The bow was drawn, the arrow nocked, forming a perfect full moon!
Ye Chen's entire being radiated an overwhelming imperial majesty, divine radiance flowing, golden light dazzling, as if an emperor had descended to the mortal world. The great bow was drawn to perfection!
Boom—
The first golden arrow shot forth, exploding with a roar as it tore through the sky. It transformed into a golden great dragon, thousands of zhang long, piercing through the void. In the blink of an eye, it caught up to one of the Ancient Path Trial-Takers, its massive maw opening to swallow him before exploding, giving birth to a brilliant, golden, blazing great sun that manifested in the sky.
Accompanied by a thunderous boom, that Ancient Path Trial-Taker was utterly annihilated, leaving behind only a half-destroyed Heavenly King Dao Weapon, its immortal divinity mostly dissipated.
The second golden arrow was nocked, the full moon bow drawn to its extreme once more, and fiercely shot forth!
Boom— Boom—
Boom— ......
One golden arrow after another shot forth, each a streak of dazzling golden light. Every streak resembled a golden great dragon, lightning streaking across the sky, catching up to the eight Ancient Path Trial-Takers fleeing in the distance. Then, they exploded into terrifying spheres of destructive radiance, even shaking the entire fragmentary world and transmitting the tremors to other Trial Worlds, drawing the attention of many.
It was too terrifying; that destructive power was nearly earth-shattering.
Puff! Puff! Puff!—
Among them, a full six individuals exploded, their bodies shattered to pieces. This included a powerful Heavenly King who perished under Ye Chen's golden arrows.
But in the end, two still managed to escape. They were two Heavenly Kings who, at the critical moment, used their Heavenly King Dao Weapons to block, which exploded, allowing them to successfully flee.
Only a pool of blood remained in the void, clearly indicating that even in escape, they had paid a sufficiently heavy price.
Ye Chen did not pursue further. He turned and returned, continuing to pluck the various heavenly treasures and ten-thousand-year medicinal treasures from the herb garden. Even though their effects on him were now greatly diminished, they were undoubtedly extraordinary and could be used to refine precious elixirs.
Finally, Ye Chen left, as he had not found the passage to the third checkpoint. Moreover, the two fragmentary worlds he had searched successively held no great dangers, which was somewhat inconsistent with expectations.
One could only say Ye Chen was relatively fortunate, while other Ancient Path Trial-Takers were quite unlucky, encountering truly fearsome crises. Other fragmentary worlds contained genuine perilous zones, and some were even occupied by terrifying Strange Beast Kings, not inferior to Heavenly Kings.
Among them, several even reached the level of Seventh Heaven Super Heavenly Kings, extremely powerful, soaring through the skies as true overlords of their fragmentary worlds, in no way inferior to the Strongest Prodigies.
A considerable number of Ancient Path Trial-Takers met with disaster, their blood staining the fragmentary worlds. Not strong enough, they were devoured by some exceptionally powerful Strange Beast Kings, becoming food in their bellies.
It could be said that within less than an hour of entering, genuine crises had erupted in each Trial World. Vast numbers of Fierce Beasts and terrifying living beings had been awakened by the Ancient Path Trial-Takers and were now attacking them.
And most shockingly, deep within the Trial Secret Realm, there existed a mysterious and terrifying, grand Ancient Kingdom, spanning and ruling over the seven deepest fragmentary worlds, forming a divine kingdom.
It was a divine kingdom composed of a group of fearsome living beings from various races, including Strange Beast Kings, starry sky Fierce Beasts, Giant Race members, dragon-blooded great demons, and so on, all quite terrifying.
Moreover, what was most astonishing was actually the origin of the Divine Kingdom's ruler. It was not a flesh-and-blood living being but a supreme being born from a divine spirit source gaining sentience. Innately close to the myriad Daos, capable of containing boundless heaven and earth spiritual energy, it was extremely transcendent. Its cultivation speed could be described as advancing a thousand li in a single day, becoming a supreme existence within the Trial Secret Realm—an invincible being at the peak of the Heavenly King realm, many times stronger than even the Strongest Prodigies.
After all, the Ancient Path Trial-Takers in the first few checkpoints of the Ultimate Ancient Path were generally not of high cultivation realms. Even the strongest among the Strongest Prodigies were the same, further restricted by the shackles of the Great Dao, placing them far below the Divine Kingdom's ruler, a refined divine spirit source.
Furthermore, within that Divine Kingdom, there existed several extremely powerful top-tier Heavenly Kings. Even if they weren't Seventh Heaven Super Heavenly Kings, they were close. Leading a large group of terrifying living beings from the Divine Kingdom, they launched attacks, hunting down numerous Ancient Path Trial-Takers.
During this period, truly forty to fifty Ancient Path Trial-Takers were slain, their blood staining the starry sky. It was a brutal scene, causing fear among the various Ancient Path Trial-Takers, none daring to confront them head-on.
"Everyone, come quickly! The passage to the third checkpoint is at the core of the Divine Kingdom. We need everyone to join forces and attack together!"
Among them, a Strongest Prodigy called upon the various Ancient Path Trial-Takers, seeking to gather a united force to jointly attack that fearsome Divine Kingdom.
Not only because of the Divine Kingdom's terror, but he also strongly suspected that the passage to the third checkpoint was within the Divine Kingdom's temple.
Undoubtedly, this was a startling conjecture, but it was also the most credible one at the moment. The numerous Ancient Path Trial-Takers were scattered throughout the Trial Secret Realm, having basically searched the vast majority of the fragmentary worlds, yet still had not discovered the true location of the passage.
It was conceivable that there was a high probability the passage was within the world where the Divine Kingdom resided.
Heeding the Strongest Prodigy's call, the Ancient Path Trial-Takers originally spread across various fragmentary worlds instantly rushed toward the seven fragmentary worlds ruled by the Divine Kingdom. Over a thousand Ancient Path Trial-Takers gathered outside the Trial Secret Realm.
However, what struck awe into their hearts was that the seven fragmentary worlds ruled by the Divine Kingdom, located deepest within the Trial Secret Realm, were almost connected, seemingly merging into a single entity.
Especially the main world where the Divine Kingdom's capital was located, which appeared exceptionally vast, spanning the entire Trial Secret Realm, astonishingly large—even far larger than a typical Great Power's world—causing great suspicion and shock among the many Ancient Path Trial-Takers.
Ye Chen, at close range, sensed a vast and mighty aura of heaven and earth, very powerful, somewhat similar to the Ancient Orchid Great World but far from that level of strength.
Soon, he understood.
Not just him, many others also came to realization.
"That is no ordinary Great Power's fragmentary world. It is very likely the origin great world of that Primordial Times Sovereign from the great battle of yore. It was just shattered during that battle, fragmented. Compared to other Sovereigns' origin great worlds, it is insufficient, but it is far larger than an ordinary Great Power's world."
The Blood Desolation Eight Riders spoke, voicing their understanding, which was well-founded. Their gazes were blazing, even containing fervent looks.
A Sovereign-level origin great world meant that an Ancient Monarch had fallen here in the past. Even if fragmented, it undoubtedly contained boundless supreme treasures. There might even be some Great Dao secret treasures left behind by the Ancient Monarch, such as Sovereign-level immortal weapons, the Ancient Monarch's legacy, cultivation caves, and so on, along with priceless rare divine materials. Obtaining any of these would undoubtedly be a heaven-defying opportunity.
"Charge over and find the true trial passage!"
The Blood Desolation Eight Riders, the Bloody Robe Tower Master, Nine Swords King, and a group of Strongest Prodigies took the lead, charging down. Behind them, over a thousand Ancient Path Trial-Takers followed, descending into this exceptionally vast fragmentary world.
"Hmm?" Upon entering the Sovereign's origin fragmentary world where the Divine Kingdom's main world was located, Ye Chen's eyes instantly narrowed slightly.