Ye Chen was domineering, domineering to the extreme. The moment the ancient prodigy from the Tenglong Empire opened the spatial passageway and before he could truly descend, Ye Chen made his move.
The Great Dao Treasure Vessel Seal was displayed to perfection. From the mouth of the vase erupted a blazing beam of destructive divine light that streaked across the sky, distorting the void as it passed. It directly pierced through the Great Dao barrier, striking into the spatial passageway, preventing the ancient prodigy within from descending, intending to trap him within the shattered passage.
This was because Ye Chen sensed the fearsomeness and power of the ancient prodigy about to descend to this place, and he had also been thoroughly frustrated by being trapped on the wasteland by the various major powers, thus he launched this counterattack.
All of this happened extremely quickly. Even the Heavenly God powerhouses within the fortress had not expected Ye Chen to strike at this moment, and to strike with such ferocity and ruthlessness. Before they could even react, the destructive beam had already struck the spatial passageway.
"Seeking death!"
From within the spatial passageway, the ancient prodigy who had not yet fully manifested roared. He had never experienced such a scene before, being attacked before even arriving. It was too despicable and shameless.
Boom—
The ancient prodigy erupted in fury. Surging divine energy fluctuations erupted from his entire body, shaking heaven and earth. That terrifying power could still be clearly felt by the many powerhouses on the fortress even through the spatial passageway, causing hearts to tremble.
Was this the true power of an ancient prodigy? Far surpassing ordinary Martial Gods.
Numerous young trial-takers who had already passed the trial and were gathered here watching the spectacle trembled in fear. This divine might surpassed their imagination. The ancient prodigy was like an Ancient Divine Mountain, lofty and unattainable, making them, fellow members of the younger generation, feel they could look but never reach.
They were all young people, yet the gap between them was so vast it was despairing.
The ancient prodigy displayed his peerless power, resisting the destructive beam to prevent it from shattering the spatial passageway. Behind him, an even more massive and terrifying fluctuation, many times greater, bloomed forth. That was the fluctuation of the Heavenly God realm—a Heavenly God powerhouse following behind the ancient prodigy, who was now also about to make a move to erase this destructive beam.
The various powerhouses from the major forces on the fortress also prepared to act.
But the ancient prodigy's icy voice rang out: "Please, everyone, do not intervene. I would like to see if this attacker can do anything to me."
His entire body shook, and dazzling divine light erupted forth as if a deity were striking out. It pierced through the spatial passageway. Divine energy as deep as an abyss and vast as the sea erupted, strenuously holding back the destructive beam. His cold and sinister gaze fell upon Ye Chen on the wasteland. His voice, calm, carried a trace of killing intent: "You are Ye Chen, I presume. Not bad. You are the first to dare obstruct me, Long Gu'ao. However, I will make you understand that a true Young King is far beyond what a so-called Unrivaled King like you can match."
Long Gu'ao, the ancient prodigy of the Tenglong Empire!
Ye Chen met his gaze without backing down, saying coldly, "That depends on whether you can withstand it first."
His arms shook. On the body of the Great Dao Treasure Vase Seal, Dao talisman runes immediately appeared, crystalline and flawless, making it appear even more terrifying by a large margin. This stretch of heaven and earth began to tremble completely.
An even more terrifying beam was unleashed, traversing space and time, striking the spatial passageway.
Boom—
A dreadful roar and endless blinding flashes of light. When everything dissipated, the spatial passageway above the fortress had vanished. Everyone stared in shock at the youth Ye Chen, standing imposingly in the void. He had actually directly shattered the spatial passageway of the arriving Tenglong Empire's Long Gu'ao, preventing him from coming over.
One must know that Long Gu'ao was an ancient prodigy, the most dazzling peerless genius in the history of the Tenglong Empire, hailed as a monstrous talent of this generation capable of surpassing Divine Spirits. He was a terrifying figure who had achieved Martial God at twenty-six and slain seven Martial Gods consecutively at twenty-two.
Now, he had been directly obstructed by Ye Chen within the spatial passageway. Although not killed, his failure to successfully arrive was sufficient to prove Ye Chen's peerless strength. He was probably not much weaker than these ancient prodigies.
Among them, the most frustrated were undoubtedly the powerhouses of the Tenglong Empire. They had originally been looking forward to their nation's ancient prodigy making a forceful entrance, directly charging into the Trial Path with an unstoppable momentum to suppress or even execute Ye Chen. But before he could even truly make his entrance, he was beaten back. It was equivalent to a hard slap across their faces—silent yet resounding, leaving them utterly aggrieved and enraged.
If not for the isolation of the Great Dao barrier, they would have long since raised a hand to kill Ye Chen.
Even so, a second-layer Martial God couldn't help but ascend the fortress and curse: "Ye Chen, you little bastard, you are utterly unworthy of being a Young King! If you have the guts, come up here! I'll suppress and kill you with one hand—"
Before his words could even finish, a terrifying beam instantly pierced through the Great Dao barrier and struck him. In an instant, he was reduced to ashes, leaving nothing behind.
Ye Chen coldly held the Great Dao Treasure Vase, its mouth dark and profound. With practical action, he demonstrated that the other party was utterly no match, thoroughly intimidating everyone.
Raise a hand to suppress and kill him?
Ridiculous. The only fate was to be suppressed and killed in return.
This was another slap across the face. The Tenglong Empire's powerhouses were extremely embarrassed. As a superpower, they had been masters of the world's rise and fall since ancient times, with a hundred powers submitting to them. Who could contend with them?
Yet now, they had been slapped in the face repeatedly. What a disgraceful matter. But not a single Martial God dared to utter harsh words anymore, fearing another slap. Even the Heavenly Gods were furious but silent, the atmosphere so oppressive it was suffocating.
Ye Chen watched all this coldly. Killing a second-layer Martial God was not a difficult task for his current self. With a portion of his blood having turned red, he was much stronger than before.
This was the wonder of the Human Yuan Body Art.
However, it also verified one thing: the Great Dao barrier was not bidirectional. It could isolate attacks from the fortress but could not isolate attacks from the Trial Path. Or perhaps it could isolate attacks not from the younger generation, but attacks from the younger generation were not isolated.
Just as Yang Wushuang's incarnation could descend previously, it did not isolate anything from the younger generation.
Having verified this truth, Ye Chen had already grasped a degree of initiative. Unfortunately, the other side seemed to have also realized this, with several Heavenly Gods standing ready.
Boom—
The void trembled once more. A furious roar pierced through the sky: "You think such an attack can truly block me? Open for me!"
Divine light blazed brilliantly. The void shattered, opening up another radiant passageway. The ancient prodigy Long Gu'ao descended once more, divine might surging. This time, he was fully prepared, unlike the last time when he was suddenly attacked. He once again pierced through the spatial passageway and successfully stepped out from within, truly descending.
This was a remarkably majestic young man, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, imposing and awe-inspiring even without anger.
His long hair was tied in a crown at the back of his head. He wore a suit of crimson-gold dragon armor, with images of five-clawed golden dragons engraved upon it, vivid and lifelike as if about to break free from the armor and transform into True Dragons soaring through heaven and earth.
He held a halberd in one hand, pointing towards the sky. An aura of authority above ten thousand people flowed from him. Such a king walking the mortal world, his reach boundless, made one want to kowtow and kneel.
Tenglong Empire's ancient prodigy, Long Gu'ao!
The first ancient prodigy from the five superpowers had finally appeared in his true form, entering the trial world with an unstoppable imposing manner, becoming the focus of everyone's attention.
Long Gu'ao, as an ancient prodigy, one of the true supreme young powerhouses, his cultivation was unfathomably deep. He was one of the youngest Martial Gods in history, his monstrous talent shocking the world. He was also the next-generation ruler of the Tenglong Empire.
He strode through the void, strands of golden dragon qi coiling around his body as if True Dragons were emerging into the world. His aura was majestic and overwhelming. His absolutely powerful cultivation made it impossible for anyone to ignore his presence.
At this moment, he stood in the void, his entire body radiating surging divine light. Even the various Heavenly Gods were overshadowed by his brilliance. In this stretch of heaven and earth, it seemed to have become his personal stage.
Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, sharp light gleaming within, but he did not strike again because he understood it would be useless.
Surprise attacks won with the element of surprise, but some things could be done once, not twice. Especially against such ancient prodigies, it would have little effect. The other party was already prepared; it was impossible to achieve a stunning result again. Being able to achieve such a result the first time was already considered glorious.
After all, this was the most powerful genius and prodigy in the history of a superpower, peerless throughout the ages, hailed as an invincible existence.
The various powerhouses of the Tenglong Empire were boiling with excitement. The ancient prodigy lord had finally made his entrance. They firmly believed he could forcefully suppress and kill Ye Chen.
"Ye Chen." Long Gu'ao's tall figure slowly rose, standing high in the air. His powerful aura swept out, stirring up wind and sand that pressed towards Ye Chen. He looked down upon him like a monarch, saying, "Very good. You are quite something. Whether in the ancient era or this generation, you are the first to dare treat me this way. This courage deserves commendation. But you have made a grave mistake. You should not have done so. Now, I give you a chance. As long as you hand over that thing, I can leave you with an intact corpse. Otherwise, you will die without a whole body."
"So. Which will you choose?"
His icy voice fell, like the God of Death pronouncing Ye Chen's death sentence.
His tone was extremely arrogant, but no one felt he was conceited, because the aura he revealed was sufficient to prove he possessed such capability.
Ye Chen frowned. This person was too arrogant. He didn't want to waste words. The Great Dao Treasure Vase was about to erupt with divine light; he was going to strike directly.
"Long Gu'ao, he is not yours alone. There are also us!"
But the next moment, from within the fortress, one powerful fluctuation after another continuously erupted, constantly shaking this final fortress, startling everyone.
More peerless powerhouses were making their entrance!
Three more locations in the void shattered. Three spatial passageways appeared. Three young figures stepped out, each with an aura so vast it shook the heavens, making the void grow heavy and the earth tremble.
The whole world was shocked. The ancient prodigies from the several superpowers of the Tian Du Continent had almost all arrived together.
Yang Wushuang of the Tianqi Empire, Li Taixu of the Jiuhua Empire, and Wu Yunyan of the Martial God Hall.