Ye Chen struck out, unleashing his most terrifying Fist of Opening Heaven and Creating Earth!
Boom—
The thirty-three layers of heaven seemed to shatter. This single strike shook all realms, directly dispersing the two layers of the sea of tribulation light and thunder below into nothingness. Everything descended into true great destruction, its terror indescribable.
The light of world-annihilation illuminated the entire Alchemy Ruins Ancient Realm, causing it to tremble.
Even the Heavenly Mighty Figures of all realms shuddered. That destructive aura almost rivaled that of an Ancient Monarch. It was the Battle Saint King's strongest strike, a peerless blow.
"So strong!"
Even peak Great Powers like Dan Chen and Qin Jiuyou felt a sense of threat. Had the Battle Saint King truly defied the heavens to such an extent?
The Imperial Maiden's eyes erupted with the most dazzling beams of light, revealing waves of astonishment.
If even she was like this, the other young elites trembled even more, filled with fear they could not bear.
However, when everything dissipated and the dust settled, the gate of light formed by thunder remained standing firm, causing many to gasp in shock. What kind of gate was this, so indestructible? Even the mighty Battle Saint King at this level could not budge it in the slightest. It was truly astonishing.
Though Ye Chen desperately wanted to blast it open, he was powerless, for it was immovable.
Moreover, he clearly felt he could not completely break into the Great Power realm. As powerful as he was, he had still stopped before this heavenly barrier. One step, one world. He ultimately could not successfully take that step and enter.
Suddenly, the gate of light formed by thunder slowly opened a crack, revealing a glimpse of what lay within.
Everyone widened their eyes to look. The Heavenly Mighty Figures of all realms, the Imperial Maiden, even the Ancient Monarchs—all did the same.
However, within the gate were blazing Great Dao laws that obscured everything, making it difficult to see through. Even peak Great Powers like Dan Chen and Qin Jiuyou could not manage it.
Only the Ancient Monarchs, with their unfathomable cultivation, and the most extraordinary Imperial Maiden, with her unparalleled Emperor bloodline power aiding her to pierce through all, could see a glimpse inside. Yet, they could not help but reveal expressions of shock simultaneously.
Ye Chen also saw it. He saw the other side of the gate of light formed by thunder, where ten Heaven's Avatars stood, one after another, each like an Emperor standing tall, their expressions indifferent, possessing world-shaking majesty that dominated past and present, reaching everywhere.
Among them, the most mysterious tenth Heaven's Avatar remained as enigmatic as ever.
On him, Ye Chen seemed to see himself—the future Supreme One invincible through the ages. He seemed to see the Battle Saint Ancestor, then the Spacetime Great Emperor, and in a daze, it transformed into the Human Emperor... Each moment he looked at the Tenth Heaven was different. Finally, the figure became completely hazy, invisible, yet its aura grew increasingly majestic, appearing even more terrifying than the other Heaven's Avatars.
Yet, none of the ten Heaven's Avatars stepped out from the gate of light formed by thunder. They remained standing there, looking at Ye Chen with indifference, as if looking at a dead man or a tiny, insignificant ant, unmoved.
Ye Chen's gaze passed over them, piercing through the aura of dominating all realms that emanated from them, looking toward the hazy space beyond.
He saw that vast expanse of heaven and earth, with majestic mountains, grand ancient cities, immortal divine halls, and terrifying battlefields of blood and chaos. There, one enormous corpse after another was buried. Among them, many beings were so vast that even a single strand of their hair could coil around stars, unimaginably huge and world-shaking.
More importantly, deep within, he seemed to witness scenes that shook past and present. There was a Chaos Sea stained with blood, a shattered ancient cosmos, fallen Supreme Emperors, and peerless immortals lying dead across the endless starry void...
Scene after scene, astonishing beyond measure, as if burying everything, all things destroyed and fallen, even more terrifying than the Great Destruction of Myth. It made Ye Chen's heart tremble.
What existed within the gate of light formed by thunder? It seemed to bear the greatest secret between heaven and earth.
"This is—"
No matter how composed Ye Chen was, he could not remain calm. All of this was too shocking, as if it represented something.
Rumble—
Finally, the gate of light formed by thunder slowly closed. The ten Heaven's Avatars did not charge out, and Ye Chen could not charge in, blocked outside by the most blazing laws.
In that instant, Ye Chen suddenly widened his eyes, straining his vision to the limit, filled with unparalleled astonishment.
For within that blood-stained battlefield of the Chaos Sea, he saw a familiar figure—majestic and peerless, towering proudly through the ages. One of his eyes contained boundless vitality, as if holding a nascent great cosmos; the other eye held endless death, where ancient cosmoses had perished...
He was so majestic, so immortal, so supreme, standing atop the nine heavens. Behind him, a colossal Heavenly Gate appeared, towering at the zenith of the sky. It was covered in all kinds of marks—mottled battle scars, traces of time, ancient patterns—so mysterious, as if recording the imprints of era after era. And it was open.
Though one could not see what was inside the gate, one could see the majestic existence embodying life and death. He was gazing into the endless depths, having seen something unknown. His face bore an indescribable gravity, as if he had encountered the most terrifying thing and could no longer remain truly composed.
"It's him—"
Ye Chen's heart trembled violently. No matter what, he never expected to see this familiar person here.
He was the Gate Lord of the Heavenly Gate, the peerless Gate Lord of the Heavenly Gate. A century ago, at the Tenth Emperor Pass, he had sacrificed himself for righteousness, sparing no effort to block the seven Ancient Monarchs of the alien race—a righteous man who had thus passed away.
Ye Chen's eyes grew sore, almost shedding tears. A century had passed since their parting. How could he have imagined seeing him again? That excitement was hard to suppress; he wanted to cry.
"Gate Lord—"
Ye Chen shouted loudly toward the gate of light formed by thunder, wanting to call out to that peerless, majestic existence, to make him turn his head.
Yet, he could not continue watching, for the gate of light formed by thunder completely closed and gradually dissipated. And he could no longer withstand the immense divine energy within his body. With a boom, he exploded, his body shattered to pieces.
Boom—
Even a powerful Chaos Saint Body could not completely withstand it. It utterly exploded, every inch of flesh and blood shattered into dust, scattering through the sky. The most vast divine energy spread out.
However, divine power clones reformed one after another in the distant sky, sitting cross-legged in various directions.
Ye Chen executed the Saint Body Regeneration Technique, reforming his fleshly body. He gasped for breath within the remaining sea of tribulation light and thunder, swallowing the tribulation light and thunder from all directions to replenish his losses and begin recovery.
Moreover, he directly took out a seventy-thousand-year-old Medicine Spirit, the Crimson Flame Grass, from within his body, plucking some leaves and branches. He also took leaves and branches from other Medicine Spirits, all containing their vast vitality, effectively replenishing his depleted origin.
Finally, he returned to his peak and began contending within the remaining sea of tribulation light and thunder.
Those were the eighth and ninth layers of the sea of tribulation light and thunder, also the two most terrifying layers among the nine. Within them, boundless, brilliant destructive aura continuously erupted, bombarding Ye Chen.
Ye Chen endured it, also attempting once more to charge into the Great Power realm. He unleashed world-shaking might. Wherever he passed, all directions trembled. All tribulation light and thunder shattered. All legendary tribulations could not effectively harm him.
It could be said that after briefly merging with eight divine power clones and striking the gate of light formed by thunder, Ye Chen had taken another step toward the Great Power realm. Most of his body had squeezed in; only a hair's breadth remained to completely break through.
He grew increasingly powerful. Yet, this hair's breadth difference prevented him from successfully breaking through. Even he did not quite understand.
Why, as powerful as he was, could he not successfully break into this realm? What was the reason?
Ye Chen was puzzled. He could only charge again and again. The beams of light erupting from the crown of his head grew increasingly majestic and terrifying, piercing through all obstacles, always marching toward the Great Power realm.
"Ah—"
Ye Chen roared. He charged bravely, his aura boundless. With a single hand, he threw punches, always unstoppable, directly annihilating vast swathes of the sea of tribulation light and thunder above his head. He swung fist after fist, clashing with tribulation saints, striking against tribulation emperor weapons. Here, light was boundless; Great Dao runes continuously overflowed, spreading in all directions, grinding and destroying.
Finally, the entire sea of tribulation light and thunder could not withstand it, and the time was sufficient. It slowly dissipated.
Yet, even at the very end, Ye Chen still had not truly broken into the Great Power realm. He remained with only most of his body squeezed in.
Even so, strands of Great Power-level divine might flowed from him, making him appear increasingly divine and mighty, like a Supreme Emperor.
Standing there, clearly not yet a true Ancient Great Power, the terror and boundlessness of his aura made the Heavenly Mighty Figures in the distant sky feel a sense of trepidation.
Why was he so terrifying? He was even stronger than before. That pressure spread out overwhelmingly, almost impossible to conceal.
Everyone was even convinced that the current Battle Saint King was probably no weaker than a fifth-level Great Power.
Ye Chen opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing the entire remaining sea of tribulation light and thunder that had not yet dispersed in one gulp. Rumbling sounds echoed endlessly as it replenished his losses and tempered his Chaos Saint Soul and Chaos Great Cauldron, making both appear increasingly solid and immortal.
The breakthrough tribulation had completely concluded!
A treasure-hunting assembly in the Alchemy Ruins Ancient Realm had ultimately turned into the Battle Saint King's tribulation-crossing assembly, stealing all the spotlight. And what was even more shocking was that the Battle Saint King actually could not completely break into that realm, leaving people deeply puzzled.
After all, from any perspective, the Battle Saint King's accumulation was surely sufficient. In a sense, it even surpassed that of many Great Powers. With such profound accumulation, no matter how monstrous a Great Power was, they should have been able to break through.
Yet, the Battle Saint King had not succeeded, astonishing everyone.