On the Trial Path, everyone witnessed a strange sight: the four super-powerful Late-Title Kings, originally renowned throughout the path, were rapidly rushing towards the endpoint of the fifteenth checkpoint.
What was astonishing was that these super-powerful Late-Title Kings, who should have dominated the Trial Path, showed not a trace of the demeanor befitting their status. On the contrary, they appeared utterly wretched, covered in blood, their clothes tattered, fleeing as if for their lives as they sped towards the final checkpoint.
This scene left the numerous Trialists along the way quite shocked. What had happened to these super-powerful figures to reduce them to such a state?
The Trialists near the endpoint checkpoint clearly hadn't yet received the various pieces of news. Had they known about the massacre incident, they wouldn't have thought this way.
Not long after, other Trialists saw the Unrivaled King Ye Chen sweeping across heaven and earth like a storm, chasing the stars and racing the moon. He arrived amidst a vast expanse of golden radiance, the very heavens trembling wherever he passed, his aura immense and astonishing.
Connecting this with the earlier wretched state of the four great experts, they couldn't help but speculate that the four had been hunted down by Ye Chen, ultimately landing in such a miserable predicament.
This speculation left many dumbfounded. Could Ye Chen truly be powerful to this extent? Even super-powerful Late-Title Kings had been reduced to being hunted by him?
If they had known about the great massacre within the Divine Spirit's small world, they would likely have been even more shocked.
The fifteenth checkpoint was far more vast and expansive than any of the previous fourteen. It was no longer merely the size of a kingdom, but much larger, stretching over at least a hundred thousand li in all directions, a truly immense expanse.
And this was the real final and most important checkpoint of the Trial Path.
This was not a forested sea as one might imagine, but an endless, boundless desert of crimson sand. Fearsome sandstorms swept across the heavens and earth, and numerous demonic beasts that inhabited the desert roamed and lurked, filling the place with all sorts of dangers.
Even the Hundred Strong Trialists could encounter peril if they were the slightest bit careless, making this the most dangerous checkpoint.
Only by traversing the entire boundless desert could one truly reach the endpoint and pass this trial.
Yet this final checkpoint was also perilous, fraught with various dangers, considered the most hazardous of the fifteen checkpoints. A moment of carelessness could very well lead to an unexpected demise here, making it extremely dangerous.
Upon arriving at this endless sea of sand and desert, Ye Chen sensed a Dao aura connected to the desert of the twelfth checkpoint. The aura of the pale, cold fire deep within the earth had not yet dissipated, still burning slowly, ignited.
Ye Chen guessed that this place must have been an important site where the Iceflame Heavenly King once clashed with his enemies. Otherwise, it couldn't have transformed into such a vast and expansive crimson sand desert, spanning at least several hundred thousand li, possibly even more.
That battle here long ago was likely the crucial one that caused this heaven and earth to shatter.
Following the aura left behind by the four, Ye Chen charged into the boundless desert, continuing the great hunt.
These four were quite cunning, fleeing in all directions along the way, even using the power of the Checkpoint Masters to hinder his pursuit, going to great lengths to save their lives.
Unfortunately, it wasn't of much use. Once they entered the endless desert, with its vast, unobstructed view and hardly any place to hide, even though they had set off first, they would still be hunted down by him here.
"Hiss—"
Countless hissing sounds arose. They were crimson sand scorpions, now sensing the fluctuations of human presence and swarming out frantically from the western sands. Each was about the size of a palm, and now there were hundreds of thousands of them, converging into a sea of scorpions, a dark, swarming mass that surged forth, charging towards Ye Chen in the sky. Among them were even purple crimson sand scorpions flying through the air.
Ye Chen directly employed a great technique. The Spirit Rhinoceros Sword Finger flicked out a circle of destruction. Swaths of crimson sand scorpions were blasted into pulp, a scene of bloodshed and carnage.
However, no golden crimson sand scorpion king appeared, which Ye Chen found somewhat regrettable. Otherwise, he would have truly wanted to kill one or two to obtain Martial God demonic cores.
Probably only Ye Chen had the audacity to fear nothing.
After easily slaughtering hundreds of thousands of the crimson sand scorpion swarm, Ye Chen soared through the air towards the distance. Under the sensing of his divine sense, the traces of the four young experts—Yang Shaoqi, Wu Han, Long Tenghua, and Li Sheng—were difficult to conceal, becoming an important means of tracking.
The vast, boundless desert wasn't only crimson sand. Similarly, extremes meet their opposites. The icy cold of the pale, cold fire beneath the earth had created numerous underground rivers and given birth to patches of lush, vibrant green oases, dotting the entire boundless desert like pearls.
Moreover, while each oasis appeared small within the vast desert, they were actually quite large, basically spanning several li in radius. Some oases even spanned dozens or hundreds of li, containing mountains, rivers, and lakes, forming their own small worlds.
At this moment, Yang Shaoqi and the others were situated within an oasis in the boundless desert, about a dozen li in radius—neither too large nor too small. Yet the four experts, once famous throughout the Trial Path, now appeared utterly wretched and miserable, covered in grime, panting heavily, their faces slightly pale and out of breath—a scene unimaginable in ordinary times.
Who could have thought that the four experts who had once dominated the Trial Path would now be reduced to such a state?
Throughout this journey of constant, desperate flight, they had fled for a full two days and two nights, only managing to escape from the twelfth checkpoint to the fifteenth.
But even so, they were far from reaching the endpoint, because the fifteenth checkpoint was too vast, boundless, practically comparable to the combined area of dozens of kingdoms.
Crossing it was too difficult; it couldn't be reached in a day or two. Moreover, behind them was the most terrifying young great demon king in pursuit, which was the most worrying matter.
They hadn't expected Ye Chen to actually pursue them this far. Over the past two days, they had distantly sensed the terrifying aura emanating from that young demon king soaring to the heavens, shaking the ancient void, scaring them out of their wits.
If not for their desperate flight along the way, and their willingness to use their Martial God Dao Weapons to bulldoze through obstacles, they would have been caught long ago.
But now, the distance between them was also shrinking, making them all feel a sense of impending death.
Ye Chen was truly terrifying to this extent.
"Let's rest for a bit," Wu Han suggested. "The toll of fleeing these past two days is too great. We need to replenish our stamina, otherwise we'll run out of energy and might very well be caught." The others unanimously agreed.
Although they knew Ye Chen was constantly approaching from behind, their continuous flight without any rest had severely drained their stamina. If caught in their current state, they truly wouldn't even have a chance to face him; they'd be instantly annihilated.
The few of them consumed miraculous elixirs they had brought from their respective factions, quickly healing their injuries and rapidly restoring their vitality. However, each elixir consumed was precious, at least a two-star pill worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins. Even they felt the pinch.
But in this situation, they had no choice.
After resting briefly and recovering some vitality, they exchanged glances and nodded. "Let's go, set off—"
Yet the next moment, their expressions all changed drastically, and their auras completely withdrew inward, because they sensed a powerful and familiar aura rapidly approaching and descending upon this oasis. They couldn't help but tremble with shock—
Ye Chen had arrived.
They were both shocked, helpless, and bitter, even carrying a trace of despair. They never imagined that the young great demon king Ye Chen would catch up so quickly. Could it truly be their doomsday? They were truly unwilling.
The few of them quickly submerged into the sandy shore of the oasis lake, letting the lake water wash over them, naturally erasing their traces, buried deep within, not daring to move a muscle.
Ye Chen descended upon this oasis because here he sensed the auras of Yang Shaoqi and the others. Even though they were withdrawn, they couldn't escape Ye Chen's incredibly sharp senses.
Moreover, his own aura wasn't withdrawn in the slightest; on the contrary, it grew even more astonishing, his imposing might shaking the air above the oasis. His voice rang out like thunder: "Come out, all of you. Why hide? There's no need for that. Do you really think you can evade my pursuit?"
Naturally, Yang Shaoqi and the others didn't answer, still clinging to a last sliver of hope, because they didn't want to be killed by Ye Chen just like that.
Ye Chen smiled faintly, his gaze sweeping over the oasis as if it could pierce through all falsehoods: "Do you really want me to invite you out? The consequences of that would be quite severe. After I catch you, I'll first cripple your cultivation, then break every bone in your bodies one by one. After that, I'll bury you in the ground with only your heads exposed, dig open your skulls. Finally, I'll sprinkle some man-eating ants on you. What do you think?"
The few of them felt a chill in their hearts. This Ye Chen truly was a great demon king.
Ye Chen said no more, merely strolling leisurely through the oasis, calm and composed, as if walking in his own courtyard. His eyes shone brilliantly, constantly scanning the oasis.
"Are you really that unwilling to come out?"
Ye Chen spoke again, but his voice suddenly rose. He suddenly aimed a palm strike at one spot. With a boom, it exploded, trees toppled, and dust shot into the sky.
But there was nothing there. Ye Chen looked for a while, muttering in puzzlement: "Did I see wrong? These guys' hiding methods are really good, even fooling me."
Swish—
Ye Chen strode away, disappearing from sight.
At this time, Yang Shaoqi and the others, hidden in the sandy shore by a lake, waited cautiously for a full three hours before carefully crawling out, heaving a sigh of relief: "He's finally gone."
However, at that moment, a voice that seemed both amused and not suddenly rang by their ears, making all their hairs stand on end: "But I've been waiting for you for a long time."