By the riverside, Ye Chen was leisurely roasting meat. Despite being in the dangerous Demonic Beast Mountain Range, he showed no tension; on the contrary, he was enjoying life. At this moment, a human Martial God suddenly appeared, entering his line of sight.
It must be said, this was a rather heroic man. In his early forties, tall and burly, with a resolute expression, he remained calm in the face of danger—a man of considerable charm.
However, compared to last night, he now appeared many times more disheveled. The golden battle armor he wore was already tattered, full of holes and scratches, no longer as dazzling and eye-catching as before.
Even the longsword he held in his hand had numerous notches, nearly broken. His body bore wounds large and small, blood flowing like a stream. A wound between his chest and abdomen was so deep the bone was visible, quite severe.
Clearly, in the battle with the Octagonal Azure Bull, even a powerhouse like this Martial God had suffered terrible injuries and had now come while wounded.
But this was enough to prove his strength—he was able to retreat from the Octagonal Azure Bull unscathed. After all, within the same realm, demonic beasts were innately much stronger due to their physical bodies and vigorous blood qi, which was the source of their true terror.
Seeing that Ye Chen actually recognized his identity, the human Martial God was slightly surprised. "Little brother, do you know me?"
Ye Chen shook his head, very honestly replying, "I just saw you fighting the Octagonal Azure Bull from afar not long ago. With such a big commotion, it would be hard not to recognize you."
The Martial God suddenly understood. He showed none of the usual Martial God majesty, nor did he look down on Ye Chen as an inferior. Instead, he was open and approachable, without any airs.
More like an ordinary uncle than a Martial God, he sat down cross-legged by the bonfire after receiving Ye Chen's permission, laughing heartily. "I didn't expect you to have seen that, little friend. How embarrassing. I was so imposing and eye-catching before, but now I'm in such a sorry state. Still, surviving is already quite good."
Ye Chen felt quite favorable toward this Martial God's easygoing nature and cupped his fists. "May I ask how I should address you, Martial God?"
"Little brother, don't be like that. I dare not accept the title 'Martial God.' When out and about, people usually call me Martial God Anyang. If you don't mind, little brother, you can call me Brother Anyang." Martial God Anyang chuckled.
Martial God Anyang?
Ye Chen silently repeated the name twice in his mind, feeling slightly wary.
He had once read the Martial God Chronicles of the Xia Feng Kingdom, a book recording all the Martial Gods of the Xia Feng Kingdom, including all Martial God realm existences throughout history, with relatively detailed information.
However, the Martial God Chronicles contained absolutely no record of Martial God Anyang.
The real reasons could only be one of four:
First, Martial God Anyang was not a Martial God of the Xia Feng Kingdom at all, but a Martial God powerhouse from elsewhere, hence no record of him in the Martial God Chronicles.
Second, Martial God Anyang was a newly advanced Martial God. Because the Martial God Chronicles had not been updated in time, there was no record. Moreover, the Martial God Chronicles in the Ye family had not been replaced for many years. If he were a new Martial God, the lack of record about Martial God Anyang would be natural.
Third, he was a hidden Martial God powerhouse, an unknown reserve force. After all, no matter how powerful a force is, unless it is absolutely invincible, it will always conceal some unknown strength as a reserve, existing in the shadows, not revealed to the world until critical moments.
Most forces in the world would choose to do this; it would be foolish to the extreme to reveal all their power.
After all, reserves can deter enemies from rashly attacking. Once all reserves are known and understood, conquering a force becomes many times simpler.
Fourth, Martial God Anyang was not actually called Martial God Anyang but had another title and was simply deceiving Ye Chen.
But who was Ye Chen? With his rich past life experience and insight, even a Martial God realm powerhouse could not deceive him in front of him; he could see a person's heart.
When Martial God Anyang gave his title, his expression was calm and natural, with no sign of deception. Moreover, his combat power was sufficiently strong to battle a Martial God realm demonic beast, something a newly advanced Martial God could not achieve, thus ruling out half the possibilities.
If he were a Martial God from some major force, it didn't seem likely either. That left only one point: he was a Martial God powerhouse from outside the Xia Feng Kingdom.
A Martial God powerhouse from outside the Xia Feng Kingdom, who also claimed to be from the Martial God Hall—all this seemed shrouded in mystery, leading Ye Chen to have some speculations. He couldn't help but take a deep look at Martial God Anyang.
"Then I'll respectfully comply, Brother Anyang." Ye Chen did not refuse, smiling. "I am Ye Chen."
"Ye Chen?" Martial God Anyang suddenly looked at Ye Chen with surprise, recalling something, and asked directly, "Little brother, are you that Ye Chen from Luo Feng City?"
"That's right, it's me." He did not deny it.
Martial God Anyang immediately showed an expression of admiration. "So it really is you. I've long heard of your fame. Achieving the Xiantian realm at thirteen, astonishingly talented, you broke the record for the fastest achievement of the Xiantian realm in the entire history of the Xia Feng Kingdom. If not unprecedented, it's certainly unparalleled. Rumor has it your cultivation was crippled, your dantian shattered, unable to cultivate, but now it seems the rumors are false."
As for Ye Chen's reputation, who in the entire Xia Feng Kingdom didn't know of him? Even in several nearby kingdoms, he was somewhat known.
After all, he was once a peerless genius who reached the Xiantian realm at thirteen. This event had once shaken the entire Xia Feng Kingdom and several nearby kingdoms, even startling the Tian Du Academy—a cultivation academy of the entire continent—to the point of wanting to exceptionally recruit him as a disciple of the Earth-tier College. This spoke volumes.
Throughout history, few had achieved this, especially one from just a city lord's family in a small city, making it even more extraordinary.
Ye Chen smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying, nor intending to delve deeper into this topic. He handed over a skewer of golden, oily roasted meat. "Brother Anyang, is that Octagonal Azure Bull really that terrifyingly strong?"
Martial God Anyang casually took it, not even checking if Ye Chen had poisoned it, and took a bite while eating and answering. "Little friend, to be honest, this Octagonal Azure Bull is indeed very strong and formidable. Demonic beasts are naturally stronger than humans in the same realm. The Octagonal Azure Bull is an exotic demonic beast with extraordinary bloodline. Its eight horns can spew lightning, its close combat is terrifying, and its blood qi is vigorous. Hurting it is truly not easy."
"Earlier, I fought with it. Although I didn't defeat it, and it didn't defeat me, in an all-out battle, I was seriously injured. Even if it had injuries, relatively speaking, its body wasn't much affected. Truly speaking, perhaps I was the one who lost... Hmm, little brother Ye Chen, the roasted meat you made is really good, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth, truly delicious."
After tearing off several large pieces of roasted meat, Martial God Anyang couldn't help but step forward directly, tearing off a large roasted pig leg, and began tearing into it with big bites. He only felt the roasted meat incredibly delicious, the meat juices tender and flavorful, the fragrance lingering on the lips and teeth, a faint aroma staying in the mouth for a long time, making one reluctant to leave. He couldn't help but take several more big bites in succession.
Regarding this, Ye Chen just smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying, and asked another question. "Couldn't you even hurt the Octagonal Azure Bull with your full power?"
Ye Chen had not truly interacted with either this man or the demonic beast, only watched their battle from afar. Based on perception alone, he truly didn't know which was stronger.
But from the looks of it now, perhaps the Octagonal Azure Bull was more powerful.
Martial God Anyang smiled slightly. "If we're being truly honest, I have the ability to kill this Octagonal Azure Bull, but the premise is that I would also have to pay an unimaginable price. It's not a worthwhile trade. Moreover, my goal wasn't to kill the Octagonal Azure Bull unless I wanted to completely break relations and offend the entire Demonic Beast Mountain Range."
Although he was at a disadvantage in the battle with the Octagonal Azure Bull, killing it was not impossible. This was a trump card.
Every Martial God powerhouse had their own trump cards, not to be used unless at critical moments.
Ye Chen seemed thoughtful and suddenly asked, "May I ask, what is the Martial God Hall like?"
Martial God Anyang first looked at Ye Chen with surprise, seemingly puzzled as to how he knew, but then remembered that Ye Chen had seen his battle with the Octagonal Azure Bull and he had mentioned it himself. He understood, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke. "It can only be described in two words: very strong!"
"How strong?"
"Difficult to estimate." Martial God Anyang evaluated with these four words. "I'll tell you a fact. Seven hundred years ago, in the eastern part of the Tian Du Continent, there was a dynasty called the Tian Mu Kingdom. Among the one hundred and eight kingdoms of the Tian Du Continent, it could rank within the top thirty, much stronger than your Xia Feng Kingdom. But it was destroyed overnight seven hundred years ago. Do you know why?"
Ye Chen's expression changed slightly, becoming grave. "Destroyed by the Martial God Hall?"
Martial God Anyang's eyes flickered. "Correct, it was destroyed by the Martial God Hall, crushed and obliterated with overwhelming force."