Even with his golden blood energy restrained, Ye Chen's presence still emanated an intense pressure that couldn't be completely suppressed, causing trialists from all sides to retreat, not daring to face this powerful youth directly.
"Ye Chen, have you truly reached the Martial God realm?" The Thirteenth Prince and others couldn't help but ask, for this question was too important. How old was Ye Chen? To reach Martial God at such a young age was simply too shocking.
Moreover, the appearance of a Martial God on the Trial Path would absolutely create a situation where he could sweep through everything. So-called super experts with the qualification to delay claiming kingship would likely seem insignificant before Ye Chen.
"Martial God?" Ye Chen shook his head slightly, then nodded. "You could say yes, and you could say no."
Everyone was stunned. What kind of answer was that? Yet it seemed to simply acknowledge the fact.
Especially Yang Yi, who was utterly shocked. The last time she had visited the Ye family was only a year ago. Yet in this single year, Ye Chen had gone from a good-for-nothing to the Martial God realm. If this news spread, what kind of massive uproar would it cause?
Too monstrous. He was probably the most monstrous figure in the entire history of the Tian Du Continent.
"You're injured." Ye Chen frowned as he looked at the Thirteenth Prince. There were wounds on his shoulder and arm, blood seeping out and staining his clothes.
He then glanced at Vivian and Princess Hong Rong. Their faces were pale, but they weren't injured. Xia Mang and the others all bore wounds.
As for Yang Yi, he swept his gaze past her without paying her any attention, causing her expression to turn ugly, then somber.
The Thirteenth Prince smiled bitterly. "It's nothing serious. It'll heal on its own after some time. The recovery ability of a Xiantian expert is quite strong."
"The road isn't safe. It's better to recover as soon as possible." Ye Chen said, turning his palm over. A gentle golden light appeared and entered the Thirteenth Prince's wound. The Thirteenth Prince was astonished, for he distinctly felt an intense itching and pain in his wound—the exact sensation that only appears when a wound is healing. Now his wound was actually starting to slowly close up.
A moment later, the Thirteenth Prince couldn't help but lift his clothes. Indeed, the wound had completely healed, making it hard to believe.
Subsequently, Ye Chen sent streams of golden light into the others, causing the wounds on several people to heal at a visible rate.
Such a method was truly astonishing.
But considering Ye Chen had now become a Martial God, it didn't seem strange.
Looking at everyone, Ye Chen rarely revealed a gentle expression and said softly, "Sorry I'm late. I was in seclusion the whole time, letting you all fall into a difficult situation."
These words were directed at the Thirteenth Prince, and also at Vivian. Among everyone present, only these two could be considered his true friends. His rush here was also primarily for these two.
The others sighed inwardly. It would be wonderful to have a friend like Ye Chen... Unfortunately, not everyone was qualified to be his friend.
"Just being able to come is enough." Vivian was so happy she cried. If not for the occasion, she would have wanted to rush forward and hug him tightly to express the longing in her heart.
The Thirteenth Prince, however, punched Ye Chen's treasure-like body, producing a metallic clang. Surprised and somewhat helpless, he said, "What kind of seclusion were you in, kid? Counting the time, it's been five months. You actually reached this level. Can you not be so monstrous?"
Thinking carefully, although Ye Chen was strong back then, he was only comparable to super experts like Xia Yang who had the qualification to delay claiming kingship. But now he had definitely surpassed them, able to rival Martial Gods, even suppressing the demonic flood dragon until it lost its temper, lying far away unable to move. Too strong.
Ye Chen smiled slightly but said nothing. As a former supreme being, his realm was too high, destined for a starting point far beyond others by many times. Whether in comprehension or cultivation, he was unmatched by others.
His rapid rise to power over the past year, seemingly monstrous and shocking, was merely the gradual recovery of his cultivation.
But wanting to return to his former peak state was still a long road ahead, definitely not achievable within a year or two. It would require a considerable amount of time.
Subsequently, Ye Chen took out all the pills Li Yun had given him and handed them to the Thirteenth Prince and Vivian for safekeeping, saying they could be taken if injured, and some pills could even temporarily boost strength.
"Ye Chen, absolutely not. These pills were prepared for you by Master Li Yun. We cannot accept them."
Although everyone knew the pills in the medicine bottles weren't ordinary, they all refused. These were Ye Chen's pills; they couldn't accept them.
But Ye Chen simply said, "Do you think I'll ever need to use pills?"
Everyone opened their mouths but found themselves speechless.
Alright, everyone could only accept them, because whether in strength or recovery ability, Ye Chen was countless times superior to them. These pills really weren't of much use to Ye Chen.
"By the way, where did Xia Yang go? I heard he disappeared after confronting the second prince of the Tianqi Empire, Yang Shaoqi. I learned this from Hundred Strong Trialists like Hai Qingxue and Han Fei. Do you have any latest news?" Ye Chen inquired. The main purpose of coming to the Trial Path was to save the Thirteenth Prince, but Xia Yang's whereabouts also concerned him.
The Thirteenth Prince said, "Princess Hong Rong knows this best. She's been gathering related intelligence along the way."
Ye Chen looked at Princess Hong Rong. "Please tell me."
"Why so polite?" Princess Hong Rong smiled, full of charm, appearing beautiful and captivating, heart-stirring. Ye Chen just smiled wryly. He knew this Princess Hong Rong wasn't intentionally trying to seduce him, but rather wanted to playfully tease him.
After all, they were both from the Xia Feng Kingdom, and she was the Thirteenth Prince's sister. Ye Chen said somewhat helplessly, "Princess Hong Rong, don't joke around. I'm still just a child; I can't withstand your temptations."
Hearing this, Princess Hong Rong giggled charmingly, her voluptuous and graceful body trembling slightly. One could see a pair of full, round peaks on her chest trembling, tracing beautiful curves, appearing so eye-catching and alluring to the mind. "Young Brother Ye Chen, you're exaggerating. If you're a child, then this little lady has never seen a man more manly than you."
Was that insulting me or complimenting me?
Ye Chen was speechless. Only when Vivian blushed and acted coquettishly did Princess Hong Rong stop her seductive act, saying helplessly, "You little girl, truly forgetting friends for looks. Not worth befriending."
"Sister Hongrong!" Vivian acted coquettishly, making Princess Hong Rong quite helpless. Then, gently stroking her fine black hair, she paused and said, "Based on the intelligence I've gathered along the way, His Highness and those super experts with the qualification to delay claiming kingship should have all disappeared on the road."
"Disappeared on the road?" Ye Chen frowned. What kind of statement was that?
"Correct. These people are suspected to have entered a mysterious place, not on the Trial Path, because some trialists saw those super experts with the qualification to delay claiming kingship enter a mysterious place together, disappearing ever since. There's no news of them at all on the Trial Path. And this mysterious place is located at the twelfth checkpoint." Princess Hong Rong said.
"Regarding this mysterious place, some say it's a priceless Divine treasure left behind by a supreme Divine Spirit from this trial world in ancient times, containing his Great Dao inheritance. Some say it holds a passage leading to another world. Some even say it might contain another ancient path within, leading to the strongest ancient path."
"However, the various claims differ, making it hard to judge the truth. The only thing certain is that the last traces of His Highness and those other super experts were in that mysterious place."
Pausing, Princess Hong Rong added somewhat helplessly, "Actually, we were preparing to head to the twelfth checkpoint and enter that mysterious place to seek His Highness's protection. We just didn't expect to fall into a desperate situation this time. If you hadn't appeared, we probably would have been eliminated this time."
Mentioning this, everyone still felt lingering fear.
Ye Chen was about to speak, but at that moment, a loud explosion sounded in the distance. The demonic flood dragon actually soared into the sky—it hadn't been killed. However, many of its flood dragon scales were shattered, blood continuously seeping out. From afar, it looked at Ye Chen, the human youth who had caused it so much harm, and let out a low roar.
"What's wrong? Still want to continue fighting?" Ye Chen said slowly, an immense aura spreading from his body, overwhelmingly powerful and peerless.
But the demonic flood dragon roared, and the next moment, it made a shocking move—
It fled!