Before the gates of Xia Feng Academy, a youth appeared. He was heroic and handsome, with hair as black as a waterfall. Though merely a youth, he possessed a unique aura that made people's gazes involuntarily linger on him.
Yet, simply standing there, he seemed like a divine mountain range barring the way, emanating an intangible yet vast pressure that made it hard to breathe.
"Ye Chen!?"
At the sight of the youth, several gate guards couldn't help but exclaim, their faces filled with disbelief.
They never expected the one who suddenly appeared before them was Ye Chen, who had vanished after entering seclusion, leaving them utterly astonished.
Ye Chen stepped forward, his heroic bearing as striking as ever, drawing all eyes. However, his expression now held a trace of gravity, having overheard the guards' earlier conversation. "What exactly happened on the Trial Path? Why are you saying the Thirteenth Prince and the others are in a dire situation?"
This worried him. The Thirteenth Prince was, after all, one of his few friends, and his relationship with the girl Vivian was somewhat delicate. All of this meant he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
"Apologies, Young Master Ye Chen, we've only heard rumors. We don't truly know the details," the guards shook their heads.
"It's fine. Tell me," Ye Chen said.
"It's said that on the Trial Path, the young experts from our Xia Feng Kingdom side seem to have offended a young prodigy from one of the Three Great Empires. Furthermore, for some reason, His Highness the Crown Prince is no longer present. This led the other side to unite with young experts from several other kingdoms to jointly hunt down our people from Xia Feng Academy, putting our side in a rather sorry state," the guards recounted what they had heard.
Hearing this, Ye Chen's expression immediately darkened. If this was true, the situation was indeed bad. Crown Prince Xia Yang was the strongest among the Xia Feng Academy side, far surpassing the others. Even looking across the entire Trial Path, he was likely among the top tier.
If he was gone, the entire Xia Feng Academy would undoubtedly lose half its combat power. The strongest remaining would be the Thirteenth Prince. Ye Chen knew his strength was above the fifth level of Xiantian.
Such cultivation was absolutely extraordinary among his peers. However, this Trial Path was a trial for the entire Tian Du Continent, gathering geniuses from the one hundred and eight kingdoms and countless large and small factions. Even geniuses from the Three Great Empires, including imperial clan descendants, would choose to participate.
These imperial descendants might not necessarily want to join Tian Du Academy; many simply used the Trial Path for training.
And it was precisely these imperial descendants, backed by the terrifying resources of a great empire, who were undoubtedly true geniuses if they could participate. Few would likely be weaker than the Thirteenth Prince. This was the most worrying part.
However, these gate guards before him were unlikely to know the truth. Ye Chen had someone notify the academy, preferably seeking out a Martial God Elder.
Before long, news of Ye Chen's emergence from seclusion shook the entire Xia Feng Academy. This possessor of divine qualification, comparable to Crown Prince Xia Yang, had finally emerged.
A Martial God Elder appeared directly—it was Elder Duanmu. Although he had come personally upon receiving news of Ye Chen's appearance, he couldn't help but show surprise upon seeing him. "Ye Chen, you've finally chosen to emerge."
Ye Chen apologized, "My apologies. I was in deep seclusion and only recently succeeded in my cultivation before emerging."
Elder Duanmu shook his head with a bitter smile. "What a pity. If not for your seclusion, the young experts of our Xia Feng Academy wouldn't have fallen into such a difficult state, reduced to being hunted."
Ye Chen said, "The reason I sought you out, Elder, is precisely for this matter."
"But what use is knowing now? The Trial Path has already closed. No one can enter," Elder Duanmu shook his head helplessly.
"That's not necessarily without a solution," Ye Chen said.
"Do you have a way?" Elder Duanmu was filled with astonishment.
Ye Chen shook his head. "Elder, let's discuss that later. First, please tell me about the events on the Trial Path."
"It's not convenient here. Follow me into the inner academy to talk," Elder Duanmu nodded, then directly soared into the inner academy. His speed was extremely fast; a single leap covered several dozen to a hundred zhang. In a few bounds, he was far from the gate. But he immediately stopped, realizing he had been too hasty—how could Ye Chen possibly keep up with his speed?
"Elder, let's go quickly."
Just as he was about to turn back, a voice sounded by his ear. Elder Duanmu turned to look and was startled. Beside him stood Ye Chen's figure. The other party had actually kept up, and his figure stood suspended in the air, leaving Elder Duanmu utterly shocked.
Soaring through the air—this was clearly a technique only Martial God experts possessed. Could it be that Ye Chen before him had broken through to the Martial God realm?
Thinking of this possibility, he immediately drew a sharp breath. How old was Ye Chen? Achieving the Martial God realm so early was simply too monstrous.
"Elder, let's go quickly," Ye Chen urged again.
Elder Duanmu snapped out of his stunned state, understanding now was not the time for this. Shaking off the temporary shock from his mind, he led Ye Chen directly into the inner academy.
In a spacious, quiet hall, Elder Duanmu, Ye Chen, and two other Martial God Supreme Elders who had heard the news also appeared. Apart from the Academy Head who was away, the three strongest Martial God Supreme Elders of Xia Feng Academy were all present.
If not for Ye Chen's sake, these Martial God Supreme Elders wouldn't have appeared. Most of the time, they were in seclusion, comprehending the Great Dao, hoping to advance to the higher Heavenly God realm.
"Ye Chen, you've finally chosen to emerge. What kind of seclusion were you in for these five months that you even missed the Trial Path?" A red-robed Supreme Elder spoke—it was Elder Ouyang, who had also participated in the battle at the Demon-Suppressing Battlefield that day.
Ye Chen's seclusion had lasted five months, an unusually long span. Under normal circumstances, one wouldn't seclude for so long.
"Because I was in a deep-level seclusion, I was unaware of the passage of time in the outside world and didn't receive any external messages, thus missing the opening date," Ye Chen shook his head.
The few exchanged glances, filled with shock. Deep-level seclusion meant a significant breakthrough had been made. What kind of major breakthrough had Ye Chen achieved?
Elder Duanmu now gazed intently at Ye Chen. After a moment's hesitation, he couldn't help but ask, "Ye Chen, you... have you reached the Martial God realm?"
"Martial God realm?"
The other two Supreme Elders, despite having lived for centuries and seen much of the world, couldn't help but change expressions upon hearing this. "Old Duanmu, what kind of joke are you making? How old is Ye Chen? How could he achieve the Martial God realm so quickly?"
It was all because Ye Chen was too young, even excessively so. Due to his strength and monstrous talent, they often overlooked the fact that Ye Chen's true age was only twenty-six.
If Ye Chen had truly become a Martial God, a twenty-six-year-old Martial God expert would likely be considered the youngest Martial God in the entire history of the Tian Du Continent.
Seeing their shock, Elder Duanmu also showed a bitter smile. "Actually, I don't believe it either. But just now, I clearly saw Ye Chen could keep up with my speed. And more importantly, he was already capable of soaring through the air. What do you say?"
If the two Supreme Elders weren't familiar with Elder Duanmu's character, they would have thought he was joking. Even now, they found it hard to believe.
Soaring through the air was indeed a technique only Martial God experts possessed. No matter how strong a Xiantian expert was, they couldn't have such an ability.
But Ye Chen was too young. How old was he? Only twenty-six, six years younger than Crown Prince Xia Yang. Was it possible he had achieved the Martial God realm so quickly?
If it were true, perhaps he could be called the youngest Martial God in history.
The two couldn't help but swallow hard, staring intently at Ye Chen. "Ye Chen, can you truly soar through the air?"
Ye Chen smiled slightly. His entire body lifted, neither rising nor falling, suspended in mid-air. This ability completely convinced the two Supreme Elders of the fact. Even though Elder Duanmu had mentioned it, they couldn't help but be shocked, staring dumbfounded at Ye Chen. "You're really a Martial God?"
Too young. Was their Xia Feng Kingdom really about to produce the youngest Martial God in history?
"Martial God?" Hearing this, Ye Chen shook his head, denying the notion. "Elder Duanmu, you've misunderstood. I'm not a Martial God yet."
Hearing this, the several Martial God Elders inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, yet also felt regret and pity. If Ye Chen had truly reached the Martial God realm, his future would be unimaginable. Looking across the Tian Du Continent, past and present, he would be the youngest Martial God.
Such an achievement would make even those lofty, supreme Divine Spirits who presided over the vast continent take notice.
What they didn't know was that while Ye Chen indeed wasn't a Martial God yet, it didn't mean his strength was inferior to one.
Elder Duanmu frowned. "But why can you soar through the air?"
Ye Chen simply smiled. "It's just a special breakthrough that granted me this ability."
The several Elders nodded, not probing further on this matter as there were more important things at hand.
Ye Chen got straight to the point, directly inquiring about the situation on the Trial Path. "What exactly happened on the Trial Path? When I just returned, I heard the gate guards discussing. It seems Xia Yang has disappeared, and the Thirteenth Prince and others are being hunted. Please, Elders, inform me."
When the topic turned to the situation on the Trial Path, the expressions of the several Supreme Elders grew quite solemn.
Elder Ouyang said with a heavy expression, "As you've heard, according to the intelligence we've received, the group of young experts from our Xia Feng Academy are currently in a rather dire situation. They are indeed being hunted by a prince from the Tianqi Empire, united with young experts from four kingdoms. They are fleeing everywhere. However, the comforting news is that there have been no reports of deaths yet, though half have already been eliminated."
"What about Crown Prince Xia Yang? His strength is the greatest. Even looking across the entire Trial Path, I believe he belongs to the top tier. With him present, even people from the Three Great Empires should be quite wary and wouldn't dare act so arrogantly, right?" Ye Chen raised the most critical question.
Where had Xia Yang gone? If he were there, they should have nothing to fear on the Trial Path. Even those imperial bloodlines from the Three Great Empires wouldn't dare claim certain victory over him.
Having personally tested Xia Yang's strength, Ye Chen believed in his power. He was definitely one of the top experts on the Trial Path.
"Xia Yang is indeed very strong and can be considered one of the strongest on the Trial Path, reputed to have the qualification to 'delay claiming the kingly title'," the several Supreme Elders praised when talking about Xia Yang.
The Tian Du Continent was vast, with one hundred and eight kingdoms and countless large and small factions. Even imperial clan descendants from the Three Great Empires appeared to participate in the Trial Path. It could be said to gather all the prodigies of the younger generation across the entire Tian Du Continent, numbering in the thousands, making it the largest and highest-level trial in recent years.
This wasn't just because of Tian Du Academy's recruitment trial, with hopes of entering the cultivation holy land of the Tian Du Continent. It was also because this Trial Path was extraordinary, rumored to be intended to determine the kingly figure of the younger generation.
'King' represented supremacy, peerless in the world, the number one of the younger generation.
This was the strongest title, an unparalleled honor, the true peak, making the blood of all young experts boil with passion. This led to the young prodigies of various major factions participating in this grand event, entering the Trial Path to compete for this true kingly position.
Moreover, it was said the final 'King' would obtain an incomparable treasure and have the qualification to enter a certain mysterious place to cultivate, reaching at least the Divine Spirit secret realm in the future.
Of course, all this was just rumor. But as the saying goes, there's no smoke without fire. It couldn't be baseless; it might be true. Otherwise, the young prodigies of the Three Great Empires wouldn't have participated in this peak gathering of the younger generation.
Regardless, it stirred the passionate hearts of all young experts.
Among the thousands of young experts on the Trial Path, Crown Prince Xia Yang was one of the strongest, dominating a section of the path and reputed to have the qualification to 'delay claiming the kingly title'.
It could be said this was the pride of the entire Xia Feng Kingdom. Because of his existence, others from Xia Feng Kingdom were feared by various factions, who dared not make a move.
"Xia Yang is indeed very strong. Even the young experts from the Three Great Empires are full of wariness and dare not target the young experts of Xia Feng Kingdom. It's just that later—" Elder Duanmu suddenly shook his head with a bitter smile, "—he disappeared."
"Disappeared!?" Ye Chen was shocked.
"Yes, Xia Yang disappeared. A month ago, an exceptionally powerful young prodigy appeared in the Tianqi Empire and confronted Xia Yang. In the end, both disappeared. Xia Yang's current whereabouts are a mystery, but the soul lamp he left in the academy is still lit, so he isn't dead."
A soul lamp was a strange lamp infused with a trace of soul, specifically used to detect life and death. Once a person died, the soul lamp would extinguish without exception.
Ye Chen's expression turned grave. Crown Prince Xia Yang was likely being restrained by someone and couldn't leave. But precisely because of this, the Thirteenth Prince and the others' situation was dire, targeted by the prince from the Tianqi Empire and the young experts from several kingdoms, facing danger at any moment.
The Tianqi Empire was one of the Three Great Empires, a superpower with a supreme Divine Spirit presiding. If the proud sons of such superpowers deliberately targeted others, they possessed unimaginable rallying power that other factions lacked.
Ye Chen needed to enter the Trial Path to alleviate this crisis.
Whether it was the Thirteenth Prince or Vivian, he couldn't just watch them die without helping.
Knowing Ye Chen's intention, Elder Duanmu shook his head with a bitter smile. "The Trial Path requires the spatial teleportation gate of the Nine Prefectures Martial God to open. Now that the Nine Prefectures Martial God has already left, unless we go to Tian Du Academy, we cannot enter the ancient path. But doing so would likely mean we couldn't make it in time."
The Thirteenth Prince and the others were in critical danger now, with the possibility of a life-threatening crisis at any moment. They couldn't be careless; they had to enter the Trial Path as soon as possible.
But the difficulty of opening the Trial Path was the biggest problem.
"That's right. Even if the Academy Head were to act, he couldn't open it. It's said that the supreme old Academy Head, that Divine Spirit of Tian Du Academy, personally acted, imposing Divine Spirit Dao Laws within the Trial Path precisely to prevent some Heavenly Gods from entering to help the young geniuses of their respective factions," Elder Ouyang also said.
A supreme Divine Spirit had acted, using Divine Spirit Dao Laws to stabilize the Divine Spirit's small world. Even if a Heavenly God were to act, they couldn't blast open the Trial Path. This was the most important point, also for the sake of fairness.
However, this impossible method was the most possible one for Ye Chen. He said, "Don't worry about that. I have a way to enter the Trial Path."
"You have a way?" The various Elders were all astonished.
Ye Chen nodded. "I will enter the Trial Path as soon as possible. Don't worry about that."
Seeing this, the several Elders knew this was Ye Chen's secret and didn't press further. Elder Duanmu said, "Ye Chen, although your strength has increased greatly, there's one thing you must remember. This Trial Path is extraordinary. Imperial clan descendants from the Three Great Empires will all participate. These imperial descendants each have extraordinary cultivation and cannot be underestimated. There might even be people stronger than Xia Yang."
"Is that so?" Ye Chen showed no fear at all. Instead, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. After the great completion of the Human Yuan Body Art, his strength had surged dramatically. He rather wanted to see just how strong these people could be.
"By the way, here are some pills. Master Li Yun personally delivered them. He mentioned that if you, Ye Chen, appeared to take them, they could be used on the Trial Path," Elder Duanmu took out three bottles of pills and handed them over, his expression somewhat strange. Just who was this Ye Chen? Even Master Li Yun, the master of the Alchemist Heart Palace, treated him with such courtesy, personally delivering pills. He was truly unusual.
Ye Chen took them and briefly examined them. They were all precious healing pills or some that temporarily increased cultivation. He might not need them, but his friends could use them.
This Li Yun was quite thoughtful.
Before leaving, Ye Chen sent a message to Li Yun, then turned and departed, returning once more to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
"Old Yan, make your move. I need your help to blast open the barrier of the Trial Path. I want to enter midway," Ye Chen said. Even Heavenly Gods were powerless against the Trial Path, but Old Yan could do it.
Old Yan appeared, shaking his head helplessly. "I've gotten involved with you, kid. This old man hasn't had a single day of proper relaxation, always doing hard labor for you. What a miserable life."
Despite saying so, Old Yan didn't hesitate. Using the Thirteenth Prince's token and relying on the vague aura of the Thirteenth Prince's location, he sensed where the Divine Spirit's small world of the Trial Path was.
After a long time, Old Yan finally sensed it, but couldn't help frowning. The location of that small world was too distant; he had almost failed to sense it. Moreover, getting there wouldn't be easy.
But he still chose to act immediately.
Boom—
The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths trembled. Layers of clouds scattered. A supreme power at the Divine Spirit level manifested, forcibly splitting open a seven-colored spatial passage in the void before them. Supreme Great Dao power manifested, channeled along the spatial passage all the way to a distant location.
The terrifying fluctuations even alarmed the two Heavenly Gods in the royal capital and the existence within the Demonic Beast Mountain Range, drawing their gazes from afar.
Old Yan's expression turned slightly solemn. "Little Chen, follow me in quickly. The barrier of that Divine Spirit's small world is somewhat stable, and with the Dao Laws of the Divine Spirit expert of this world reinforcing it, if I force it open, I might alert that person. If he comes looking for you, it'll be trouble."
"Alright!"
Ye Chen transformed into a golden light and charged into the seven-colored spatial passage. On this day, he was finally about to set foot on the Trial Path.