After forcefully slaying the five Saints, the terrifying aura emanating from Ye Chen gradually receded and completely vanished, leaving only the aura of a True King that naturally rippled through heaven and earth.
However, the five Saint Lord-level Dao weapons remained subservient before Ye Chen, having long been subdued and suppressed by him. Even though that immense power had faded, the image of his invincibility from before was deeply imprinted in their divine consciousness, indelible. Moreover, they could sense a terrifyingly profound aura lying dormant within Ye Chen, making them dare not resist.
Ye Chen swept a glance over the five Saint Lord-level Dao weapons. Then, with a tremor from the Saint weapons, a ball of resplendent divine blood emerged from each—only about the size of a fist, yet containing Saint-level order runes and law fragments, and brimming with immense energy, profound as an abyss and vast as the sea. It was the supreme power of a Saint, all condensed within this ball of Saint Blood—the essence blood of a Saint.
Along with it, five Saint imprints were also stripped out, appearing as human-shaped imprints seated cross-legged in the void, their bodies interwoven with the principles of the Dao, containing the life's insights of the Saints—incredibly precious, now held in Ye Chen's hands.
The three hundred Primordial War Cavalry sighed inwardly. This was the essence of the five Saints, all obtained by Ye Chen. His strength inspired awe and reverence.
"Meng Wan, Meng Shan, Meng Xia!" Ye Chen suddenly called.
The three Commanders immediately strode forward, standing as straight as spears before Ye Chen, showing respect and also vaguely guessing something, their hearts stirring with excitement.
Ye Chen flicked his fingers, sending three of the Saint essence bloods and Saint imprints before them. "Refine this Saint Blood and the imprints to enhance your cultivation. Reaching the Saint Treasury Realm might be difficult, but it should be enough to elevate you to the Demi-Saint level."
"Your Highness, this is absolutely unacceptable!"
Despite their inner excitement, they deeply understood the priceless value of Saint essence blood and Saint imprints—they were treasures beyond price. The essence blood contained the condensed divine energy essence and law fragments of a Saint's entire being, while the Saint imprint held that Saint's lifetime of cultivation insights—how precious and invaluable, enough to make even Young Kings burn with envy.
Even across the myriad realms, Saints could truly be counted among the ranks of super-powerful experts, capable of overlooking and dominating a region, reigning supreme under heaven. Although breaking through here was relatively easier compared to special heavens or dimensional worlds, it was only relative—achieving the breakthrough was still very difficult. Throughout history, many geniuses had failed to reach this step.
Even mighty Immortal Sacred Lands with legacies spanning countless ages had very few Saints, each undoubtedly a figure of true high status and authority, holding positions as Supreme Elders. Therefore, Saint essence blood and imprints were priceless rarities. To bestow them so freely—even the three Commanders dared not accept such a grand gift.
Ye Chen smiled faintly. "The three of you have risked life and limb to protect me along the journey. That alone is sufficient reason. Refine them with peace of mind, no need for burden. This Saint essence blood is of little consequence to me."
"Of little consequence"—among the new generation of prodigies, probably only Ye Chen could utter such words. But upon careful thought, it made sense. Ye Chen's Dao realm was too high, not weaker than even a Saint Lord's. The so-called Saint imprints were useless to him. As for Saint essence blood? He possessed even more powerful Heavenly King-level Great Dao Blood and the exceedingly rare Void Dao Divine Blood, so he naturally paid it no mind.
"This..." The three War Cavalry Commanders were, after all, still hesitant and uncertain. But at this moment, Wang Ming spoke up. "Just accept them. Don't overthink it. He's just that kind of person. This Saint essence blood truly is of little consequence to him; he has better."
Since their lord Wang Ming had spoken, the three Primordial War Cavalry Commanders gratefully accepted with full hearts, feeling immensely thankful towards Ye Chen.
Then, Ye Chen bestowed the remaining two balls of Saint essence blood upon the three hundred Primordial War Cavalry. He also took out over a dozen balls of essence blood refined from the Primordial Beasts slain in battle, stating they could temper their war bodies and make their cultivation stronger.
The two Saint imprints he kept for himself. Aside from the three Commanders, the other three hundred Primordial War Cavalry had not reached that level; recklessly attempting to comprehend them would only harm them.
Regarding the Saint essence blood and imprints, the three Commanders chose not to refine them immediately. They were still on the Domain War battlefield, fraught with danger. They had just encountered an assassination attempt by five Saints wielding Saint Lord-level Dao weapons—no small matter. All this required escorting Ye Chen to a safe place before refining and enhancing their cultivation.
Moreover, Ye Chen's use of Old Yan's power this time had caused Old Yan no small damage. After all, he was merely a remnant soul, not a physical body; the power he used was more of his origin force.
Wang Ming's combat imprint had completely dissipated, its power depleted too severely, leaving it without even the strength for one battle, as it was merely a combat imprint, not his true body.
However, after this battle and the slaying of the five Saints, it was likely no one would dare target Ye Chen again—unless a Saint Lord-level figure personally made a move.
As guessed, after the battle, a piece of news spread through the Domain War battlefield—no one knew from whom—that five Saints from Immortal Sacred Lands had appeared, entering the depths of the Domain War battlefield intending to capture Ye Chen and study the secrets of achieving True King status, but were utterly slain, leaving none alive. Even the Saint Lord-level Dao weapons they brought were seized, causing heavy losses and stirring unprecedented waves. The world knew it must have been the doing of the Immortal Sacred Lands ruling the five domains.
The five Immortal Sacred Lands were also enraged—Saints killed, Saint Lord Dao weapons seized. If not for the unwritten rules of the Domain War battlefield, the current Saint Lords of several Immortal Sacred Lands would have almost personally taken action.
Naturally, no one knew it was Ye Chen who had done this. Information about the battle could not leak out, or the resulting waves would have been even greater.
On this day, the higher-ups of the Qingyang Domain faction were furious. The five domains had been so shameless as to dispatch Saints, even sending them with Saint Lord-level Dao weapons, seriously violating their bottom line and attempting to harm the newly born Immortal True King on their side. If not for the peerless powerhouse guarding Ye Chen, this would have been a disaster.
The Qingyang Domain faction mobilized a fearsome army. Numerous top experts, including Wang Shan, entered the Domain War battlefield one after another to escort Ye Chen back to their camp.
On this same day, a terrifying figure emerged from the Black Sky Plains, his might shaking all directions, descending upon the Qingyang Domain camp and causing exclamations from all. It was actually Wang Ming, the Fourth Great Bandit of the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky. He had personally taken action, entering the Domain War battlefield.
Relying on the aura of the Black Sky Token, Wang Ming tore through the void with his physical body, condensing into a streak of blazing light, soon finding and reuniting with Ye Chen.
Simultaneously, several terrifying figures manifested between heaven and earth, their auras shaking the mortal world, causing mountains and valleys to tremble. They were all genuine Saint Lord-level existences, making even the three hundred Primordial War Cavalry change expression. Their target was Ye Chen—both for revenge and to seize the secrets of the True King.
As for the reason the five Saints were killed earlier, they did not understand, but this time they were fully prepared, personally taking action. As Saint Lords, they were naturally far more powerful than Saint Lord-level Dao weapons.
However, the three hundred Primordial War Cavalry tightly clustered around Ye Chen, protecting him and forming a battle formation. Wang Ming had also descended, holding his wolf-tooth club, his wild aura radiating outwards, shattering swathes of the bloody landscape. He stood in confrontation with the several Saint Lord-level existences, the atmosphere intensely tense, nearly sparking an unprecedented, terrifying Saint Lord-level battle.
Ye Chen was prepared to borrow Old Yan's power again, because in such a battle, without Saint Lord-level power, one could not fight.
"You should know my identity—not just one of the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky, but also acquainted with the invincible kings of the past generation like the War King, Peacock King, Tai Su King, Liu Mingwang, the Bright King, the Rising Sun King. You also know I'm familiar with supreme sacred lands like the Tai Chu Sacred Land, Yao Chi Heavenly Court, Myriad Worlds Palace, and understand the Heavenly Gate. Do you still wish to fight?"
After Wang Ming spoke just this one sentence, the several Saint Lord-level existences who had been secretly intending to make a move all snorted coldly and departed one after another.
Because the other party still feared the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky—a fearsome force even Immortal Sacred Lands were unwilling to provoke excessively. Their foundation might be somewhat lacking, but truthfully, unless the Immortal Sacred Lands deployed their full foundation, they could not eradicate the Black Sky Plains.
Moreover, almost all the major Immortal Sacred Lands under heaven knew that among the Eight Great Bandits of Black Sky, Wang Ming's strength might not be the greatest, but his background was absolutely the most terrifying. It was rumored he had close ties with several supreme sacred lands that had Supreme Great Powers presiding over them, and several of the invincible kings of the past generation were his companions. Even the newly risen, incredibly powerful super-faction, the Heavenly Gate, had intricate connections with Wang Ming.
Setting aside other relationships, the Heavenly Gate alone was enough to make various Immortal Sacred Lands and even supreme sacred lands wary. Because the strength of that Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord was that of a peerless existence who had personally slain Heavenly King Invincibles—and not just one. Emerging abruptly forty years ago, his might shook the world, his cultivation profound and unfathomable, originating from the lower realms. Even Supreme Great Powers were somewhat wary and had not moved against him.
"Heavenly Gate?" Ye Chen's eyes flickered as he looked at Wang Ming.
Wang Ming smiled. "The Heavenly Gate is good. The Gate Lord is even better."
Ye Chen smiled in understanding.
In the end, Wang Ming brought Ye Chen back safely and unharmed.
The moment they returned, many in the entire camp cast their gazes upon them. Among the younger generation, there was more a sense of reverence. Because "Immortal True King"—those four words represented everything.
Many on the Floating Divine Islands changed their views, their gazes towards Ye Chen becoming much more nuanced, even secretly speculating about Ye Chen's true identity. If he was an Immortal True King, there must inevitably be a terrifying force behind him. An Immortal True King could not be born without reason. Among the Immortal True Kings born in the past generation, almost all came from supreme sacred lands presided over by Supreme Great Powers.
Could Ye Chen be the same?