The thirty-three-layered divine pagoda exploded, and Ye Chen's fearsome figure emerged from within, standing alone with a majestic bearing, his heroic grandeur overshadowing the world.
Ten layers of divine halo enveloped him, overflowing with immortal radiance, causing his body to glow with a divine aura. Even each strand of his hair was imbued with an immortal luster, like the lord of immortal emperors or the Human Sovereign revered by all races, supreme and unparalleled.
He was too overwhelmingly powerful. Even a super Divine Transformation Dao weapon forged from Saint Lord-grade divine materials could not truly trap him and was directly shattered.
Was this the manifestation of the Immortal True King's peerless combat power?
Such power was terrifying enough to make one's heart tremble.
Ye Chen descended upon the mortal realm, his entire body radiating a vast and oppressive might. Every movement contained immense Supreme One pressure, as if he could shatter heaven and earth, sever time and space with a casual gesture, omnipotent.
This feeling of invincibility reminded him of his previous life, the same supreme and unparalleled status. But for him, it was not yet truly complete; there was still a path to walk.
Because now, he had only taken half a step. He could still take the other half, completely transforming into the heaven-defying Supreme One of the Tenth Heaven.
That was his true goal.
The four Young Kings all changed color. Without time for shock, they glanced at each other, nodded, and swiftly closed in. Standing side by side, each unleashed their most terrifying kingly divine laws, attacking with overwhelming force that flooded the six directions and eight extremes, vowing to resist the invincible Great Demon King Yue.
Unfortunately, Ye Chen merely took a step, his entire body condensing into a golden meteor that shot forth like lightning, moving with a speed that was the ultimate in the mortal world. His figure was simply impossible to capture.
This world's ultimate speed instilled despair, even in the Young Kings. It was too fearsome; how could they resist?
The next moment, Ye Chen's god-and-demon-like figure descended, arriving before the Flame Dragon King. He collided with his Flame Dragon Battle Physique, causing the surrounding void to twist horrifically. From between his fingers and palm flowed crimson-gold Dao marks, condensing into a crimson-gold heavenly sword that streaked across the sky.
Pfft—
Blood sprayed. The Flame Dragon King's entire left arm was severed, the cut surface perfectly smooth. Even a powerful kingly divine physique like the Candle Dragon bloodline's Flame Dragon Body could not withstand this single sword strike.
This made everyone pale. The Flame Dragon King was severely wounded, his face pale as he rapidly retreated. Meanwhile, the other three mortal Young Kings—Bai Xueyi, Crown Prince Haotian, and Wu Yifan—stepped forward, taking action to cover the Flame Dragon King, attacking Ye Chen to buy time and prevent him from picking them off one by one.
Great Demon King Ye Chen's expression remained impassive. His left hand executed the Sun Seal, his right hand formed the Moon Seal, and the Human King Seal manifested upon him. He transformed into the common lord of humanity, revered by all under heaven, pushing the sun, moon, and stars as he advanced, sweeping aside all enemies, simultaneously confronting the three young Young Kings head-on.
That area completely exploded, becoming a vast expanse of surging, rampaging destructive power that swallowed everything. Vaguely, one could see Ye Chen engaging in a battle at the limit with the three Young Kings, Dao principles and divine power soaring to the heavens, the rumbling sound of thunder ceaseless.
Moments later, three kingly figures were blasted away. Ye Chen's black hair danced wildly as he strode forward with firm steps. This invincible divine bearing was simply impossible to resist; he was peerless and unrivaled.
The three Young Kings all suffered fearsome heavy wounds. Their figures were sent flying, blood spraying, their internal organs damaged. As they coughed blood, fragments of viscera came with it, showing just what kind of terrifying attack they had endured.
They were, after all, Young Kings. They quickly stabilized their figures and retreated, swallowing precious miraculous elixirs along the way to recover their injuries. The muscles, bones, and sinews within their bodies began to glow.
Visibly, the injuries on their bodies were rapidly recovering. Their entire bodies' blood energy was like a rainbow, their bones and sinews crackling and popping as they realigned.
As Young Kings, backed by major powers, how could they lack precious healing spiritual medicines?
Before long, they had mostly recovered.
"Reverse!"
Ye Chen suddenly shouted lightly. With a sweep of his hand, he unleashed a vast expanse of divine radiance, transforming into a curtain of light that enveloped the three Young Kings. A mysterious, bizarre power operated within.
The next moment, the three were horrified to discover that not only were their injuries not improving, they were instead continuously worsening. Their blood energy dissipated, and the bones and sinews within their bodies were continuously disintegrating and melting away. Their faces changed drastically.
This was the divine radiance of the Divine King Rebirth Art. However, this supreme healing method was unleashed by him in a reversed manner. What was originally a peerless healing divine technique that restored all injuries in an instant had its pros and cons reversed. Once reversed, it became one of the most fearsome life-ending great techniques, just as the three Young Kings were experiencing—a comprehensive deterioration.
This bizarre Dao technique was too terrifying.
Naturally, only someone like Ye Chen, with an extremely profound understanding of the Divine King Rebirth Art, could execute it.
"Quick, leave this light curtain!"
Crown Prince Haotian shouted loudly, startling the others. His entire body erupted with divine splendor, resisting the bizarre law power as he swiftly left the light curtain. Sure enough, the injuries on his body stopped worsening. After swallowing more miraculous elixirs, he quickly recovered, but his wariness towards Ye Chen grew even stronger.
Ye Chen watched all of this but did not continue to stop them, allowing them to recover on their own. Or perhaps he simply feared nothing at all—this was the embodiment of confidence born from possessing invincible strength.
"Candle Dragon, awaken!"
The Flame Dragon King roared. He had long since consumed a divine medicine to regenerate his body and regrow his arm. Now, he awakened the Candle Dragon bloodline within him. His blood energy rumbled like thunder, and a shocking dragon's roar resounded through the heavens.
Clearly visible, a fearsome Candle Dragon figure emerged within his body, ten thousand zhang long—the divine form of the ancient Candle Dragon. Its terrifying pressure enveloped the sky as it struck towards Ye Chen.
"Human King!"
Ye Chen's eyes shone like brilliant suns. From his entire body surged a majestic figure as tall as the heavens, supporting the sky and treading the earth—it was the Human King phantom, towering to the heavens, possessing boundless majesty, lofty and supreme.
But that face was unmistakably Ye Chen's own. He had actually transformed into the supreme Human King! He raised a hand to press down, like a hand of the Supreme Human Sovereign descending, capable of suppressing all realms of existence, all eras of time and space. Everything between heaven and earth was about to be reversed, pressing down even the Candle Dragon divine form, which could only howl mournfully, unable to struggle.
Peerless and invincible!
In the end, the Candle Dragon divine form disintegrated. The Flame Dragon King was severely wounded once more, his body on the verge of splitting apart, continuously shedding copious amounts of blood as he rapidly retreated.
"The Four Extremes of Heaven and Earth, serve my will!"
Ye Chen stirred the cosmos. Holy light radiated from his four limbs, manifesting the Four Extremes of Heaven and Earth standing tall. Azure Dragon to the left, White Tiger to the right, Vermilion Bird above, Black Tortoise below. The phantoms of these four world-creating beings appeared, each only three zhang in size but incredibly lifelike, as if holy spirits from the Mythical Era had crossed time and space to arrive. Their auras surged as he wielded the Four Extremes, launching them out, each striking towards one of the four Young Kings.
The Azure Dragon let out a long cry, the White Tiger roared, the Vermilion Bird screeched, the Black Tortoise hissed. The four holy spirits attacked, condensing into four-colored divine radiance that exploded the heavens and earth. The four Young Kings had their battle armor shattered, their flesh mangled, in a state so miserable it was hard to describe, almost unrecognizable as human.
Too invincible. This was the immortal bearing of a peerless True King.
Standing within this immortal domain, who could contend? Who could match him? Even if several Young Kings came, they would only face suppression.
It was not that they were not strong enough. On the contrary, which one who could become a Young King was weak? They had cultivated every aspect to the limit, reigning supreme among their generation, kings within their realm, capable of crossing major realms to slay Saints—this was sufficient to prove everything. Otherwise, how could they be called Young Kings?
It was just that they had encountered an even more powerful Immortal True King, one who had taken half a step beyond. The gap was like a vast expanse of heaven and earth, impossible to cross, completely laid bare before their eyes. How could they contend?
Even the powerful Young Kings felt a sense of despair.
The young powerhouses in the distance were silent, but their eyes were wide open, unblinkingly fixed on this scene.
To see Young Kings being suppressed and beaten—this was something one might not witness for who knows how many years.
"Alright, it's time to take the kingly blood." Ye Chen strode forward. His vast heavenly might, like mountains and peaks, spanned the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, oppressive enough to seemingly suck all the air from this world. Even the young powerhouses in the distance felt as if they couldn't breathe.
The four Young Kings nearby, already severely wounded, had their flesh torn and blood continuously welling up from new gashes. The bones and sinews within their bodies suffered terrible pressure, continuously snapping apart.
True King divine might!
This was a form of pressure, a kind of imposing aura that could suppress great enemies through intangible influence, terrifying beyond measure.
"We must go all out! Use the forbidden artifacts, or we will all die!" The Flame Dragon King roared. A vast radiance erupted from between his brows, from which shot forth an extraordinary divine light entwined with mysterious dawn light. Even the current Ye Chen felt a sense of crisis.
"A forbidden artifact forged by a Saint?" Ye Chen's pupils contracted. Golden glazed divine fire danced within his eyes, piercing through illusions to see the unknown object within. It was indeed a forbidden artifact, at least forged by a Saint, containing the fearsome Dao mark laws of the Saint Treasury Realm.
Because it was a forbidden artifact, not a conventional Dao weapon, it could only be used a few times before losing all its divine nature, hence its power was also extremely terrifying.
One could say this was a life-preserving treasure bestowed upon Young Kings by their major powers, not to be used unless absolutely necessary, with a strict limit on uses.
Not just the Flame Dragon King; the other Young Kings also revealed their forbidden artifacts, instantly locking onto Ye Chen, leaving him no escape.
Even at the cost of such precious forbidden artifacts, they were determined to slay Ye Chen.
"Old Yan, I need your help." Ye Chen transmitted his voice via voice transmission. Even an Immortal True King could not deal with forbidden artifacts forged by Saints.
"Alright!" An aged voice responded.
An intangible fluctuation appeared. The several forbidden artifacts radiating vast divine radiance quickly dimmed. Even the rule power contained within dissipated, becoming completely useless.
This scene deeply shocked them. What kind of supreme treasure did the Great Demon King Yue possess that could cause forbidden artifacts to lose their world-ending heavenly might?
"Retreat!"
The four Young Kings made a decisive decision. Without any desire to fight further, they split up and shot off in four directions to flee.
"Do you think you can escape?"
Ye Chen snorted coldly, his eyes gleaming with a cold light. He took a step forward, and immediately, invisible spatial ripples spread out like lightning from beneath his feet, catching up to the four young Young Kings. They were all forcibly stunned, each tumbling down from the void and falling into the dust.
"Seal Heaven, Trap Earth!"
Ye Chen shouted lightly, operating the Void Divine Art. Heaven and earth were restrained, the void sealed. He immediately restrained this void domain, even giving birth to a void swamp that completely trapped the Flame Dragon King within. No matter how he struggled, the void prison shook but did not shatter.
Then Ye Chen swept his gaze towards the other three Young Kings, similarly executing Seal Heaven, Trap Earth, trapping them all within void prisons, making it difficult for them to break free.
The young powerhouses in the distance watched with trembling hearts. This was the legendary Immortal True King, composedly trapping four young Young Kings, making them prisoners unable to struggle, overwhelmingly powerful.
"Alright, hand over the kingly blood. I don't want to kill you," Ye Chen said.
These words made the four young Young Kings feel immense humiliation, especially before so many of the younger generation.
Once upon a time, they were lofty and supreme, revered and watched by all, the focus of the world's attention. But now, they were like prisoners, captured and looked down upon.
But more than that, they felt helplessness and bitterness. It was only because the one who acted, Yue, was too strong, having achieved the Immortal True King body. How could they fight? This was the result—they could not contend by force. Even as Young Kings, they were captured alive and trapped, causing their Dao hearts to suffer a terrible impact.
"Unwilling?" Ye Chen shook his head. "In that case, I'll take it myself."
With a sweep of his hand, intangible sword rays flew out. The chests of the four Young Kings were simultaneously sliced open with deep wounds that reached the bone. Blood sprayed, and one could even see their strong, powerful hearts beating powerfully, causing the very heavens and earth to tremble.
These were kingly hearts, containing the Young Kings' great Dao essence blood, also a key component of the kingly blood that Ye Chen needed—a wisp of heart's blood.
He pointed a finger towards the Flame Dragon King and made a slicing motion. The latter's kingly heart immediately split open with a bloody gash, from which a wisp of blood sparkling with brilliant divine radiance sprayed out.
This was true kingly heart's blood, containing many Dao fragment principles. Along with a large amount of blood, it flew out, finally refined into a fist-sized mass of blood, flames swirling within—this was the kingly blood.
The extraction of the kingly blood seemed to strip away a large portion of the Flame Dragon King's essence, energy, and spirit, leaving him greatly weakened.
For every Young King, kingly blood was extremely important, containing the majority of their essence, energy, and spirit. Once extracted, even just a portion was enough to cause severe damage to their vitality.
He had finally obtained the Flame Dragon King's kingly blood. This was already the third mass of kingly blood Ye Chen had obtained so far. He could clearly feel the surging vitality and active power contained within this mass of kingly blood, shining brilliantly like a small crimson sun.
He then flipped his hand, storing it within his dantian space, where it stood alongside the other two masses of kingly blood.
Ye Chen proceeded to act against the next person. But at this moment, his movements halted. He raised his eyes to scan the distance, where the rumbling sound of thunderous noise was continuously approaching.
It was the sound of a thousand troops and ten thousand horses. Everyone looked over. Vaguely, they could see a terrifying flood of a great army approaching on the distant horizon, causing the bloody clouds in the sky to surge and churn.