In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen ascended the Dao platform and with a single punch, sent the Martial God Dao Weapon flying, thoroughly stunning everyone present.
What kind of fist was this, that it could actually withstand a Martial God Dao Weapon? It was simply terrifyingly astonishing.
Even a true Martial God might not be able to withstand a Martial God Dao Weapon with their physical body alone.
However, the Seventeenth Prince of the Jiuhua Empire clearly saw a handsome and familiar face revealed beneath the wide black robe and couldn't help but exclaim, "Ye Chen!"
The name Ye Chen seemed to possess a strange magic, instantly drawing gasps of surprise and numerous gazes from the scene, all falling upon the figure in the black robe, trying to discern the truth.
At this moment, Ye Chen no longer concealed himself. The wide hood fell back, revealing his true appearance: black hair cascading down, a handsome yet resolute face, his gaze calm and natural, allowing everyone's eyes to rest upon him.
Ye Chen's arrival immediately caused a commotion in this area.
"Ye Chen, it's really him. He actually entered the mysterious realm too."
"Didn't Xia Teng say he didn't come together?"
"So we've been traveling with Lord Ye Chen all along, and no one noticed."
Everyone was shocked. No one had expected that Ye Chen, the unrivaled king who dominated the Trial Path, had entered, and had been following the main group all along, lying low. If he hadn't taken action this time, no one would have known of his presence.
They had originally thought Ye Chen had entered either before or after the others.
The Seventeenth Prince's expression changed repeatedly, filled with terror. He never imagined he had provoked this killing god—the one who dared to strike even the Eighth Prince of the Tianqi Empire, Yang Jun. He dared not rely on his status as a prince of the Jiuhua Empire to threaten him.
He could only retreat unwillingly, seeking another Dao platform to occupy. Although the Thirteenth Prince Xia Teng had no Martial God Dao Weapon and was the easiest target, Ye Chen's presence was the greatest deterrent; who would dare make a move?
At the same time, the six super experts standing in the air all turned their attention upon hearing the commotion, their eyes shining brightly, clearly not expecting Ye Chen to be here either.
"Ye Chen." Xia Yang looked over, his fighting spirit boiling, his divine spear pointing from afar. "Excellent, so you've been here all along. I've been waiting for you. However, the current you might not be my match. Let me tell you something: these Dao platforms contain insights into the Great Dao of the Heavenly God realm, offering immense benefits for our cultivation. They can help us grow rapidly, condense our Primordial Spirit, and step into the Martial God realm."
"So you are Ye Chen. Indeed very young." Long Tenghua of the Tenglong Empire spoke, his tone filled with admiration, for Ye Chen was too young, appearing only sixteen or seventeen, four or five years younger than them, yet his cultivation had reached this level—truly astonishing.
Xia Yang, Long Tenghua, Li Sheng, Yang Shaoqi, and the other six all looked over.
Among them, Yang Shaoqi's gaze was especially cold as he stared at Ye Chen and said, "You are the Ye Chen who killed my younger brother, Yang Jun?"
"You may think so." Facing Yang Shaoqi's icy gaze, Ye Chen showed not the slightest fear, responding indifferently.
"Excellent. Today, no matter what, you must die." Yang Shaoqi coldly declared, as if pronouncing Ye Chen's death sentence.
The killing intent emanating from him was completely undisguised, for the Eighth Prince Yang Jun was his full-blooded younger brother, far closer than other princes and princesses. Ye Chen had undoubtedly crossed his bottom line.
"You—" Ye Chen shook his head, his response cold and seemingly disdainful. "Not possible."
"Arrogant!"
Yang Shaoqi instantly flew into a rage, a terrifying aura erupting from him, dominating this space. All the trial-takers felt a mountain-like oppressive force and their expressions changed.
But at this moment, the four Martial God demonic beasts let out long roars and took action, stirring up the heavens and earth, actively attacking the six super experts.
"Hmph, after dealing with these beasts and obtaining the tokens, I'll settle with you later." Yang Shaoqi snorted coldly, turning to attack the Silver-Horned White Tiger. He let out a clear cry, a brilliant light flashing between his brows, and a dazzling radiance shot out, traversing the sky and slashing down.
This was the Tianqi Empire's divine ability secret art, Heavenly Snow Clear River, born from Xiantian essence, containing Xiantian Dao power.
The Clear River spanned the sky, shimmering with countless brilliant specks like a vast galaxy, with myriad stars competing in radiance, majestic and imposing, slashing towards the Silver-Horned Great Tiger.
Before the Silver-Horned Great Tiger could react, it was struck by the Heavenly Snow Clear River. Instantly, its fur exploded, and a deep, bone-exposing, hideous wound appeared on its back, blood splattering, flesh mangled—a truly shocking sight.
Too terrifying! Who would have thought Yang Shaoqi was this strong, injuring the Silver-Horned Great Tiger with his first strike? This undoubtedly confirmed his Martial God realm combat power.
The Silver-Horned Great Tiger roared in shock and fury. A brilliant silver light pillar shot up from the horn on its head, directly colliding with the Heavenly Snow Clear River, scattering radiant light across the sky. Within it, a massive hammer floated, swirling with majestic radiance, Martial God Dao might overflowing—a top-tier Martial God Dao Weapon, now awakened.
Everyone understood. No wonder he could injure the Silver-Horned White Tiger. So that was why. Otherwise, even as a young prodigy, Yang Shaoqi likely couldn't truly harm the Silver-Horned White Tiger, as it was a genuine Martial God realm demonic beast, far stronger than an ordinary Martial God expert.
But he was still powerful enough, for an ordinary person couldn't possibly awaken such a Martial God Dao Weapon, let alone injure the Silver-Horned White Tiger.
Yang Shaoqi snorted coldly, soared into the sky, took hold of the divine hammer, his might fully displayed, and directly attacked the Silver-Horned White Tiger.
At this time, Long Tenghua of the Tenglong Empire also made his move. Three dragon auras coiled around his body, each transforming into a dragon form, like True Dragons soaring around him, the dragon aura majestic. With a whoosh, he lunged forward, holding a three-foot dragon sword, the three dragon auras coiling and roaring as he confronted the Crocodile Dragon.
The three dragon auras manifested dharma forms, actually transforming into three massive True Dragons that accompanied Long Tenghua's attack against the Crocodile Dragon.
The Crocodile Dragon roared. Its name containing the character for "dragon" indicated it was also a fearsome demonic beast with thin True Dragon bloodline. Perhaps not as pure as the demonic flood dragon, but still quite terrifying. Covered in pitch-black scales and possessing four arms, it showed fury upon seeing the three dragon auras, feeling provoked, and attacked in anger.
Man and beast fought together, shaking the heavens, causing mountains and forests to tremble as if about to shatter.
The Hundred-Legged Centipede soared into the sky, charging towards one of the figures, spraying large amounts of black venom from its mouth. Several people dodged, and the venom fell to the ground, instantly corroding entire patches of vegetation and even melting the soil—extremely horrifying.
Li Sheng of the Jiuhua Empire took action, holding a massive bell—a genuine Martial God Dao Weapon. Its entire body was crystalline crimson jade, clearly made from extraordinary materials, not an ordinary Martial God Dao Weapon. Now fully awakened, surging Dao fluctuations emerged, incredibly powerful.
He wielded the Crimson Jade Bell, striking the Hundred-Legged Centipede, engaging in combat.
Xia Yang held a divine spear, equally awe-inspiring in might, confronting the Golden Crimson Sand Scorpion King. The two clashed, sparks flying, with terrifying heaven and earth forces raging, the very sky and earth seeming to collapse—overwhelmingly powerful.
The other two slightly more mysterious super experts with the qualification to delay claiming kingship did not hold back either, for at this moment, two other fearsome Martial God great demons charged out from the mountain forest, roaring as they attacked.
The six super experts with the qualification to delay claiming kingship took action, confronting six Martial God realm great demons. The battle shook this small realm, light and color tearing the sky, extremely terrifying, causing many trial-takers to tremble in fear.
This was the power of super experts with the qualification to delay claiming kingship. They seemed no worse than the unrivaled king Ye Chen, for they all possessed absolute Martial God realm combat power.
Many trial-takers quickly rushed into the ancient hall, for those super experts had said this dilapidated ancient hall was safe; even these Martial God demonic beasts dared not trespass recklessly, as if some mysterious mechanism made them quite wary.
The demonic flood dragon growled lowly, looking at the Golden Crimson Sand Scorpion King from afar, then at the other Martial God demonic beasts. Primordial Spirit fluctuations rippled, clearly wanting to take action, but Ye Chen raised a hand to suppress it, not daring to act rashly.
With a whoosh, Ye Chen was the first to sit cross-legged on a Dao platform. The platform was extraordinary, immediately manifesting Dao charm, Dao sounds chanting, guiding the Dao of heaven and earth. Vague strands of Dao marks descended, inscribed with the various profound principles of the heaven and earth Dao, allowing those seated on the platform to use them for enlightenment.
Ye Chen's brow even shone with surging radiance. Possessing a Primordial Spirit, his comprehension of the Dao was far deeper than others.
However, his realm was high enough that he didn't care much for these heaven and earth Daos, merely using the opportunity to probe their depth.
Soon, he understood: this Dao platform could allow those seated upon it to comprehend the heaven and earth Dao, but not the deeper layers. Although Dao charm flowed, at most one could sense a thread or two of the Heavenly God Dao; mostly, it was the Martial God Dao.
This Dao charm, at best, could be considered superficial Dao. With Ye Chen's realm, he looked down upon it, but for Martial Gods, it offered immense benefits, guiding them towards the secrets of cultivating to the Heavenly God realm.
Moreover, the Dao platform contained a message: what was truly important in this small realm was far from these nine Dao platforms. Although they were valuable, compared to the true treasure, they were insignificant.
This small realm was opened by an extremely powerful supreme Divine Spirit in ancient times, a renowned Divine Spirit from the Trial Realm's past, who left his supreme treasure here. However, it was sealed in a separate dimensional space; even a Heavenly God couldn't open it, and a Divine Spirit would frown.
To break the seal, one must gather nine tokens and place them on the nine Dao platforms to open it.
These nine tokens were placed within the bodies of nine fearsome Martial God demonic beasts in this small realm. Each Martial God demonic beast hid a fragment. Once all fragments were gathered, the seal could be opened.
No wonder these super experts were attacking the Martial God demonic beasts. So that was why.
Ye Chen understood the cause and effect, revealing a faint smile. Suddenly, he looked at Vivian and Princess Hong Rong and asked, "Do you two want to ascend the Dao platforms?"
The two women were startled at first, then understood Ye Chen was only helping them, and immediately nodded.
"Good. In that case, I'll get them for you." Ye Chen's gaze swept over the six people on the Dao platforms besides the Thirteenth Prince and Yang Miaoxue, and said indifferently, "Among you, who is willing to give up a Dao platform?"