The battle for the Life Essence erupted in full force, a conflict that was absolutely earth-shattering.
The number of Imperial Clans and Immortal Clans participating had long exceeded fifty, not to mention the empires and countless other forces from the Mythical Emperor Domain. The number of Divine Kings was immense, far greater and more powerful than during the battle against the Summer Luo Sovereign, forming an unprecedented and terrifying assembly.
Faced with such a lineup, even an Ancient Monarch would have to retreat and avoid confronting its sharp edge head-on.
Yet, against this terrifying assembly capable of sweeping through Imperial and Immortal Clans, the side of the Rotten Gods and Demons guarding the Life Essence was not the slightest bit weaker.
They too had countless gods and demons, innumerable, beyond description, an unfathomable number.
Boom! Rumble—
From the edges of the Life Oasis, the great tombs of gods and demons cracked open and collapsed one after another. Figures emerged continuously, bearing rotting bodies, foul stenches, broken war weapons, and shattered armor. Death aura soared to the heavens, yet they remained extremely powerful.
These were all powerhouses who had once followed Ancient Great Emperors or Supreme Immortals into battle. Which among them could be weak? In life, they were all renowned powerhouses who shook the world. Even if they no longer possessed their former divine might after death, they could not be easily underestimated.
Especially the eight Rotten Gods and Demons that emerged from the stone statues were even more so, excessively powerful, far beyond the match of ordinary Divine Kings.
Like the knight riding a rotten old horse and the ghost ape carrying a broken turtle shell, they unleashed terrifying attacks imbued with curse power. Divine Kings below the Fifth Calamity also had to avoid their sharp edge.
Behind them were other rotten gods and demons. Though not as powerful as the eight, they still possessed extremely formidable combat strength, not inferior to Divine Kings. Clearly, they had all been extraordinary top-tier powerhouses in life.
Led by the eight Rotten Gods and Demons, the countless rotten gods and demons confronted the assembly formed by numerous Imperial Clans, Immortal Clans, and empires, initiating a world-shaking level of great battle.
One side sought to seize the Life Essence, the other to guard it. The collision of these two terrifying forces, the consequences were unimaginable, affecting a vast area spanning millions of li.
From the heavens to the earth, infinite Great Dao laws bloomed, also affecting the many suspended continent fragments, star fragments, and ruined sky god-cities in the firmament, pulling them down and drawing out the boundless residual law traces contained within, triggering an extremely terrifying and vast, heaven-shaking catastrophe.
Innumerable fragments of all kinds fell from the sky, carrying the power to destroy heaven and earth as they descended mightily. The firmament seemed to be directly ignited, burning completely, flames filling the sky.
Naturally, under such apocalyptic scenes, countless figures also fell from the sky—those from the Imperial Clans, Immortal Clans, and empires, as well as those from the Life Essence-guarding Rotten Gods and Demons side.
Casualties were heavy!
Similarly, because of the Life Essence, powerhouses from Imperial Clans, Immortal Clans, and empires originally scattered throughout the Mythical Ruins Land continuously rushed over, wanting to get a share of the pie.
The scale of that chaotic battle far surpassed even wars between Imperial Clans, because the number of powerhouses involved was too great; even Divine King realm figures exceeded fifty.
Naturally, the intensity of the battle also far exceeded the imagination of the world, shaking the boundless earth.
It was precisely because of the appearance of countless Rotten Gods and Demons, transforming into a boundless army of gods and demons, densely packed layer upon layer guarding the Life Essence, that the terrifying army formed by countless powerhouses from numerous Imperial Clans, Immortal Clans, and empires found it difficult to truly approach the Life Essence for a time.
Even Divine Kings could only watch helplessly in the short term, unable to get even a hair's breadth closer.
However, the powerhouses of the myriad heavens persisted in their continuous attacks.
The temptation of the Life Essence for them was no less than that of Emperor Dao inheritance. For some powerhouses nearing their lifespan limit, it even far surpassed Emperor Dao inheritance.
Under the dense onslaught, seeing that both sides suffered countless casualties yet still couldn't advance an inch, the allied army adopted a second method, deciding on a dispersed, all-directional, indiscriminate attack to find a breakthrough point.
Numerous Divine Kings led the Heaven's Pride talents of their respective Imperial Clans, Immortal Clans, and empires to charge towards various directions, far and wide, launching dense attacks from all sides.
They believed that under sustained bombardment, victory would inevitably be theirs, and that would be the time to divide the Life Essence.
However, the battle for the Life Essence was extremely brutal. Even ordinary Great Powers couldn't participate. Amidst the fierce battles of the Divine Kings of the myriad heavens, a single stray shockwave could very likely cause a super Great Power to perish, let alone ordinary Heaven's Pride talents.
Ordinary Great Powers were merely cannon fodder in such a battle.
On the side of the Bright Emperor Domain, Ye Chen's lineup was extremely powerful. Including Yu Qing, they had six Divine Kings. The strongest young supremes included Ye Chen, A Beinu, and the Corpse Devouring Insect Emperor. Behind them were eight Supreme Heaven's Pride talents. Which of the other Heaven's Pride talents who had joined the Bright Emperor Domain wasn't truly extraordinary?
They all attacked, and immediately, swathes of Rotten Gods and Demons were blasted apart.
Among them, the encirclement of gods and demons also seemed to thin somewhat. The Life Essence at the very center flickered in and out of sight, emitting faint emerald rays of light through the layered gaps, carrying wisps of life aura.
However, what was puzzling was that initially, under the illumination of the Life Essence, the light of life forced the eight Rotten Gods and Demons to envelop their entire bodies in dark flames to avoid harm. But now, not only the Rotten Gods and Demons that emerged from the eight stone statues, even ordinary Rotten Gods and Demons seemed completely unaffected under the illumination of the life light, which felt somewhat strange.
At the forefront, the Tongtian Old Divine King was also present, easily shattering several Rotten Gods and Demons equivalent to the Great Power realm before him. He flicked his sleeve, dispersing the death aura contained within these Rotten Gods and Demons. He greedily inhaled the faint life power permeating the air. On his old face, resembling withered tree bark, a hint of rosiness seemed to appear, as if intoxicated.
Clearly, such life power was a great tonic for ancient Divine King fossils like the Tongtian Old Divine King who were nearing their lifespan limit.
"The power of life, I need more life power."
The Tongtian Old Divine King, nearing his lifespan limit, was extremely covetous of that Life Essence. Therefore, his attacks were also quite ferocious. With a raise of his hand, a swathe of gods and demons before him were swept away and annihilated, countless Rotten Gods and Demons perishing, exploding into dense and massive amounts of death aura.
His heart anxious, his figure whooshed forward, disregarding the danger of being contaminated and corroded by the death aura.
"Be careful!"
Others tried to dissuade him, but the Tongtian Old Divine King wouldn't listen, stubbornly determined to charge forward.
Whoosh—
Ye Chen stood blocking the way, preventing the Tongtian Old Divine King from advancing further.
"Young friend, do not stop me!" the Tongtian Old Divine King roared, his eyes almost turning red, staring fixedly at the flickering Life Essence visible through the layered gaps. He seemed to have gone mad, lost his reason, willing to charge towards the Life Essence even if it meant death.
His remaining lifespan wasn't many years; he was about to pass away sitting in meditation. The Life Essence could extend his life, even give him enough time to break through into the Monarch Domain and become a ruler of the cosmos.
Now his eyes were red, nearly losing his sanity.
Boom—
An extremely intense Divine King might erupted, crashing towards Ye Chen with a boom. The void shattered. Even Ye Chen felt his body crackle and pop as if his Chaos Saint Body could hardly withstand it, about to tear apart. One could imagine how terrifying the Tongtian Old Divine King's pressure was.
This was a peerless old Divine King, far stronger than Divine Kings like Gu Hua and Dark Dragon by who knew how many times. Ye Chen was secretly shocked, but at this moment, he withstood it and shouted, "Senior, charging forward now is useless. You cannot break through the encirclement."
"How would I know without trying?"
The Tongtian Old Divine King's eyes were bloodshot, the pressure emanating from his body indescribably intense, as if nearing the Monarch Domain. Standing before him, Ye Chen distinctly felt as if a million great mountains were pressing down, an unbearable weight threatening to tear his physical shell apart.
"Young friend, step aside. I do not wish to harm you, but whoever tries to stop me from extending my life, do not blame me for being ruthless."
The pursuit of life clearly ranked above everything else in the Tongtian Old Divine King's eyes. At this moment, he would kill gods if they blocked him, slay buddhas if they stood in his way.
Even if Ye Chen blocked his path, he would be killed.
"Yue!"
Yu Qing and A Beinu were worried, wanting to step forward. The other four Divine Kings were the same.
But Ye Chen stopped them. He looked at the Tongtian Old Divine King and said solemnly, "Senior, wait a moment. Believe this junior, the Life Essence can be obtained."
"Hmm?"
The Tongtian Old Divine King looked at Ye Chen with surprise and doubt. What did this mean?
However, he also knew deeply that Ye Chen was not someone who spoke recklessly. Saying this must have its reasoning.
Ye Chen revealed a confident smile. "As long as Senior believes this junior, when the time comes, there will surely be Life Essence. Helping Senior extend your life will be no problem."
Although the Tongtian Old Divine King didn't know where Ye Chen's confidence came from—after all, so many Divine Kings from Imperial Clans, Immortal Clans, and empires leading numerous powerhouses in the siege still couldn't break into the encirclement even a hair's breadth—he at least regained some rationality now. Knowing he had been blinded by bloodlust earlier, his reason occupied by greed, he sobered up with a sense of guilt.
If he had attacked Ye Chen earlier, it would have been a grave mistake. He sighed lightly, "This old man believes your words, young friend. Whether obtained or not is destined by heaven. This old man will not blame you."
"After cultivating my mind and nature for so many tens of thousands of years, I was utterly bewitched by the Life Essence, lost my original nature, and almost harmed you, young friend, causing an irreparable disaster. Had it reached that point, this old man would also have felt remorse in his heart. Even if I obtained the Life Essence, I couldn't step over that mental barrier to truly take that step into the Monarch Domain."
Ye Chen waved his hand. "It's merely human nature. How would this junior dare blame Senior?"
The Tongtian Old Divine King smiled faintly. "Regardless, obtaining it is my fortune, losing it is my fate. Through this incident, this old man now sees through much and no longer forces things too much."
Suddenly, the Tongtian Old Divine King seemed to transform into a different person. Originally with bloodshot eyes, he now instantly resembled a sage, supremely divine and holy, untainted by worldly dust, his aura transcendent, astonishing people.
Ye Chen was also startled, then cupped his fists. "Congratulations, Senior, on your breakthrough."
The others, after their surprise, also cupped their fists in congratulations one after another. "Congratulations, Senior, on your breakthrough."
The Tongtian Old Divine King smiled, appearing very calm. "It's merely a slight breakthrough in mental state, not completely stepping over the final threshold. I'm still a dying man on my last legs. What is there to congratulate?"
However, others understood that the Tongtian Old Divine King was originally an ancient Divine King fossil extremely close to the Monarch Domain, unfathomably deep. Now, with a breakthrough in mental state, he was even closer to the Monarch Domain. With just another breakthrough, achieving Ancient Monarch status would not be difficult.
It could be said that this seemingly plain mental breakthrough benefited the Tongtian Old Divine King immensely.
Roar—
At this moment, among the gods and demons appeared a terrifying Rotten God Demon comparable to the Divine King realm, at least at the Third Calamity Divine King level, quite powerful. Leading a group of Rotten Gods and Demons, it lightning-fast charged towards Ye Chen and the others.
"Be careful dealing with it. This Rotten God Demon is very powerful, stronger than ordinary Divine Kings," the Qinghuang Divine King spoke, his expression somewhat grave. He stepped forward to confront this Rotten God Demon, to block it.
But at this moment, the Tongtian Old Divine King merely smiled slightly. Before anyone else could act, he made his move.
Roar—
The Rotten God Demon comparable to a Third Calamity Divine King wielded a bizarre death scythe, a weapon forcibly fused from many fragments of Dao weapons. Its material was mottled, Dao traces permeating it, yet it carried a terrifying sense of pressure, easily slicing through heaven and earth. Even Ye Chen felt a tremendous, fatal threat. A Rotten God Demon of this level was not something he could truly handle at present.
However, the Tongtian Old Divine King merely raised a withered, old palm and lightly slapped forward.
Hum—
The palm contained unimaginable, infinite divine might. Colliding with the mottled death scythe, there was no earth-shattering crash, only continuous cracking and shattering sounds.
Immediately, everyone was shocked to discover that the death scythe capable of tearing apart a Divine King's flesh was easily shattered and cracked apart by the Tongtian Old Divine King's single slap.
Gulp—
Many swallowed hard, staring dumbfounded at this scene.
What a terrifying old Divine King.
Boom—
The Tongtian Old Divine King attacked again, still just a palm striking out calmly. Instantly, heaven and earth changed color, winds rose and clouds swirled, the void annihilated.
The Rotten God Demon before him, though not a truly living being, still possessed a sliver of intelligence. Knowing the terror of the Tongtian Old Divine King, it understood to avoid danger and directly turned to flee.
"Can you escape?"
A calm voice sounded from the ground. It was the Tongtian Old Divine King's voice.
That withered palm, seemingly ordinary and unremarkable, yet when it struck, it sealed the heavens and locked the earth, refining this stretch of heaven and earth into a prison, trapping even the Rotten God Demon comparable to a Third Calamity Divine King within. Between his fingers and palm were full of supreme Divine King Great Dao laws, covering down.
Boom—
Everything turned to ash, including that Rotten God Demon comparable to a Third Calamity Divine King, completely reduced to nothingness.