Ye Chen stood firm in the void, as if a Divine Spirit were making a move, sweeping aside all peerless foes.
The two dignified Martial God powerhouses had long been prepared, even reviving their Martial God Dao Weapons, yet they were still no match. Moreover, they were sent flying and coughing blood in just a single encounter, crashing to the ground and collapsing many houses, raising clouds of dust.
The onlookers stared dumbfounded at this scene.
Too powerful! Those were two legendary Martial God powerhouses. In the entire Xia Feng Kingdom, there were only a handful of such individuals. Luo Feng City didn't even have a single one. Yet now, facing the Ye family's young master Ye Chen, they appeared so utterly powerless, making it hard to believe.
The young master of Tai Xue Mountain was already stunned, his scalp tingling with fear. Good heavens, how could this young great demon king be so monstrously powerful?
For the first time, he felt an immense terror, as if facing a devil.
"This..."
Even his parents and all members of the Ye family were stunned. Ye Chen had been gone for over a year. What exactly had happened during that time? He had just returned and displayed such peerless combat prowess. Those were Martial Gods, sent flying in a single encounter. Was it really that exaggerated?
With a loud bang, the two Martial Gods soared into the sky, though their figures appeared disheveled, their mouths stained with blood that dyed their clothes red. They now looked at Ye Chen with utter shock.
From this exchange, the two Martial God powerhouses deeply understood that although the one before them was merely a youth, he was far too powerful, not an opponent on the same level at all.
Moreover, their Martial God Dao Weapons had dimmed considerably. Where the youth had struck them, there were sunken areas with clear palm prints, surrounded by cracks spreading outwards, nearly shattered.
Only a powerhouse whose strength had reached a certain level could achieve this. Clearly, this youth before them had reached that point.
Was this the true combat prowess of the young great demon king from the Trial Path?
Both of them felt immense pressure.
"Young Master, this place is not safe to stay. Let's go quickly!"
One Martial God shouted loudly. Together with the other Martial God, they grabbed their young master and hastily soared into the sky, directly fleeing.
"Chen'er—" Seeing Ye Chen not moving a step, Ye Ao couldn't help but call out softly. Letting the other party leave so easily was akin to releasing a tiger back to the mountains, leaving future troubles.
But Ye Chen turned to him with a smile and said, "Father, rest assured. Your son's actions are not so careless as to leave loopholes."
Although Ye Ao was puzzled about what means Ye Chen possessed, he still chose to believe him.
Sure enough, not long after, three figures fell from the sky, crashing heavily to the ground. Especially the young master, no longer his former elegant self, was covered in blood, with who knows how many bones and tendons broken, half his teeth missing, utterly disheveled, his expression filled with terror.
The other two Martial Gods also crashed heavily to the ground, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood.
What exactly had happened again? Why did they suddenly crash to the ground? This point was perplexing.
Roar—
A vast roar resounded over Luo Feng City, deafening to the ears. Then, a large shadow was cast down. Looking up, they saw a huge, long, and supple figure riding clouds and mist in the sky, emanating a powerful demonic aura that made people submit in shock: "A dragon! It's a demonic dragon!"
"The demonic dragon is here! Everyone, hurry and run! Could it be another demonic beast riot?"
Many people panicked. Could it be that another demonic beast riot had arrived, and even a legendary demonic dragon had come to conquer?
However, this so-called demonic dragon from everyone's mouths arrived before Ye Chen and appeared exceptionally docile, affectionately lowering its huge flood dragon head to nudge Ye Chen, showing no aggressive behavior.
Even though Ye Ao was shocked, he understood that this demonic flood dragon was probably a demonic beast tamed by Ye Chen.
Moreover, the reason the two Martial Gods from Tai Xue Mountain had returned was likely because they were attacked by the demonic flood dragon and forcefully knocked down.
Whoosh—
Ye Chen's figure moved. The next moment, he traversed the long sky, appearing directly on the street where the Tai Xue Mountain group had crashed. Looking down from above at the one young master and two Martial Gods, he said indifferently, "It's also time to deal with you."
"Ye Chen, no! My father is the Mountain Lord of Tai Xue Mountain. If you kill me, you'll offend Tai Xue Mountain!"
"Sorry, but your old man was killed by me a few days ago. As for the powerhouses of Tai Xue Mountain, they didn't even dare to utter a sound, let alone you, a mere young master." Ye Chen mercilessly stated a cruel reality, causing the young master's eyes to widen.
Pfft—
The scream was abruptly cut off. With a single step from Ye Chen, a layer of Dao ripples spread outwards. The young master of Tai Xue Mountain was directly blasted into a bloody pulp, body and soul annihilated.
The two Martial Gods were sent flying by the shockwave. The demonic flood dragon charged forward, opened its mouth, and completely swallowed both Martial Gods into its belly.
Finally, the two Xiantian powerhouses from Tai Xue Mountain were subdued and dealt with by several family elders.
From then on, the threat to the Ye family was completely resolved.
Ye Chen soared into the sky, standing firm in the heavens. His entire body flowed with surging golden radiance that shot upwards, rumbling and exploding through the nine layers of the firmament. He swept his gaze across the six directions and eight wildernesses. He was using this to intimidate any other individuals or forces with designs against the Ye family.
...
In the spacious hall, the main seat was still occupied high and mighty by Ye Ao. Next in line, however, were not the three elders but Ye Chen, followed by Xia Wei. Only then did the three elders sit further down.
However, the three elders harbored no complaints whatsoever. Moreover, this seating was specially arranged for Ye Chen. Ever since witnessing Ye Chen's awe-inspiring strength, even if they had any remaining resistance, their gazes towards Ye Chen held much more reverence, even surpassing that for the family head, Ye Ao.
Ye Chen's return brought great joy to his parents, Ye Ao and Xia Wei. Ye Ao still had to maintain the family head's dignity, but Xia Wei pulled Ye Chen over, constantly looking him up and down, worried that he might have suffered any injuries. "Chen'er, you were struck by that Martial God earlier. Are you alright?"
Ye Chen shook his head with a smile. The golden blood energy within his body rumbled like a raging flood. That minor injury had long since healed on its own, without needing the Divine King Rebirth Art.
However, his parents had been baptized by him using the Divine King Rebirth Art, cleansing their tendons and marrow, making their entire bodies pure and free of impurities, driving away all ailments. Xia Wei even appeared much younger and more beautiful, exuding even more charm and allure.
Ye Ao was already close to the Martial God realm. After this baptism, he even felt as if he could break through to the Martial God realm at any time.
This was the heaven-defying aspect of the Divine King Rebirth Art, a supreme divine technique. Otherwise, how could ordinary divine abilities and spells have such astonishing effects? But the cost was the consumption of Ye Chen's origin power.
Only when Ye Chen truly became powerful could this kind of consumption be truly ignored.
After a while, when all the important figures of the family had arrived, the scene suddenly fell silent. Everyone swiveled their gazes towards Ye Chen.
Clearly, the protagonist at this moment was Ye Chen.
Ye Chen laughed: "Why are you all looking at me? Don't you recognize me anymore?"
"It's not that we don't recognize Young Master Ye Chen. It's just that after not seeing you for a year, many changes have occurred." The Great Elder looked at Ye Chen with a complex expression tinged with reverence. This family elder, who once looked down upon Ye Chen from a lofty position, now even used a respectful form of address.
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—do not bully the youth for his poverty.
This adage was absolutely true.
Ye Chen nodded: "The family has grown larger, expanded even better. I'm afraid the royal family's assistance played no small part."
The Second Elder immediately said: "Actually, it's mostly thanks to your reputation, Young Master, that the royal family was willing to vigorously support our Ye family. Not only do we govern the Ye family, but we even govern over a dozen towns in the northwestern region of the kingdom. This is far more impressive than even the most prosperous era of our ancestors."
Many clansmen sighed with emotion. In the past, the Ye family was considered powerful, but it only governed a mere Luo Feng City, and even then, it shared prominence with the Xia and Yang families.
But now, in a transformation, it had become the ruling family of over ten towns, worthy of being called a behemoth within the Xia Feng Kingdom, making the other two families only able to look up in admiration.
However, everyone clearly understood that all of this was because of Ye Chen. Without him, the Ye family would still be just a small city-ruling family in Luo Feng City.
"Young Master Ye Chen, have you truly become a Martial God?"
A steward cautiously inquired. This was not just his doubt but the doubt in the hearts of all clansmen. Although they had just witnessed Ye Chen treading the void, it was too unbelievable, and they still hadn't fully processed it.
"Martial God?" Ye Chen chuckled lightly. "You could say I am, and you could say I'm not. But I am stronger than ordinary Martial Gods."
These words were puzzling, ambiguous, leaving people scratching their heads.
But they all understood that even if Ye Chen wasn't a Martial God, he could still kill true Martial Gods. Today was the best demonstration of his strength.
Ye Chen's return was naturally a joyous event. The family held a grand banquet, setting up a full hundred tables. All clansmen, servants, and maids drank and ate to their heart' content, vowing not to return until drunk, staying up all night without sleep.
Some high-ranking elders invited Ye Chen to talk about what had happened after he left. Each time he spoke, it elicited exclamations of amazement, sighing at the legend.
At the edge of the hall was the seating area for the younger generation. There was a lonely figure there—it was Ye Zhengyang.
In the past, he was the number one among the Ye family's younger generation, having stepped into the Xiantian realm as early as twenty years old. His future was considered limitless, with the potential to break through to the Martial God realm. Throughout this year, he had also been cultivating diligently, striving to defeat Ye Chen as soon as possible.
But a year had passed. Looking back now, everything from the past had long since become fleeting smoke.
He had struggled to reach the second level of Xiantian, while the other party had ascended to the legendary realm of Martial God. Even in the entire thousand-year history of the Ye family, only a handful of ancestors had reached this step.
And someone as young as Ye Chen was the first.
That youth he once could look down upon had now grown to a point where he had to look up to him.
Sighing over past events.
After finishing a cup of wine, Ye Zhengyang resolutely left the banquet. His figure was lonely yet firm, no longer possessing the arrogance of the past. From this day on, he would abandon everything and engage in arduous cultivation.