Boom—
Outside the dilapidated ancient hall, a world-shaking battle was taking place, with three sides confronting Martial God-level demonic beasts.
One of them was Xia Yang. He had not joined the alliance of five, nor had he fought side by side with Ye Chen. Instead, he was fighting alone against the golden Crimson Sand Scorpion King, engaged in a fierce and intense battle. Blasts of light shook the heavens, and the fluctuations were vast and terrifying. In the clash between man and beast, large swathes of mountain forests and trees were blasted apart, and many areas of verdant woods were flattened.
It must be said that Xia Yang was indeed a peerless genius, a possessor of divine qualification. At only twenty-three years old, his cultivation was already considered transcendent. Even when looking across the entire Trial Path, he was among the very top, able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the young prodigies of several superpowers as a super-strong expert who could be called an Unrivaled King. Now, after nearly two months of enlightenment on the Dao Platform, his cultivation had advanced further.
At this moment, he was facing the golden Crimson Sand Scorpion King. Wielding a divine spear, he dueled the Scorpion King alone, slashing out thick beams of spear light that continuously struck the Scorpion King's body with clanging sounds, sending out bursts of blazing sparks.
The Crimson Sand Scorpion King was also shrieking, its eight wings trembling. Its house-sized body rapidly took flight, turning into a blur of shadows, its pincers and tail stinger constantly attacking.
The two were engaged in a terrifying duel.
Xia Yang roared, unleashing peerless methods. His entire body shone with blazing radiance, his power growing even stronger. The potential of a possessor of divine qualification was erupting as he single-handedly challenged the Scorpion King. The divine spear erupted with terrifying fluctuations, as if a War God was striking out. Each blow shook the very void, piercing through nearby small mountains, the spear light astonishing the world.
His black hair danced wildly, an aura of divine majesty soaring to the heavens. The battle was unprecedentedly fierce.
"Evil beast, accept your death!"
He roared, his eyes bursting with sharp light. His right hand wielded the divine spear in attack, while his left hand formed seals. His aura surged another great notch. He even opened his mouth and spat out a ten-zhang-tall stone stele, its entire body flowing with dazzling light. It directly smashed into the Crimson Sand Scorpion King, causing cracks to appear on the beast's hard golden scales.
Now, he had begun to gain the upper hand, his momentum unstoppable.
On another front, the five young Martial Gods had given up chasing Ye Chen and instead joined forces to confront a purple Mantis King.
This Martial God-level demonic beast's body wasn't overly huge, similar in size to the Crimson Sand Scorpion King, only as large as a house. Compared to other Martial God-level beasts whose bodies were often as large as small mountains, it was relatively small. However, it was born with six mantis-arm blades, naturally adept at wielding them, making it a master of blade techniques. It even contained faint traces of Dao Rhyme, making it extremely terrifying. Ordinary Martial Gods who encountered it would only meet their doom.
Moreover, when this purple Mantis King fluttered its wings, its speed reached an unimaginable level, capable of seemingly instant short-distance teleportation, making it difficult to capture.
But all of this was insignificant in the eyes of the five young Martial Gods.
The five joining forces were simply invincible. They directly intercepted the purple Mantis King's path from the void. Five Martial God Dao Weapons, carrying vast amounts of heaven and earth power, arrived and directly blasted the Mantis King, piercing through its thick abdomen, causing purple blood to continuously spurt out.
However, it wasn't so easy to deal with. It quickly flashed and shifted, dodging attack after attack.
Unfortunately, in the end, the five Martial God Dao Weapons were fully awakened, erupting with unprecedented terrifying fluctuations. They intertwined and shone with holy radiance, generating immense power that imprisoned the purple Mantis King.
Boom—
The five blasted it to death, its flesh mangled, completely exploded into mincemeat. The token and Martial God demonic core were retrieved, becoming hot potatoes because the question of who should keep them became an issue—no one trusted anyone else to hold them.
The cooperation of the five was only temporary, formed to oppose Ye Chen. Their relationship wasn't truly stable and could rupture at any moment.
Ye Chen watched coldly from the sidelines. After glancing at them, he sought out the final Martial God-level demonic beast alone—a Divine Eagle. When it spread its wings, they could blot out the sun and cover the sky and earth. Each eagle feather could transform into a sword and shoot out, swishing and rustling, densely filling every inch of the void.
Moreover, these eagle feathers could be retrieved, controlled by the Divine Eagle, continuously shooting out, capable of instantly turning a mountain peak into a sieve.
Furthermore, the Divine Eagle's speed was unparalleled within the Martial God realm, reaching the extreme.
In this battle, Ye Chen also employed extreme speed techniques. The Reverse Void Eight Steps was the ultimate movement technique below the Divine Spirit level. Legend said that taking eight steps would reverse time, surpassing everything.
But achieving this was difficult. At least, Ye Chen currently couldn't do it; his strength wasn't sufficient. However, taking seven steps, his entire body transformed into a flash of golden light, traversing heaven and earth, engaging in an unprecedented contest with the Divine Eagle.
He stepped with the Reverse Void Eight Steps, as if capable of reversing time and space, making him impossible to evade.
Moreover, he used a divine ability for the first time, executing the Mountain Embracing Seal. A golden mountain peak towered into the clouds, vast and boundless, shaking the mind and soul, then heavily descended. The Divine Eagle was instantly suppressed into the earth, only managing a single eagle cry before becoming powerless.
In not too long a time, this Divine Eagle, which had also lost too much life essence in the seal, was suppressed and slain, refined into a Blood Pill.
Thus, Ye Chen now possessed three Blood Pills, Martial God demonic cores, and four tokens, looking down upon all heroes.
Not long after, Xia Yang fought desperately. He and the Crimson Sand Scorpion King fought until both were covered in blood, suffering severe losses. But in the end, he also tore apart and suppressed the Scorpion King, flesh and blood flying. He obtained the final demonic core and token.
He lacked the ability to refine it into a Blood Pill, but Ye Chen stepped in and refined it for him.
Xia Yang did not refuse, only giving Ye Chen a deep look. He did not feel despair at Ye Chen's formidable combat power; on the contrary, his fighting spirit was still boiling.
Up to now, on the nine Dao Platforms, the Thirteenth Prince, Vivian, Princess Hong Rong, and Yang Miaoxue sat cross-legged, engaged in enlightenment. As for the others, none dared to ascend the platforms.
Especially the princes and princesses of the Jiuhua Empire and Tenglong Empire, who were filled with trepidation, fearing that once they ascended, Ye Chen would come to settle accounts.
Faced with this killing god, even the five young Martial Gods felt nothing but helplessness.
"Demonic Flood Dragon, come here." Ye Chen waved his hand, having discerned that the Demonic Flood Dragon was the ninth Martial God-level demonic beast.
The Demonic Flood Dragon obediently went over, though it let out a somewhat frightened low roar.
Ye Chen smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. I just need to take something from you."
The Demonic Flood Dragon immediately became docile and still, allowing Ye Chen to act.
Ye Chen's eyes shone brilliantly, continuously scanning over the Demonic Flood Dragon's body, probing for the token within it. Finally, he detected a location in the Demonic Flood Dragon's abdomen—the true location of the token. However, it was completely fused with the flesh and blood, difficult to separate.
But this posed no problem for Ye Chen. He merely gave a light shout, his palm blade swiftly slicing open the Demonic Flood Dragon's abdomen, separating flesh and blood, dislocating tendons and bones, smoothly extracting the token tightly adhered to the flesh. Then, between his fingers and palm, he released a ball of dazzling life essence, allowing the Demonic Flood Dragon's wound to close up smoothly.
Thus, the fifth token was obtained by Ye Chen.
At this moment, the five young Martial Gods once again fixed their gazes on Ye Chen. Because he possessed too many tokens, more than half. They only had three, two of which came from the two slain Martial God-level beasts and were in the hands of Long Tenghua and the mysterious Fairy Caiyun.
The five young Martial Gods said, "Ye Chen, you have too many tokens. Hand over two, and we won't target you."
Ye Chen swept a faint glance over them. "Why should I hand them over to you? What do you think you are? Do you really think you're all Martial Gods? Ridiculous. You've merely stepped half a foot into the realm, only possessing Martial God-level combat power by relying on Martial God Dao Weapons. But you're still far from the real thing. I could suppress you all with a raise of my hand."
The crowd erupted in an uproar. Only now did they understand that the six super-strong experts weren't true Martial Gods at all. They had merely taken half a step, touching upon this realm. Moreover, they had condensed their Primordial Spirits and awakened Martial God Dao Weapons, thus possessing Martial God-level combat power. They had previously thought they were all young Martial Gods.
"Aren't you also not a Martial God? What are you being so arrogant about?" Long Tenghua sneered coldly. At their level, having condensed their Primordial Spirits, they could sense the difference upon careful perception. Although Ye Chen's aura was vast and powerful, it wasn't the aura of a true Martial God powerhouse.
These words also caused many to be stunned, then deeply horrified.
Because even though Ye Chen wasn't a Martial God, he had once suppressed three Checkpoint Masters. Not being a Martial God yet achieving this—once he truly took that step, wouldn't he be even stronger?
This point made everyone's hearts race with fear.
Immediately, the princes and princesses of the Tenglong Empire and Jiuhua Empire sent mental messages, letting the proud sons of heaven from the three empires understand a horrifying fact: Ye Chen had once single-handedly suppressed three Martial God-level Checkpoint Masters. This was no ordinary Martial God-level combat power.
But after learning the inside story, they sneered coldly, though also feeling apprehension. Because Ye Chen possessed a Heavenly God Dao Weapon that surpassed everyone else, unrivaled in the current age, believed to be the key to suppressing the three Checkpoint Masters. Even his previous attacks might have had the shadow of this Heavenly God Dao Weapon; otherwise, how could he be so astonishingly powerful?
Yang Shaoqi said coldly, "Ye Chen, if you have any guts, don't use the Heavenly God Dao Weapon. Let's have a fair and square duel."
"Idiot, when have I ever used a Heavenly God Dao Weapon?" Ye Chen sneered repeatedly, causing Yang Shaoqi's face to alternate between green and white.
Swish, swish, swish—
Ye Chen suddenly shot the five tokens in his hand onto the five Dao Platforms of the ancient hall. Each Dao Platform corresponded to a specific token, and they suddenly began to flow with hazy light. The few friends on the platforms had already been moved down by Ye Chen using divine ability to avoid harming them.
Xia Yang also took out his token and placed it on one Dao Platform. Now, only three tokens remained.
Once all nine tokens were gathered, they could open the seal left by the ancient Divine Spirit and obtain his legacy.
This point made everyone's blood boil with excitement, and they couldn't help but clench their fists.
Then, Ye Chen swept his gaze over the five young Martial Gods. At this moment, their expressions changed drastically, as if they were being stared at by a primordial ferocious beast from ancient times. A chill rose from the depths of their hearts. They heard the youth say expressionlessly, "Will you hand over the last three remaining tokens, or do I need to personally force you to hand them over?"