In the boundless darkness, this was a different dimension of void, located within the endless spatial turbulence, outside the Tian Du Continent.
This was the planar void, situated beyond the real void, a zone of nothingness. Only when one's strength reached at least the Heavenly God realm could one tear open the real void and enter the planar void, greatly reducing real-world distances and traveling to another region at a much faster speed.
At the same time, within this endless planar void, there existed mysterious and unknown dimensional spaces. Divine Spirit small worlds generally existed within the planar void.
The endless void was a place of cold and darkness, but within the darkness, countless invisible spatial turbulence blades constantly slashed. Even Martial God experts found it difficult to withstand; only those who had reached the Heavenly God realm could truly resist them.
At this moment, a seven-colored passageway spanned the entire dimensional void, leading to a distant region.
The seven-colored passageway was resplendent and brilliant. The spatial turbulence in the planar void, capable of annihilating Martial Gods, automatically dissipated and vanished upon encountering the seven-colored passageway. Ye Chen was swiftly traveling through the passageway towards a vast expanse of land in the distance.
At this moment, Ye Chen's eyes shone brightly, gazing through the seven-colored passageway at the planar void. When his gaze reached the extreme distance, he faintly sensed an overwhelming, terrifying destructive fluctuation there, enough to make even supreme Divine Spirits feel apprehensive.
He had once wondered why the supreme Divine Spirits of the Tian Du Continent didn't leave via the planar void. But now it seemed the planar void was even harder to leave. That terrifying fluctuation might not be something even supreme Divine Spirits could force their way through; the real void likely offered greater possibilities.
A moment later, the seven-colored passageway reached its end, where a passage opened. Ye Chen charged into it. Just as he entered, he suddenly looked with surprise and doubt towards the extreme distance.
At that very moment, at the far end of the seven-colored passageway, a tall and imposing figure stood, its majestic bearing awe-inspiring, like an ancient War God descending to the mortal world. Its entire body radiated an utterly terrifying pressure, as if the entire planar void was about to collapse under this figure, unable to bear its weight.
Without a doubt, this was a supreme existence of an era. At this moment, a pair of solidified gazes looked into the distance; the endless void could not block these gazes. Vaguely, it seemed one could hear a low, surprised sound: "Just now, on this sealed ancient continent, I sensed a familiar aura... strange..."
"War King, what is it?" Another powerful figure appeared, its might equally terrifying and overwhelming, clearly also a supreme Divine Spirit.
Now, two supreme Divine Spirits gathered, gazing in the direction of the Tian Du Continent.
The Divine Spirit called War King said, "Tai Su, I seemed to sense his aura. Could it be he isn't dead?"
"Him? You mean the Saint King?" The other Divine Spirit was filled with shock.
That was a legendary and mythical supreme figure, known throughout the myriad realms, a being that made all great enemies wary, hailed as one of the strong contenders for the Human Sovereign.
Unfortunately, such a legendary existence had passed away with regret over a decade ago.
War King shook his head. "Unclear. Although many witnessed his fall, he was the first supreme genius since the Mythical Era to reach the Tenth Heaven. Perhaps he hasn't necessarily passed away..."
Throughout the myriad realms, aside from those great enemies, everyone sighed with regret for such a legendary figure.
This was a vast expanse of land. The sky was azure, with white clouds drifting. The earth was covered by endless ancient mountain forests, immeasurably vast and huge.
Giant trees stood within the mountain forests, countless trees so thick it would take several people to encircle them. Their canopies blotted out the sky and sun, their branches and leaves lush, everything brimming with vitality.
Within the mountain forests, one could faintly hear the roars of demonic beasts rising and falling, as if they had entered a forest of demonic beasts.
At this time, the stable void above the mountain forest twisted intensely, to the point of being torn open. A dark black hole appeared, and a figure leaped out from within, appearing in the mountain forest.
This person was Ye Chen.
His expression still held some surprise and doubt. Old Yan appeared and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ye Chen shook his head, dismissing the thoughts in his mind. "Nothing, just letting my thoughts wander for a moment."
At this moment, he didn't know exactly where he had appeared. His gaze swept over this mysterious and unfamiliar land before him. Ye Chen murmured softly, "Is this the Trial Path?"
It was said the Trial Path was established within a Divine Spirit small world. It seemed the rumors were true.
But what exactly was this Trial Path like? Unless one personally entered, no one outside knew. The one hundred and eight kingdoms and countless other forces could only rely on the Tian Du Academy to understand the situation of the young powerhouses from various major forces.
"It seems finding someone to properly understand things is the right path," Ye Chen thought to himself. Relying on slowly figuring things out was ultimately too slow; it couldn't be fully understood in a short time. But by finding a trial participant, he could obtain detailed information about most of the situation.
Young powerhouses who could persist on the Trial Path for three months without being eliminated were true elites. Moreover, having been on the Trial Path for such a long time, they naturally had a better understanding of the various circumstances on the path.
Swish—
Ye Chen took a step, advancing in a certain direction.
The Divine Spirit small world where the Trial Path was located was surprisingly large. The mountain forests stretched continuously and grandly, definitely not just the imagined size of several tens or hundreds of li in radius. It was many times vaster and larger.
This made Ye Chen quite astonished. Was this really just a simple world created by a Divine Spirit?
Even Old Yan floated out, his expression slightly grave. "This is definitely not some so-called small world created by a Divine Spirit. A world of this scale surpasses the capabilities of the so-called Divine Spirits of this world. Unfortunately, the origin of this world is controlled by someone; otherwise, I could control the origin to understand it better."
The supreme old Academy Head of the Tian Du Academy controlled the origin of this world where the Trial Path was located, imbuing it with Divine Spirit Dao principles. Old Yan couldn't integrate his divine sense into the origin to understand this world, lest he alert the other party.
"Roar—"
As Ye Chen passed by a certain part of the mountain forest, a terrifying roar of a demonic beast suddenly rang out, shaking the surrounding mountains.
A massive black shadow appeared. It was actually a variant lion beast. The lion had a huge head with golden fur, but its body was not covered in fur. Instead, it wore a layer of pitch-black scales, gleaming and shining, solid and indestructible, clearly possessing formidable defensive power. It was quite terrifying.
This Scaled Golden Lion was about two zhang tall, appearing very burly and large. Its scales were dense and formidable. On its back grew a pair of giant wings. The entire lion was as huge as a small hill, flapping its giant wings as it flew through the air. Its figure was as fast as lightning, instantly appearing before Ye Chen. Its mane slightly bristled as it glared down at Ye Chen with furious eyes, baring its bloody maw, ferocious enough to make one's heart tremble.
Clearly, Ye Chen had inadvertently trespassed into this Scaled Golden Lion's territory, otherwise it wouldn't have been provoked to appear.
"A Xiantian demonic beast? Interesting. And not an ordinary Xiantian demonic beast either; at least a Xiantian fifth rank or above. Not bad at all." Ye Chen looked at this Xiantian Golden Lion, making his own assessment.
But this was just his assessment. This Scaled Golden Lion was indeed quite terrifying, at least above Xiantian fifth rank, and a natural variant with hard scales. Looking across the Trial Path, it could absolutely be considered a very fearsome demonic beast. All young powerhouses undergoing the trial would definitely keep their distance. Yet Ye Chen encountered it on his very first day.
But that was all. Ye Chen was not afraid in the slightest. On the contrary, he looked at this variant lion beast with interest, a smile in his eyes.
"Roar—"
The Scaled Golden Lion roared, arriving before Ye Chen. A giant claw swiped towards him, stirring up fierce winds.
Under this strike, any ordinary Xiantian expert would be smashed into pulp by a single claw.
Unfortunately, Ye Chen was no ordinary Xiantian expert.
He raised his palm, his slender, fair hand actively meeting the lion's giant claw, which was as large as a water vat, in a hard clash. A loud clang, like the sound of metal clashing, rang out, even sparks flashing. The final result, however, was that the hill-sized Scaled Golden Lion was sent tumbling twice in the air.
In this first direct clash, the Scaled Golden Lion was completely at a disadvantage.
If anyone had been present, they would have been greatly shocked. Because the Scaled Golden Lion was a natural variant, with a powerful physique and terrifying strength. Even a Xiantian sixth rank expert might not be able to outmatch this Scaled Golden Lion in a direct physical clash.
Yet Ye Chen also showed a slight look of surprise. Although he hadn't used his full strength this time, after his Human Yuan Body Art reached great completion, even without activating his golden body, his physical strength was terrifyingly great, far surpassing before. This strike had at least sixty to seventy thousand jin of force, yet it only sent the opponent tumbling back twice. This couldn't help but pique Ye Chen's curiosity a bit.
Subsequently, he tested this Scaled Golden Lion's strength a little. It was indeed very fearsome, far more terrifying than some Xiantian demonic beasts in the Demonic Beast Mountain Range. Worthy of being a natural variant, its bloodline flowed with that of the Crocodile Dragon and the Golden Lion, possessing great potential.
And most notable was its physical strength—immense power, scales indestructible. When Ye Chen attacked, even without truly using his utmost strength, a slight move was enough to overpower high-rank Xiantian demonic beasts. But striking the Scaled Golden Lion only produced brilliant sparks upon contact, fundamentally unable to damage its body.
The sturdiness of its scales was evident!
"Indeed quite good." Seeing a worthy prey, Ye Chen suddenly wanted to take this Scaled Golden Lion as his mount. Moreover, this Scaled Golden Lion had survived on the Trial Path for so long; it must be a dominant-level existence. Having it would make many things much more convenient.
Roar—
The Scaled Golden Lion used the Golden Lion's Roar. Invisible sonic wave power ravaged the earth, fierce winds suddenly rose, sweeping across the ground, attacking Ye Chen.
This sonic wave power could attack others' spirits, causing instant mental disorientation.
But with a swish, Ye Chen completely vanished from his original spot. His figure was extremely fast; even though the sonic waves were fast, they couldn't match his supreme speed under heaven, rendering them ineffective.
The next moment, Ye Chen suddenly appeared above the Scaled Golden Lion, looking down from a high position. His hand flipped, simply slapping downwards without the slightest energy fluctuation. Yet this single slap produced a loud bang, smashing the Scaled Golden Lion from the air down onto the ground, creating a huge crater and sending up a large cloud of dust.
"Submit to me."
Ye Chen landed on the Scaled Golden Lion, looking down from above like an invincible king, speaking with authority as he gazed at the golden lion.