"Be careful. The current Taichu Emperor is frighteningly sinister, but I suspect he's likely forcibly burning his potential to maintain himself at that threshold state just before becoming a Supreme One. It shouldn't last long. Once it's over, he'll fall, perhaps even permanently below the Monarch realm, never able to prove his Dao as a Supreme One in this lifetime."
A Monarch clad in crimson battle armor, with a scaled, ferocious tail extending from beneath his war skirt, spoke, analyzing Taichu Emperor's current condition.
The other Monarchs agreed, feeling this was almost certainly the case. Taichu Emperor was merely putting on a false show of strength. He couldn't possibly still possess peak combat power, having been forcibly knocked down from the critical moment by them.
Surviving such a state was the greatest fortune; how could he possibly be powerful enough to rival a Supreme One?
Everyone else thought the same. Otherwise, a Taichu Emperor like this, while not a Supreme One, wouldn't be far from one—terrifyingly excessive. How could they, as Monarchs, accept that?
"Is that so?"
Taichu Emperor chuckled lightly, yet his eyes erupted with an extreme chill capable of freezing all the heavens and myriad realms.
Where his gaze fell, the seven Monarchs felt a chill run down their spines, their courage turning cold, not daring to meet his eyes directly.
"I refuse to believe you're stronger than us now! It's just a bluff!"
A particularly burly Monarch snorted coldly. His entire being was like a towering, majestic small mountain, his voice clanging like metal striking stone.
He was named Hunyue Emperor. His true form was an Innate Divine Mountain from the Chaos Sea, nurtured by the Chaos Sea for billions of years before finally gaining sentience.
In a sense, Hunyue Emperor could absolutely be considered a Chaos Saint Spirit, though not a flesh-and-blood being. His potential was terrifying; otherwise, he could never have achieved the Monarch realm.
A Chaos Innate Divine Mountain, nurtured for billions of years, formed by absorbing endless ancient chaos energy—its very substance was enough to serve as peerless divine material for forging supreme Dao weapons. Now transformed into human form and having cultivated to achieve the Dao, he was unbelievably powerful.
Every inch of his body was genuine Chaos Divine Stone, and the essence of Chaos Divine Stone at that—absurdly strong. Among Monarchs, he could even clash bare-handed against Monarch Battle Soldiers. His physical body was a fearsome battle physique that could rival Monarch Battle Soldiers.
Hunyue Emperor needed no Dao weapon; he himself was the strongest Monarch Dao weapon. Taking a great stride forward, the entire vast firmament trembled, unable to bear his presence, directly disintegrating.
With a thunderous boom, he swung his millstone-sized fist. The essence of Chaos Divine Stone condensed upon this fist, not to mention endless Sovereign rules and faint threads of Supreme Emperor's might contained within. A single punch from it could absolutely blast apart a peak Sovereign. Few among Monarchs dared to face this fist head-on.
The other six Monarchs also admitted that facing this fist, even wielding a Monarch Battle Soldier, they would likely be sent flying with their hands torn open. They deeply understood how terrifying Hunyue Emperor's fist was.
Taichu Emperor's expression remained unchanged. He said lightly, "A fist?"
He, too, would swing his crystal-jade-like fist—slender, fair, and flawless—directly meeting Hunyue Emperor's immortal stone fist.
"Seeking death!"
Hunyue Emperor sneered. Once his fist was unleashed, it was invincible among Monarchs. In the past, only that person could clash with him on the path of physical cultivation and suppress him.
Apart from that person from back then, even facing an Emperor's Son-level Monarch, he had never feared, sweeping them aside with a single punch.
Boom—
It was like the collision of two Emperor stars. A terrifying explosion manifested, shaking heaven and earth, annihilating all directions, unbelievably fearsome.
This was the physical battle physique collision of two Monarchs, akin to a great collision of Monarch-level Dao weapons. Dreadful radiance shot into the sky, tearing open the world barrier of the Saint Prison Domain battlefield.
In the great collision, Taichu Emperor's figure did not move, standing firm there. No matter how terrifying the annihilating divine radiance was, it could not touch him.
Moreover, his fist remained fair as jade, without a single wound.
In contrast, Hunyue Emperor's figure retreated several steps, each step spanning a hundred thousand li.
Hunyue Emperor's eyes blazed with divine light, staring at Taichu Emperor in shock. The other could clash with him in close combat without losing, even slightly gaining the upper hand. It was simply unbelievable.
Apart from that person achieving this at the same level back then, even some who later proved their Dao as Supreme Ones had never done so at the same level.
"You do have some skill. But I don't believe you can be like that person from back then. In physical clashes at the same level, I, Hunyue, am invincible!"
Hunyue Emperor snorted coldly, stepping forward again, swinging his stone fists in continuous attacks like thunderclaps exploding, the rumbling sounds unceasing.
Taichu Emperor swung his fists in retaliation.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom—
In the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged over a dozen punches.
With the final punch, Taichu Emperor remained unmoving as a mountain, while Hunyue Emperor's figure was sent flying back. His fist, comparable to a Monarch Battle Soldier, split open, silver blood flowing forth.
This silver blood was extremely precious Monarch blood. Especially for Hunyue Emperor, transformed from a Chaos Innate Divine Mountain, this so-called Monarch blood was actually the true essence of the Chaos Innate Divine Mountain. Every drop was exceedingly precious. Now splattered, his aura diminished somewhat.
Everyone stared at Taichu Emperor in shock. Hunyue Emperor, transformed from a Chaos Innate Divine Mountain, possessed a peerless physical body, with few among Monarchs capable of resisting him. Yet now, he was actually suppressed by Taichu Emperor, injured by him. It was simply unbelievable.
Shouldn't Taichu Emperor have been the one to bleed?
Hunyue Emperor himself couldn't believe it, looking at his split-open fist, at the splattering silver blood, deeply shaken, still somewhat dazed, muttering to himself, "Impossible, this is impossible—"
His physical body could be called invincible among Monarchs. Who could break it? In the past, only that person had managed it.
Outside the Saint Prison Domain battlefield, the various Supreme Ones overlooking this place had changes in their gazes, watching all this with some surprise.
At this point, the peerless combat power displayed by Taichu Emperor made even Supreme Ones show astonishment.
Deep within the Origin Ancient Path, a Supreme One said solemnly, "What a fearsome physical body. Hunyue Emperor is transformed from a Chaos Innate Divine Mountain, his divine body supremely strong, not inferior to Monarch Dao weapons, even surpassing them. Few among Monarchs can truly injure him. Yet now, Taichu Emperor injured him with a single punch. Could it be that Taichu Emperor did not fall, but truly ascended to become a Supreme One?"
Only this reasoning fit common sense. Without becoming a Supreme One, few in this world could injure Hunyue Emperor, make him bleed, let alone injure him with a single punch.
But Taichu Emperor had clearly failed in proving his Dao. Everyone had seen it; the Supreme Ones had personally observed it. There could be no mistake.
The most direct reason was that Taichu Emperor had not condensed a complete Supreme Dao Fruit. Otherwise, once successfully condensed, it would never have escaped the eyes of the myriad heavens' Supreme Ones.