Blood blossomed in the air, yet it did not come from the mysterious king who had ascended from beneath the Stone Gate, but from the Flame Dragon King, Pang Xia.
Many were shocked. The Flame Dragon King hailed from the demon race, a demon king of the Candle Dragon lineage. He possessed a relatively pure Candle Dragon bloodline, showing signs of ancestral reversion. Moreover, the demon race's physical bodies were innately powerful, and few among his generation of kings could rival him. Yet, he had been bested.
This mysterious king was truly formidable, capable of injuring the Flame Dragon King.
The Flame Dragon King was naturally astonished. He had never imagined that someone of his generation could harm his fist in close-quarters combat. This was the first time since his debut that he had encountered such a foe. This mysterious king from the Stone Gate was far more extraordinary than imagined.
King Hao and the other young kings were clearly wary as well. If even the Flame Dragon King was injured, it proved the opponent's king-level combat prowess.
Standing upon the bluestone staircase between the seventh and eighth Trial Gates, Ye Chen, enveloped in nine divine halos, appeared increasingly transcendent and saintly. A hazy divine radiance spread and diffused, submerging everything.
Within it, every strand of Ye Chen's hair shimmered with divine light. He was an exceptionally divine peerless king, striding up the steps. The Great Dao shackles upon him clattered loudly, yet they could not truly restrain his movements.
"You are strong. Although you managed to injure me, it is nothing. If you couldn't even make me bleed, you wouldn't be a true king," the Flame Dragon King said in a low voice. His physical body was powerful, but if a king truly exerted their full strength, making him bleed was possible. Therefore, this did not necessarily prove he was inferior to Ye Chen.
"Your physical strength is quite decent. Among the younger generation here, aside from me, you are the strongest. A pity it's still somewhat lacking."
Ye Chen shook his head, evaluating the Flame Dragon King in a tone more akin to a senior commenting on a junior.
This tone astonished many and greatly angered the Flame Dragon King. With a cold snort, he attacked again. His entire body transformed into a fiery form, with streams of divine flame so scorching they could burn through the void erupting from him. The entire area instantly grew many times hotter.
The Great Dao shackles upon him turned bright red, as if they might melt into molten iron at any moment.
"This is... the Flame Dragon Body!"
Many exclaimed. This was one of the Flame Dragon King's lethal techniques. His entire body glowed with crimson radiance, his bronze-like physique bursting forth with blazing blood-red light, burning furiously. Boundless crimson divine flame poured down, inundating the entire bluestone staircase, incinerating everything.
At this moment, the Flame Dragon King's aura surged dramatically, becoming far more powerful than before. He charged at Ye Chen, unleashing a divine technique. A mountain of flame flew out, then exploded, spewing magma in reverse. Everything seemed destined to turn to ash.
"Freeze All Things!"
Ye Chen uttered a light cry. Who was he? Not just in this life, but in his previous life, he had experienced countless battles—so many he himself had lost count. He had survived certain-death predicaments. The current situation was hardly worth mentioning, causing him neither alarm nor fear, only a calmness that chilled the heart.
Now, he opened his mouth and spat out a cluster of pale, eerie cold fire. This was the Iceflame Dao he had comprehended from the trial world, belonging to the Iceflame Heavenly King, Xia Zhidi.
At his current level of cultivation, he could naturally unleash the power of iceflame many times over. Though it was merely a cluster of flame, unnervingly pale, it now radiated an unprecedented chill. Waves of fire were frozen solid into ice, unable to approach.
The blazing magma rapidly solidified into rock.
"What a strange flame. Clearly fire, yet colder than profound ice, reminiscent of the Frost Heaven Iceflame of that peerless Heavenly King from ten thousand years ago," sighed several distinguished figures in the distance who had been observing all along.
The Flame Dragon King's expression clearly changed as well, but the great fire surged on, his attacks relentless. He even drew out two flame divine hammers, shaped like dragon heads, covered in crimson scales, with purple divine fire blazing upon them, and struck at Ye Chen.
Ye Chen activated his nine divine halos, as if opening nine heavens to envelop himself. Divine radiance flowed, shielding his form, imbuing him with an aura of transcendence where all laws failed to touch him. Now, he took the initiative to engage in close combat. Various divine techniques in his hands erupted with world-shaking power, blasting apart the entire bluestone staircase. The rolling waves of fire were forcibly shattered, causing heaven and earth to tremble.
Mountain Embracing Seal!
His hands embraced emptiness, and a colossal mountain, a thousand zhang tall, piercing the clouds and reaching the sky, was conjured. The eighth Trial Gate paled in comparison. Ye Chen hurled it forth, crashing down upon the Flame Dragon King.
"Petty tricks!"
The Flame Dragon King snorted disdainfully, opening his mouth to spit out a massive thousand-zhang-long flame dragon that soared into the sky. It coiled around the mountain, its intense flames incinerating everything, directly shattering the mountain and annihilating it all.
Yet, Ye Chen formed the Spirit Rhinoceros Sword Finger, unleashing a terrifying circle of destruction. Wherever it passed, everything was directly annihilated and pulverized, ceasing to exist. The thousand-zhang flame dragon vanished into nothingness.
The two young kings fought fiercely all the way, shaking the entire bluestone staircase. Destructive fluctuations spread out. Aside from the few young kings, no one dared to approach.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of terrifying clashes ensued, affecting a wide area. The void was repeatedly shattered, and the Great Dao shackles clattered loudly, as if on the verge of being completely broken by the two.
Undoubtedly, this was a spectacular battle between kings, rare throughout the ages, the kind only truly seen during the Human Sovereign competition.
Every collision between the two could collapse the void and annihilate everything. Even a Divine Transformation Realm expert coming here would only meet death. This was the true, terrifying manifestation of king-level combat power.
The Flame Dragon King's Flame Dragon Battle Body was truly terrifying. Divine flames rolled and burned, causing the surrounding void to collapse from the heat. It contained unparalleled fiery power; each punch and kick could pierce through and tear the void, unstoppable.
Unless one stood among the super-powerful who reigned supreme in the Divine Transformation Realm above the fifth heaven, experts below that level would likely be unable to block it, their bodies pierced through.
For this was a young king—too powerful, having cultivated nearly every aspect to its peak, comprehending extraordinary Daos. The power they unleashed was naturally utterly terrifying, reaching a level where they could slay Divine Transformation Realm experts.
But the mysterious king was equally terrifying. The nine divine halos enveloping him resembled the invincible divine art cultivated by that Immortal True King, the Yuan Yao Divine King, manifesting here. Operating within this realm, with divine rings shielding his body, he was impervious to all laws and evils, possessing an invincible aura. Divine radiance flowed, submerging him. Even the Flame Dragon King's Flame Dragon Battle Body could not breach this youth's defense.
The other young kings watched closely, especially focusing on the mysterious king. This was a formidable, peerless enemy. They all sought to find his flaw, to break through his flawless nine-ring divine defense.
The distinguished figures also watched intently, hoping to discern from this who this youth truly was and which force he hailed from. A young king could not suddenly appear out of nowhere; he must have an extraordinary origin and background.
However, as time passed, the truly powerful experts' pupils contracted, for at this moment, the immensely powerful Flame Dragon King was actually somewhat at a disadvantage.
Boom!
A terrifying explosion rang out, divine light blazing brilliantly. Fresh blood splattered across the bluestone staircase, staining the steps red. But it was not Ye Chen's blood—it was the Flame Dragon King's.
The onlookers' pupils constricted. The mysterious king was too powerful. Even the formidable Flame Dragon Body was ineffective; he had been injured. A single punch from Ye Chen nearly shattered half his shoulder, blood spraying out, burning like flame.
The Flame Dragon King's tall, burly figure staggered back, blood occasionally splattering, dyeing the bluestone staircase red. He looked at Ye Chen with a grim expression, for in the midst of battle, he was actually at a disadvantage—an ominous sign proving Ye Chen was even stronger than him.
Indeed, at the very least, Ye Chen's physical strength surpassed his. In every direct collision, his proud Flame Dragon Battle Body proved ineffective. More importantly, his colliding fists ached terribly, as if about to explode.
The opponent's body was powerful, even more so than his own Flame Dragon Battle Body.
Ye Chen stood like an Immortal True King, the nine divine halos layering upon him one after another, as if multiple great worlds overlapped upon his form. He displayed supreme, invincible divine might, impervious to all laws and evils, pushing forward irresistibly.
Great Dao Treasure Vessel Seal!
Ye Chen swiftly executed this peerless divine ability. A Great Dao Treasure Vase rapidly took shape, crystalline and translucent, its entire body shimmering with brilliant, radiant light. It seemed as if mysterious Dao marks had condensed and solidified upon it, flashing with immortal divine radiance.
The moment this divine ability appeared, it caused the expressions of many powerful figures to change. Clearly, the Great Dao Treasure Vessel Seal was world-shaking no matter where it appeared.
Boom!
A beam of immortal immortal light bloomed, piercing through layers of fiery seas and striking the Flame Dragon King, exploding completely. Light of destruction inundated all directions, unstoppable.
The young powerhouses at the eighth Trial Gate immediately retreated, not daring to be touched by even a trace, fearing annihilation.
They deeply understood the destructive nature of this divine light.
Even the other young kings paled, though they did not retreat. Powerful as they were, they could handle it, each unleashing a screen of Dao mark divine light to protect themselves.
As long as they were not the primary target, they could calmly face this.
The Flame Dragon King's entire body felt on the verge of splitting apart. Even his Flame Dragon Body was ineffective; he was beaten until covered in blood. This move was too astonishing; he was being suppressed and beaten.
"How dare you!"
Suddenly, at this moment, King Hao and the other kings, who had not yet acted, all changed expressions. Supreme kingly auras erupted, overwhelming the heavens and earth, all directed at Ye Chen, who was seizing this opportunity to charge forward. The void shattered instantly.
Faintly, it seemed a human body was seen being forcibly blasted apart, ceasing to exist.