Day after day, month after month.
One year, two years, three years...
In the mountains, time loses its measure; as the cold recedes, one knows not the year.
While Ye Chen was in seclusion, time hurried by, the four seasons cycled in alternation, and before anyone knew it, twelve years had passed in the world.
Twelve years is neither long nor short. For mortals, it is a long time, but for cultivators whose lifespans often span hundreds or thousands of years, it is but a brief period.
Yet, these same twelve years were also a particularly glorious and remarkable twelve years. Earth-shaking changes had occurred across the myriad realms.
It could almost confirm many ancient prophecies: this era would see the hope of becoming an Emperor emerge after the Mythical Era.
Now, although the hope of becoming an Emperor had not yet been truly witnessed, the Golden Great Age had erupted, long sweeping across the myriad realms.
The most obvious sign was the recovery of the myriad Daos of the heavens, becoming clearly perceptible. The cultivation environment of this era was unprecedentedly heaven-defying. Worldly spiritual energy surged forth mightily, the Great Dao manifested, becoming countless times better than before.
Accompanying this, the past generation of heaven's favored talents and prodigies had, one after another, stepped into the Reincarnation realm, reincarnating and being reborn, struggling through the crossing of the mortal dust, desiring to achieve the status of True King. Meanwhile, the new generation had long since rapidly risen during this period.
Whether it was the Ancient Talents sealed from ancient times or the young geniuses born in this era bearing the world's fortune, they had all grown rapidly over the twelve years, each having stepped into the Divine Transformation Realm for many years now.
Cultivating in this uniquely advantageous environment, they were at least powerful figures at the fifth level of Divine Transformation or above.
As for those more outstanding Young Kings, they were even stronger, their cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds, unprecedented, each progressing with divine speed, pressing close to the Saint Treasury Realm.
It was said that some had long since advanced with great strides, breaking through the shackles of the Demi-Saint, directly entering the domain of the Saint Treasury Realm, thus transcending the mundane and entering sainthood, becoming a generation of Saints.
Naturally, more were still limited, as those who could become Saints were, after all, only a small minority.
Because the once-in-a-hundred-thousand-years struggle for the Human Sovereign position had begun, and it was even hailed that the Human Sovereign of this era had the chance to seize the hope of becoming an Emperor, the competition among the peerless talents across the myriad realms, past and present, had reached a white-hot stage.
It could be said this was an unprecedented battle for the Human Sovereign, many times more intense than any previous struggle for the position. It involved not only the talents of this era but also the Ancient Talents sealed from ancient times, each born with divine bearing and accompanied by extraordinary phenomena.
Ordinary geniuses simply did not qualify; at the very least, they had to be young successors of immortal forces, at the False King level, to even have the right.
As for others, they all seemed to fade into obscurity, becoming objects quickly forgotten in the struggle for the Human Sovereign.
In this era, without combat power at the False King level, one simply had no qualification to compete for the true imperial throne.
The struggle for the imperial throne across the myriad domains was like a hundred boats racing against the current; if you do not advance, you fall behind.
This was the most widely circulated saying across the myriad realms.
Either surpass others, stand out, seize extraordinary achievements, and contend for the Human Sovereign throne. Or fade into the crowd, becoming a small ripple in the great age, a pile of flesh and blood on the path where the kings contend, forgotten in the blink of an eye.
As time passed, the geniuses of the myriad domains constantly clashed. With the disappearance of the past generation of talents, the new generation, following in the footsteps of the Great Demon King Yue and Ye Gucheng of the Ye family, also began to produce true Immortal True Kings, their names shining across the myriad realms.
Immortal True Kings, invincible among their peers, were those who had cultivated each domain to its utmost limit, undergone Extreme Sublimation, transcended kings, and shaken the heavens with their fame.
These individuals had emerged from among the many kings. Beneath the True King Seat lay endless bones of their peers, including not a few corpses of kings. They possessed the terrifying combat power to slay False Kings.
In the past, such True King talents only appeared within supreme sacred lands, imperial clans, and royal families. Now, they had even appeared among the mundane.
The world suspected they might also belong to the sealed ancient geniuses, appearing very mysterious. They might also originate from supreme sacred lands or the clans of Emperors and Sovereigns, or be the closed-door disciples of peerless experts, only now emerging.
Previously known and publicly acknowledged were only Ye Chen and Ye Gucheng. Most others were merely suspected to be True Kings, but now they had basically been confirmed.
For example, Prince Noxius of the Angel Race's royal family was a prodigy at the Immortal True King level, far more powerful than the princes of immortal ancient kingdoms in the outside world.
For he was a royal descendant with the supreme bloodline of the Mythical Emperors and Sovereigns flowing in his veins. Moreover, the royal members of this race never intermarried with other races; their bloodline had always been combined internally, thus maintaining sufficient purity and power.
It was said the blood within his body was a brilliant golden color, similar to the Battle Sacred Body, but imbued with a sacred and pure aura.
The direct bloodline of Emperors and Sovereigns, even after many generations of propagation, due to the Angel Race's strict inheritance, remained powerful enough, even if not comparable to the first few generations.
And this generation's Noxius was an outstanding talent among them, his bloodline particularly pure and vigorous, a legendary ancestral return bloodline, nearly perfectly reviving the bloodline of the Angel Great Emperor. Its power was almost no less than that of the second or third generation supreme descendants, extremely powerful.
Huang Gu, the Demon King, a mysterious Young True King, had long been suspected to be a genius True King of the younger generation. Over the twelve years, he had truly risen, displaying his peerless combat power. True to his name, he was a demon king.
For he had once accepted a challenge from the young successor of an immortal force. That was an Ancient Talent who had been sealed, a King-level figure, very powerful, looking down upon the world.
But on the martial stage under the gaze of all, before all the experts of that immortal force and the many powerhouses of that great domain, Huang Gu directly and brutally tore that King in half. There was no chance for resistance; it was a one-hit kill.
Moreover, even though that immortal force went mad with rage, with many experts attacking Huang Gu, he retreated unscathed, even killing seven great elders, slaughtering countless disciples, leaving the stage, and departing safely.
Even the master of that immortal force, when he took action, was unable to detain Huang Gu.
Qing Yue Fairy, as poetic and elegant as a verse, peerlessly elegant, like a falling moon and flying immortal, was a stunningly beautiful woman of unparalleled grace, her beauty crowning the world, rivaling the Goddesses of the past generation.
At the same time, she was also an incredibly powerful female True King. Though ethereal and transcendent as if untouched by mortal dust, she possessed True King-level strength, certified by the world.
Young Qian Xun, of mysterious origin, claimed not to be from this era, also suspected to be a heaven's favored son sealed from ancient times, suspected to be a powerhouse cultivating the path of the physical body, yet extremely powerful. He had once suppressed dozens to hundreds of young prodigies with a single punch, allowing all their attacks to land on his body without dodging, yet not suffering the slightest injury.
He had even once used three punches to suppress and kill a King, shocking the great age and myriad domains.
The world suspected his battle physique could be mentioned in the same breath as the Forbidden Lineage's Battle Sacred Body.
Heaven-Defying Battle King Shan Jun, a generation's peerless fierce man who appeared out of nowhere, was said to be a warrior of some heaven-defying physique from the Mythical Era. His strength was overwhelmingly powerful, his combat power invincible, comparable to other Immortal True Kings. He had once killed three Kings in a single night, shaking the world.
...
Some had truly displayed the peerless combat power befitting an Immortal True King, while others remained as mysterious as ever, suspected of possessing the fearsome combat power of an Immortal True King.
Some were suspected to be the reincarnations of past-generation Immortal True Kings, suspected of attempting the legendary Supreme One's method, wishing to test it in the Samsara of the mortal dust, combining two lifetimes to break through the ninefold shackles and enter the mythical Ten Heavenly Realms.
Still others were suspected to be the descendants of Mythical Emperors and Sovereigns, supreme and transcendent.
Such Immortal True Kings were not just two or three, but neither could there be too many. They were merely the emergence of all the strongest talents throughout the ages, hence more numerous than in any past era.
They were Immortal True Kings, invincible among their generation, ruling over the world. When other kings encountered them, they had to retreat, let alone other young prodigies.
Being Immortal True Kings, many wished to know who was truly stronger, who was the most powerful one.
But they had never truly sparred. Even if some had met, they only faced each other from a distance, their gazes colliding like substance, causing the void to tremble and hum, terrifying to the extreme, with mountains in all directions cracking.
The world understood that the battle for the Human Sovereign of this era had only just begun. Looking at past struggles, such battles lasted at least several decades to a hundred years, sometimes even thousands or tens of thousands of years.
It was not that it had never happened before.
Now, everyone was still growing, far from reaching their peak state. Some were also struggling through the crossing in the Samsara of the mortal dust. It was not yet the time for the true decisive battle.
They were all preparing, needing a long time to prepare and accumulate strength for the most peak and glorious battle.
Perhaps this battle would only truly occur when they reached a sufficiently high realm; it was still too early now.
On the path to contend for the Human Sovereign position, one either continued forward, bravely climbing the peak.
Or became a pile of white bones on another's path to achievement. Whether ordinary young powerhouses or the strongest Immortal True Kings, no one was an exception.
Although the struggle on the path to the Human Sovereign was extremely fierce, with people rising and falling every day as they contended for the final position, no one ever forgot one person—
The Battle Saint King!
This heaven-defying Supreme One, who had perished decades ago and then miraculously revived, had even roamed the myriad realms under the alias Great Demon King Yue, establishing the name of the new generation's first Immortal True King.
Even though it was rumored he had been in life-and-death seclusion within the Heavenly Gate at Du Peak in Tian Cang Domain and had not emerged, topics about him had never been lacking.
On the contrary, as time passed, the Battle Saint King's prestige had grown even greater, even overshadowing many True Kings.
Even without emerging, many believed the Battle Saint King was already invincible among the younger generation. Apart from the Immortal True Kings of the past generation, no one was his match anymore. Hence, he was in seclusion, reincarnating, solely to break through to the Heavenly King realm and become a Heavenly King-level talent dominating the myriad domains.
Naturally, some revered the Battle Saint King, but others did not think so.
Many believed that although the Battle Saint King had revived, surviving decades ago and reincarnating was already very difficult. He must have paid an unimaginably heavy price and likely was not at his peak state.
Although his suppression and killing of over a dozen overlords in the starry land of the Heavenly Pass back then had shocked the world, it could not last forever. He might have regressed to the strength level of the new generation's geniuses.
Wanting to regain his former glory was simply impossible.
And these twelve years of seclusion by the Battle Saint King proved everything. He was probably seeking a way to restore his peak, but it was fundamentally impossible.
Not only them, but even many young disciples within the Heavenly Gate clenched their fists, filled with worry.
They were disciples of the new generation and had naturally heard of the Battle Saint King's former prestige, even viewing him as an idol.
Surviving a certain-death situation, reincarnating and reviving, and still becoming an Immortal True King said it all.
But during these years, the Battle Saint King had not emerged, remaining in deep seclusion the entire time—a seclusion lasting twelve years—which made them all feel anxious.
Was it true, as the rumors said, that surviving had cost him an incomparably heavy price, and restoring his peak was fundamentally impossible?
Moreover, even some disciples and elders suspected that this seclusion by the Battle Saint King was too long; had something gone wrong?
Unfortunately, the Battle Saint King's seclusion site was the former meditation place of the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord, heavily guarded and not to be entered casually. Even Saint Lord-level Supreme Elders or many ancient recluses could not enter.
Apart from those with the highest status and transcendent Heavenly Kings like Wangchen, who could enter?
Unfortunately, the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord had long been inaccessible; only a few ancestor-level figures of the highest status could have an audience.
Those few old ancestors were not easy to see; even ancient recluses found it difficult to get an audience.
Perhaps besides the transcendent Xi Immortal Maiden.
Unfortunately, the seclusion site was profoundly mysterious. Even though Xi Immortal Maiden was concerned about her elder brother, she could not investigate the situation inside.
At the same time, a challenge letter arrived from afar, rushing towards the Heavenly Gate's mountain gate, only to be blocked by the Heavenly Gate's defenses, unable to enter.
Even so, this gilded challenge letter emanated a powerful aura, with wisps of Saint might emerging.
The writer was at least a Saint Treasury Realm figure, very powerful. Only an expert at the Demi-Saint level or above could receive it.
Immediately, a Demi-Saint realm elder appeared and received the challenge letter. Upon opening it, a powerful aura of Saint might was released, causing many nearby disciples to tremble in fear.
But that elder snorted, divine power surged, and his aura erupted, completely suppressing the aura on the challenge letter.
The moment it was opened, the expressions of the Heavenly Gate's higher-ups sank—
One month later, the younger generation disciples of Canglan Sacred Land, Zhao Kingdom, Xia Kingdom, Blood Glow Valley, and Scarlet God Valley would come to challenge the Heavenly Gate disciples!