Everyone was horrified, especially the numerous bandits who were utterly terrified.
This divine spear was the supreme weapon of a peerless great figure from the depths of the Black Sky Plains. Throughout history, it had slain gods when encountering gods, slaughtered buddhas when encountering buddhas, having pierced and killed countless powerful experts, stained with the blood of innumerable people—a Dao weapon forged through bloodshed.
Among the hundred cities near the Black Sky Plains, three powerful city lords had been pierced through and slain by this divine spear.
It could be said to be a supreme demonic weapon, renowned throughout the Black Sky Plains. Apart from Overlord-level figures like the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky, nothing had ever been able to stop it.
Yet now it had shattered, broken by a young man who forcibly snapped it into five segments, which transformed into five meteors that bombarded this desolate plain, successively shattering distant stretches of mountainous wilderness.
This scene was astonishing. If word spread, it would shake the entire Black Sky Plains, causing an immense uproar.
And the young man who had struck was like a deity, every inch of his body shimmering with divine radiance, reigning supreme over the world, peerless and invincible.
The divine spear shattered and was destroyed. From within, a ball of divine light shot forth, vaguely taking human form in the void, radiating boundless pressure as it looked at Ye Chen, saying, "You have truly immense gall, daring to break my God-Slaying Spear. In other places I dare not say, but within these Black Sky Plains, you will have nowhere to flee. All bandits will hunt you down."
Whoosh—
Ye Chen charged forward, a supreme divine fist descending like an immortal heavenly millstone pressing down. That human-shaped divine light shattered inch by inch, ceasing to exist, leaving only his cold voice resonating between heaven and earth: "What in this world is there for me to fear? If one dares come, I'll kill one; if a pair dares come, I'll kill the pair."
Then his entire being underwent a transformation. His jet-black long hair turned blood-red, his face becoming even more cold and ruthless. His icy gaze swept over the many bandits as he coldly declared, "Remember my name—Scarlet Scale King!"
Boom—
He brandished the Heavenly God Spear, vast sheets of lightning bursting forth and flashing out, killing one bandit after another. All were struck into charred corpses by the lightning, with only a few survivors left to spread the news, fleeing as fast as they could upon receiving the information.
"All of you, leave," Ye Chen said before taking off into the sky with Chen Ruo. It was only after a long while that they reacted, deeply burying all of this in their hearts, unable to speak of it.
Only after traveling a full hundred miles away did Ye Chen finally revert to his original appearance. This had merely been a minor dao technique temporarily altering his appearance to that of Scarlet Scale King.
Naturally, such a minor dao technique likely wouldn't deceive the spear's owner, which was why he had employed it only after shattering that strand of divine sense, to mislead these bandits.
Chen Ruo blinked her bright eyes, unable to resist saying, "Ye Chen, I never expected you to be so wicked, actually framing someone else and pinning all this on that red-haired freak. If he finds out, he'll definitely kill you."
"Let him try. Isn't he already chasing us now? He's probably reached the Black Sky Plains by now. Let's create some trouble for him first, make his pursuit not so easy," Ye Chen said. "Besides, if others don't provoke me, I won't provoke them. This works out perfectly—we'll use his name during this period to sweep through the bandit dens of the Black Sky Plains, turning everything upside down, making the sky of the Black Sky Plains even more severe."
Chen Ruo immediately assumed an eager expression: "Well said! Let's turn everything upside down together. How about we raid one of the dens of the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky and steal everything? What do you think?"
"Cut it out. You really dare think of anything. If we actually did that, we'd be staying in the Black Sky Plains forever, never coming out."
Ye Chen knew this girl was completely the type to relish chaos. He flicked her forehead with his finger—no matter how she tried to dodge, she couldn't—and she covered her reddened forehead with a soft huff: "Bastard, always flicking my forehead. If you want to flick, flick your own forehead. What's so great about bullying a girl?"
"Sorry, force of habit," Ye Chen said with a straight face.
"..."
Meanwhile, deep within the Black Sky Plains, amidst a majestic range of black mountains—a major stronghold of bandits where thousands lived, having essentially transformed into a mountain city built against the slopes—a roar of fury erupted this day, shaking heaven and earth, causing the winds and clouds to change color. Many bandits looked in shock toward the magnificent hall atop the highest black mountain peak, from where the roar originated. There resided a famous great bandit of the Black Sky Plains—Black Mountain Lord. Not one of the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky, but still renowned, second only to those eight figures.
All the bandits were astonished, unclear why Black Mountain Lord was roaring so.
Within the hall, the middle-aged burly man Black Mountain Lord—with three fierce scars on his face—sat upon a high throne, his eyes flashing with cold light as he said icily, "Scarlet Scale King? The Young King born of this generation of Scarlet God Valley. If outside the Black Sky Plains, this lord might not be able to do anything to you. But within the Black Sky Plains, not even an Immortal Sacred Land can protect you. Since you dare enter the Black Sky Plains, remain here forever."
"Attendants!"
Immediately someone stepped forward, bowing respectfully: "Greetings, Lord. What are your orders?"
Black Mountain Lord declared: "Issue a Black Warrant bounty—hunt down Scarlet Scale King!"
The person in the hall paled. Within the Black Sky Plains, there were also bounties, categorized into Yellow Warrants, Blood Warrants, and Black Warrants. The Black Warrant was the highest level, with a minimum bounty of five hundred thousand jin of spirit stones. Once issued, it would drive the entire Black Sky Plains into frenzy.
However, Black Warrants hadn't been seen for many years—often decades or even a century would pass without one being issued. Yet recently, they had been issued twice in succession. The first was a few days ago when the most beloved grandson of one of the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky had been severely injured.
The second was now personally issued by Black Mountain Lord. It could be foreseen that the Black Sky Plains would completely change. Five hundred thousand jin of spirit stones was an astronomical price that would drive all bandits into madness.
In fact, even before the Black Warrant was fully promulgated, Ye Chen had already stirred up a fearsome storm across the Black Sky Plains.
Transformed into Scarlet Scale King, he wielded the supreme combat power of a King to successively destroy a full thirty-nine bandit dens across the Black Sky Plains, slaughtering over a thousand bandits, carving out a formidable reputation that shook the entire region.
For so many years, no one had ever dared act so brazenly within the Black Sky Plains—this was clearly opposing the entire Black Sky Plains.
Moreover, the Scarlet Scale King that Ye Chen had transformed into fearlessly announced to all bandits of the Black Sky Plains that he was the one who had severely injured that great bandit's most beloved grandson, disdainfully declaring him utterly worthless, triggering a great tempest across the Black Sky Plains.
Simultaneously, the Black Warrant bounty was issued, and the entire Black Sky Plains learned of it, plunging into frenzy as they hunted Scarlet Scale King everywhere under heaven.
Only by this time, Ye Chen had already gone into hiding.
Meanwhile, on another front, Scarlet Scale King, leading the experts of Scarlet God Valley, formally entered the Black Sky Plains. He remained unaware of the great storm targeting him that had erupted across the Black Sky Plains.