It was a majestic middle-aged man, appearing very dignified, clad in a flying dragon brocade robe, striding forward. He carried an aura of nobility about him—a powerful bloodline expert from the imperial family.
Within a few breaths, this powerful peak Martial God arrived from the distance, instantly entering the Eighteen Star Yuan Grand Formation. His formidable pressure assailed their faces, causing the void to tremble as if about to shatter. His gaze, solidified into a tangible force, fixed upon Ye Chen as he spoke indifferently, "Junior, you are about to die. Remember this prince's title—Prince Stone Sword!"
Prince Stone Sword, a powerful prince of the Tianqi Empire, a peak Martial God who had ascended to the ninth heaven, a super expert only a step away from becoming a Heavenly God, had now appeared.
He was one of the few fearsome figures below the Heavenly God realm. Many experts from afar, drawn by the commotion to observe the battle, all had their expressions change slightly upon seeing his appearance. They hadn't expected the Tianqi Empire to dispatch such a terrifying figure as Prince Stone Sword.
Even though Ye Chen had the record of slaying super Martial Gods, a peak Martial God was stronger than a super Martial God, possessing faint traces of Heavenly God majesty, making them more than twice as powerful. They absolutely had the ability to crush Ye Chen.
Ye Chen's expression clearly shifted slightly. He hadn't expected to attract the pursuit of a peak Martial God-level figure so quickly. He was in danger.
Boom—
Prince Stone Sword made his move, drawing a broad stone sword and slashing out directly. Dao might erupted, cleaving towards Ye Chen.
Ye Chen didn't dare be the slightest bit careless. Sensing the danger upon him, he immediately performed a lateral shift. The void where he had originally stood was directly twisted and torn apart by this sword strike, nearly shattered.
Shattering the void—that was a fearsome ability possessed only by Heavenly Gods. However, Prince Stone Sword was nearly stepping into that domain, possessing faint traces of Heavenly God Dao might, thus also having a portion of divine majesty.
Ye Chen naturally didn't dare to confront him head-on. Even if he pushed himself to the limit, it would be impossible—the gap in realm was too large.
The only thing he could rely on was his extreme speed. He stepped with the Reverse Void Eight Steps, taking seven consecutive steps. His figure was like a golden lightning bolt crisscrossing between heaven and earth, dodging all of Prince Stone Sword's attacks.
Swish—
Ye Chen took the initiative to attack. His speed reached the extreme. The Heavenly God Spear danced in his hands as he thrust it out, aiming at the vital point between Prince Stone Sword's eyebrows. Thunder flashed and intertwined, and a wisp of Heavenly God Dao marks erupted, tearing through the void.
This was a fatal strike. Even a ninth-heaven peak Martial God, if struck, would be doomed to only death and the dissipation of their Dao.
However, peak Martial Gods were terrifying. Sensing it, Prince Stone Sword snorted coldly. His stone sword was also a Heavenly God Dao Weapon. He directly swept it out horizontally. With a clang, they collided. Divine light blazed brilliantly, and the void exploded and shattered.
Ye Chen's figure shook, nearly coughing up blood. Although he feared nothing in close-quarters combat, his opponent possessed a vast, ocean-like amount of magical power, empowering and reviving the Heavenly God Dao Weapon to a degree that even he found difficult to withstand. The tiger's mouth of his hand split open with a wound, from which brilliant blood flowed.
Yet, what made Prince Stone Sword even more astonished was that after enduring such a strike, Ye Chen had only suffered superficial injuries, almost on par with him. This caused many onlookers to be greatly surprised. Could it be that this young great demon king had grown stronger again, capable of contending with a peak Martial God?
Ye Chen, wielding the Heavenly God Spear, continuously thrust out spear after spear. The spear radiance was like streams of star rivers spanning the sky, pressing down on Prince Stone Sword in close quarters. The voice of the young demon king rang out, "I said before, in close combat, I fear no one."
This was a close-quarters battle. How could Ye Chen be afraid? The Heavenly God Spear and the stone sword continuously collided, clanging and scraping against each other, producing clusters of brilliant sparks as the void tore and twisted.
This series of close-quarters battles also made Ye Chen feel the fearsomeness of a peak Martial God. Truly worthy of being a super expert of the ninth heaven—each heaven was a world apart. As strong as his Human Yuan Golden Body was, under the Battle God Seal, at least half of his blood had transformed into true blood, making his treasure body peerless. At the very least, within the Martial God realm, he could look down upon anyone. Even if a Heavenly God came, their treasure body might not be much stronger than his.
But even so, during the battle, Ye Chen felt his entire body's muscles and skin on the verge of splitting. Although his opponent's body was inferior to his own, their magical power was boundless and immensely powerful. Moreover, they could revive the Heavenly God Dao Weapon to a much greater extent, almost able to revive more than half of it, far surpassing the small portion he could muster.
For this reason, even in his most proficient close-quarters combat, Ye Chen was still at a disadvantage. Of course, it wasn't that Ye Chen wasn't strong enough, but rather that the revival of his Heavenly God Dao Weapon was inferior to his opponent's. If they fought bare-handed, in close combat, Ye Chen wouldn't necessarily completely dominate Prince Stone Sword, but at the very least, he wouldn't be in such a state—he could fight to a draw.
On the other hand, Prince Stone Sword grew more and more alarmed the longer they fought. Was this youth not too astonishing? Had he really grown strong to this extent?
Relying on close combat, he could almost fight him to a standstill. Even if an Ancient Talent from ancient times came, it wouldn't be possible. This youth was simply outrageously strong.
"Your Highness, this youth is exceptionally powerful in close combat, with an unprecedentedly strong treasure body. But as long as we create distance and attack from afar, we can suppress him," an imperial guard captain relayed Ye Chen's weakness to Prince Stone Sword.
"So that's how it is." Prince Stone Sword understood. Immediately, he slashed out with his stone sword, repelling Ye Chen, then quickly retreated, creating distance. Following that, an ocean-like amount of magical power surged forth, stirring up the sky.
A brilliant expanse of radiant light flew out, dotted with points of light rain. Each point of light was like a star, resembling a meteor shower scattering forth, all bombarding Ye Chen.
Ye Chen's expression changed immediately, sensing a fearsome crisis. After all, he was only relying on the Battle God Seal to push himself to the limit, enabling him to battle and even overpower super Martial Gods. But there was still a huge gap between him and a peak Martial God—a gap that couldn't be shortened simply by relying on enhancement secret techniques.
"What a pity. If my Human Yuan Golden Body had reached perfection or my Sacred Body had revived, condensing the Battle Sacred Body, I would fear none of this," Ye Chen sighed softly. The time since his awakening was ultimately still too short; too much of his strength hadn't had the chance to manifest alongside it.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have come to this.
One must know that back when he first condensed the Battle Sacred Body, let alone a peak Martial God, even if a Heavenly God came, they would only face the situation of being suppressed and slain with a mere lift of his hand.
The title of Supreme One wasn't just empty words.
Ye Chen let out a long roar. A brilliant column of light shot up from the crown of his head, spraying forth radiant splendor like a divine light dragon coiling. At this moment, he mobilized all his magical power. One supreme divine technique after another—the Sun Seal, the Great Dao Treasure Vessel Seal, the Sacred Lotus Seal, the Five Elements Golden Realm, the Spirit Rhinoceros Sword Finger—exploded forth, colliding with Prince Stone Sword's light rain and annihilating into nothingness.
That area experienced a fearsome great explosion. If not for the eighteen Martial Gods forming the grand formation to seal the void, a large swath of the Southern Region would have been flattened.
Under the protection of Prince Stone Sword's revived stone sword's divine majesty, the group of Martial Gods from the Tianqi Empire didn't suffer much damage.
But Ye Chen suffered a fearsome heavy injury. His entire body was covered in blood—golden blood and bright red blood. Many fearsome wounds appeared on his body, with several even piercing through from front to back. For even the mighty Human Yuan Golden Body to end up like this, one could imagine how terrifying this strike was.
Ye Chen coughed up large mouthfuls of blood. Truly worthy of a peak Martial God. Reviving a Heavenly God Dao Weapon made him simply unmatched. Even after employing all his methods, he found it difficult to resist, instead ending up in such a miserable state.
Suddenly, all the hairs on Ye Chen's body stood on end. He felt a bone-chilling crisis and almost immediately performed a lateral shift. In the position where he had originally stood, Prince Stone Sword now stood imposingly. A stone sword cleaved through the void, wantonly radiating destructive might.
Too dangerous. If not for his perception of danger being exceptionally sharp compared to ordinary people, being struck by this sword would have either killed him or stripped him of a layer of skin.
But at this moment, a barrage of Martial God light slashed down. It was the four imperial guard captains leading the other Martial Gods in launching attacks against Ye Chen, specifically striking when he was injured to assist Prince Stone Sword.
Puff puff puff—
Although Ye Chen immediately shifted away, he was still struck by several beams of Martial God light, landing on his wounded body and exploding into several miserable, dazzling blood flowers.
Ye Chen's injuries grew heavier, his face pale as paper.
"Hahaha, Ye Chen, you also have a day like this."
The Martial Gods laughed heartily, feeling relieved. For days, their pursuit of Ye Chen had been unsuccessful. Instead, they had lost numerous Martial Gods, even super Martial Gods, news that had spread throughout the world, leaving the Tianqi Empire holding its breath in frustration. Now, they had finally forced Ye Chen into such a sorry state. How could they not be happy?
Ye Chen's face was pale, but he couldn't adjust or heal his injuries because Prince Stone Sword, as the main attacker, continuously assaulted him, forcing him to only dodge. The other Martial Gods constantly attacked as well. Although they couldn't cause substantial harm, they prevented him from healing.
The super Martial God imperial guard captains' attacks made blood flowers bloom one after another on him, making his state even more miserable.
What's more, the Primordial Spirit light within his brow began to show signs of dimming. That was him about to exit the profound state of the Battle God realm, which would completely plunge him into a weakened state.
"Attack quickly! This kid is about to exit his secret technique state. He'll be very weak and pay the corresponding price. Don't let him escape!"
An imperial guard captain shouted loudly, leading the other Martial Gods in their assault.
Ye Chen passively met their attacks. The blood flowers splashing from his body came one after another, appearing even more miserably eye-catching.
His injuries grew heavier. Blood flowed unceasingly. His chest and back bore fearsome wounds. Now, he basically just used various divine techniques upon himself for passive protection.
In the distance, many experts were drawn by the fluctuations of the battle. Learning the identities of the combatants and seeing this scene, many cultivators shook their heads and sighed secretly. A generation's young talent was ultimately outnumbered and about to fall like a meteor, shining with a moment of brilliant radiance before perishing.
This made many feel a sense of regret.
Almost everyone could sense the immense potential within the youth Ye Chen. He might even be more fearsome than the four Ancient Talents. But now, he was about to perish. It was somewhat of a pity. Otherwise, in the future, he might have become another Supreme Divine Spirit, capable of contributing to the Slaying the Heavens war.