Heavenly King? Prepare to die!"
With a loud shout, the Heavenly King Xuan Elder also unleashed a tungsten-iron seal. It swelled violently in the wind, taking the form of a divine mountain, covering the entire sky. Flowing with powerful Dao mark energy, it erupted with astonishing Heavenly King Dao might, directly pressing down on Ye Chen.
This was undoubtedly a fearsome Heavenly King-level strike, capable of shattering the ten directions of heaven and earth.
"Brother Qian Yue, be careful!" Chen'er cried out in warning.
Ye Chen neither dodged nor avoided it, simply raising his hand to meet the attack.
With a thunderous boom, not only was Ye Chen unharmed, but the Heavenly King-level tungsten-iron seal was sent flying. A clear palm print was visible on it, covered in cracks, nearly shattered.
This made everyone gasp in shock. All signs indicated that the Battle Saint King's combat power far surpassed his past self. Otherwise, he couldn't have nearly shattered a Heavenly King-level Dao weapon like the tungsten-iron seal in a single encounter.
The Ancient Divine Palace Master's eyes suddenly gleamed brightly, his tone complex as he said, "Battle Saint King, you have truly grown. It was my miscalculation."
"Was it really just your miscalculation?" Ye Chen smiled, his smile carrying profound meaning.
Suddenly, everyone in this stretch of heaven and earth felt a suffocating aura appear in an instant, chilling them to the bone.
What was this?
They saw a terrifying figure flash across the sky—it was Ye Chen. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the Heavenly King Xuan Elder who had attacked earlier, moving so fast that none of the Heavenly Kings could react.
"What do you want?"
The Heavenly King Xuan Elder retreated as fast as he could the moment he saw the figure, because he sensed a lethal, terrifying sense of crisis emanating from Ye Chen.
He hadn't felt this sensation in a long time, not since he was very weak long ago. He never expected to feel it again today, and even more terrifyingly and shockingly.
But he simply couldn't escape, because Ye Chen had already acted, restraining the void. With just two simple moves, the Heavenly King Xuan Elder's arm was torn off, half his body split open, blood rain spraying and splattering everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, that Heavenly King Xuan Elder was severely wounded, suffering grave injuries.
It was horrifying, too terrifying, too strong. The Battle Saint King wasn't a Heavenly King, yet he was absurdly powerful, far surpassing ordinary Heavenly Kings.
For those with malicious intent, Ye Chen naturally wouldn't let them off. He prepared to strike again, to utterly annihilate his foe.
But the Ancient Divine Palace Master also made his move, crossing over with a surge of majestic and vast divine radiance, shouting, "How dare you!"
The Ancient Divine Palace Master immediately displayed his supreme might upon stepping forward. Powerful Dao marks shimmered and alternated, shattering that stretch of heaven and earth as he attacked, causing the other Heavenly Kings to pale. This was truly a sufficiently fearsome, peerless Heavenly King, absolutely capable of easily slaying other Heavenly Kings.
"Qian Yue, be careful," the Three Immortal Maidens were all worried, having sensed the Ancient Divine Palace Master's extraordinary strength.
Yet Ye Chen didn't retreat, nor did his expression change. Even though the Ancient Divine Palace Master before him was truly powerful, he showed no fear, meeting the attack head-on and clashing with him.
The most brilliant radiance erupted between them, inundating the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths—a duel between two supreme experts.