The Eternal Stone Halberd, containing the mighty power of an Ancient Great Venerable, pierced through the seemingly indestructible heavenly curtain, creating a gaping hole that abruptly appeared above Heaven-Mending City.
A torrent of Heavenly Dao might surged forth, putting the countless powerhouses of the entire city on high alert, their hearts filled with despair in that moment.
If the Eternal Stone Halberd were to fully descend, Heaven-Mending City, being an ancient Celestial Venerable city, might not collapse immediately due to its ten-thousand-tribulation indestructibility.
However, the resulting shockwaves would absolutely be enough to annihilate them with ease.
The Lord of Heaven-Mending City changed expression, gritted his teeth, and prepared to meet the attack with the incomplete Heaven-Mending Tower.
He knew that even if the Heaven-Mending Tower were intact, let alone in its current damaged state, it would be impossible to block that Eternal Stone Halberd.
The gap was far too great!
Ye Chen could suppress an intact Eternal Stone Halberd with his bare hands, and the Eternal Stone Halberd projected by Qingtian Great Venerable could also knock away the damaged Heaven-Mending Tower.
But that was all he could do.
Being able to hold it off for a moment or two was still better than nothing.
"I'll handle it!"
At this moment, Ye Chen had already moved.
No one saw how he moved; he didn't even shift his position half a step. He merely reached out a hand, his palm grasping towards that world-destroying Eternal Stone Halberd.
Boom—
Instantly, under countless shocked gazes, the Eternal Stone Halberd, capable of slaying gods and buddhas alike, was caught by Ye Chen, unable to descend any further.
"Caught it with his bare hand?"
It seemed as if all gazes in heaven and earth froze, staring in disbelief.
Even Taishang realm overlords couldn't help but exclaim aloud. That terrifying, peerless halberd strike was actually caught barehanded?
Wasn't that a bit too outrageously strong?
Or perhaps, this was the legendary Great Dao might of an Ancient Great Venerable.
No matter how much world-destroying power the Eternal Stone Halberd contained, it couldn't harm his palm in the slightest. On the contrary, everything was suppressed, and the Eternal Stone Halberd could no longer cause further destruction.
At this moment, the Ancient Great Venerables of the All Heavens who were observing this scene from the Origin Land all revealed a trace of astonishment.
He withstood it?
That halberd strike, while not Qingtian Great Venerable's strongest attack, was still delivered with full force. Even for an Ancient Great Venerable, withstanding it shouldn't have been simple.
Yet this newly ascended Great Venerable had easily blocked it.
This was clearly not simple!
Ye Chen raised his eyes, looking towards Qingtian Great Venerable atop the Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces, and uttered faintly, "Is that all?"
Boom—
His hand suddenly exerted force. The Eternal Stone Halberd abruptly shattered section by section, and a crisis that was about to annihilate Heaven-Mending City was thus resolved.
Qingtian Great Venerable's expression darkened slightly. Even he hadn't expected his attack to be withstood so easily by Ye Chen.
It seemed he had still somewhat underestimated his opponent.
"Since you chose to make a move, as the saying goes, what comes around goes around, you should receive one of my attacks too."
Ye Chen spoke, instantly gathering the boundless heavenly and earthly rules that appeared from the disintegration of the Eternal Stone Halberd, condensing them into a single thumb-sized point of light.
However, the moment this point of light appeared, the entire Heaven-Mending City was enveloped in a terrifying sense of oppression.
It even made countless people feel the threat of death, no less than when facing the Eternal Stone Halberd's strike, perhaps even surpassing it.
Everyone could sense how terrifying this point of light was—it was the extreme condensation of absolute energy. Once it erupted, its power would absolutely be capable of destroying the entire Heaven-Mending City in an instant.
Beside him, the Lord of Heaven-Mending City and Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord, both Taishang realm overlords, sucked in a cold breath, their eyes filled with horror.
They both clearly felt that if that point of light landed on them, it could easily shatter their bodies to dust, severely wound their origins, and potentially even cause their complete annihilation, body and soul.
"Go!"
With a flick of his finger, Ye Chen sent the point of light flying, following the trajectory of the Eternal Stone Halberd's descent, soaring skyward.
Along its path, the void couldn't withstand it and collapsed entirely.
The infinite stars that had been drawn down by the Eternal Stone Halberd to bombard Heaven-Mending City were still in the process of falling. But the moment the point of light shot upwards, the terrifying pressure it brought directly annihilated these infinite stars.
Qingtian Great Venerable atop the Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces also revealed a trace of solemnity. Not daring to be careless, he exhaled a breath. Then, endless streams of Great Dao rules and order divine patterns surged from his body, along with wisps of Eternal Heavenly patterns manifesting, ultimately intertwining to form an ancient shield.
This shield resembled an ancient heavenly stele, covered in ancient carvings and imbued with the flavor of the Supreme Heavenly Dao. It rapidly enlarged, spanning across the front of the Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces.
The ancient shield stood firm, flowing with indestructible light, as if it could not be destroyed through ten thousand tribulations.
"The Indestructible Myriad Heavens Shield!"
"That peerless divine ability Qingtian relies on for his fame, even considered to a certain extent a Celestial Venerable-level supreme art! A peerlessly defensive move!"
"I never expected Qingtian to even use this move this time. It seems that newly ascended Great Venerable truly isn't simple."
The Great Venerables of the All Heavens were all closely watching.
Just as Qingtian Great Venerable released the Indestructible Myriad Heavens Shield, the seemingly tiny, dust-like point of light had already arrived, landing on the shield that was larger than a sky full of stars.
Boom—
As if a great universe had exploded, a terrifying detonation suddenly erupted outside the Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces. Endless waves of destructive light and flame blotted out the sky and covered the earth, also instantly annihilating entire star domains into ash.
Outside the Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces, there were also layers of absolute defensive grand formations—top-tier arrays that even Taishang realm overlords could do nothing against.
At this moment, they too were rapidly annihilated into ash within the destructive flames, utterly destroyed.
When all the destructive flames gradually dissipated, high in the heavens, a massive ancient shield appeared—the Indestructible Myriad Heavens Shield.
But now, this shield, reputed to be absolutely indestructible, was covered in countless cracks that crisscrossed every inch of its surface. With a series of cracking sounds, it continuously shattered.
Finally, with a thunderous roar, this long-legendary Celestial Venerable-level defensive divine ability, the Indestructible Myriad Heavens Shield, abruptly exploded, turning into fine powder.
Behind it, Qingtian Great Venerable's figure was revealed.
His originally majestic, peerless figure now appeared somewhat disheveled.
Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and his battle armor showed signs of damage.
Clearly, even with the isolation of the Indestructible Myriad Heavens Shield, the previous attack had not been completely blocked.
The world was in an uproar.
Without a doubt, in this first clash, Qingtian Great Venerable had been forced onto the back foot.
"This newly ascended Great Venerable is rather extraordinary."
The Great Venerables of the All Heavens also revealed some astonishment. They hadn't expected that in the first exchange, that newly ascended mysterious Great Venerable would actually gain the upper hand.
In the Purple Extreme Heavenly Domain, the clan leader exclaimed in shock, "That newly ascended Great Venerable is actually so powerful, even stronger than Qingtian Great Venerable!"
The other Taishang members of the Heavenly Clan were also exclaiming in surprise. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed it.
The Ancient Great Venerable of the Heavenly Clan shook his head and said, "It's not that he's stronger than Qingtian. It's that Qingtian was too arrogant, which is why he suffered a loss in the first exchange."