After a full month of seclusion, Ye Chen finally emerged from his meditation chamber. He had not yet completely broken through to the Saint Treasury Realm, but his gaze had grown much more profound, and the divine power within his body had become even more vast and mighty.
Merely standing there without deliberately releasing his aura, the great bandit Wang Tian and the three Kings near him, and even the Ancient Xia Saint who only had a remnant spirit left, all felt a terrifying pressure as immense as mountains. Others felt as if the Primordial Spirit in their Mud Pill Palace was about to shatter, making them tremble with fear.
Everyone could see that after a month of seclusion, the Battle Saint King had grown even stronger, a level that could only be described as terrifying.
Only when the Battle Saint King gradually withdrew that vast divine might did all the pressure finally dissipate.
The powerhouses in the city regarded Ye Chen with even greater awe and reverence.
"Tell me of any important events that occurred this past month."
As soon as he emerged, Ye Chen received an important piece of news. The Dragon Phoenix Academy had issued a siege order. In half a month, the true Dark Night Siege Battle would commence. Thousands of geniuses would gather for the ultimate siege warfare.
To obtain a spot to enter the Ancient Divine Domain, one must breach Dark Night City and find a place called the Dark Night Hall.
There, a secret passage leading into the Ancient Divine Domain was said to exist.
However, rumors said that during the siege battle, that terrifying Heavenly King within Dark Night City might manifest in the mortal world. This would be the greatest obstacle, forcing everyone to be on guard.
A Heavenly King, transcending Samsara, peerless in the mortal world—such an existence could be described as walking with pride, even the masters of Sacred Lands would have to bow upon meeting one.
The appearance of an ancient Heavenly King as an obstacle—how to breach the city became the greatest challenge of the Dark Night Siege Battle.
After all, no one was confident they could bypass the blockade of a Heavenly King.
The reason a Heavenly King is a Heavenly King is beyond ordinary comprehension.
This was the greatest concern for all the geniuses vying for a spot in the Ancient Divine Domain.
Even the three Kings under his command appeared worried, but the Battle Saint King's expression remained calm and natural. He shook his head, telling them not to worry too much about this.
Since the Dark Night Siege Battle was for competing for spots in the Ancient Divine Domain, the Dragon Phoenix Academy must be pulling strings behind the scenes. It couldn't be an unsolvable situation. That Heavenly King's intervention likely had restrictions; otherwise, even if all the True Kings joined forces, they probably wouldn't be confident of slipping past under a Heavenly King's watchful eye.
When the time came, the three Kings just needed to follow behind him.
Receiving the Battle Saint King's promise, the three Kings were overjoyed. They might not trust others, but they could trust the Battle Saint King. If even someone of his caliber wasn't qualified to enter the Ancient Divine Domain, then who in the world would be?
Ye Chen smiled faintly. Even if that ancient Heavenly King truly had no restrictions, it didn't matter. At worst, he would make an exception and utilize world power and Faith Power. There would always be a way.
Similarly, during his month of seclusion, many events had indeed occurred.
First, the various True Kings suddenly made their moves, each displaying their corresponding peerless divine might. As if stimulated by the Battle Saint King's suppression of the Heavenly Roc King, they manifested in various ancient cities and began solo sieges.
It had to be admitted that none who achieved the status of True King were weak.
Of the thirty-six ancient cities within the Plunder Heaven Plains, aside from Dark Night City and the cities of the thirteen overlord-level great bandits, almost all the others were directly breached by the True Kings, truly showcasing their unparalleled, terrifying methods.
They were too powerful, beyond the imagination of ordinary people, directly breaking through Saint Lord-level protective city barriers, forcefully taking control, expelling the originally entrenched great bandits, killing them until they had no fight left, seizing the initiative for the Dark Night Siege Battle, and gazing towards Dark Night City.
Ye Chen wasn't surprised by this at all. After all, every True King was an extraordinary genius among their generation, truly stunning prodigies who would be remembered for ages. If they couldn't even accomplish this, they wouldn't deserve the title of True King, nor would they qualify to be his opponents.
Second, half a month after Ye Chen entered seclusion, the thousands of young geniuses from the Dragon Phoenix Academy once again plunged into the inner region of the Plunder Heaven Plains.
This time, they even spent heavy gold to hire numerous mercenary groups, charging into the inner region with armies tens of thousands strong, clashing with the fearsome great bandits deep within. Battles involving thousands upon thousands were common, the scenes incredibly intense, with blood light piercing the heavens.
In the short half-month of warfare, both sides suffered countless casualties, rivers of blood flowed, corpses piled like mountains, creating utter chaos.
Thousands of young geniuses from the Dragon Phoenix Academy all charged into the Plunder Heaven Plains, wanting to seize ancient cities and gain the initiative for the Dark Night Siege Battle.
They commanded mercenary groups and fought against countless bandits, with Kings roaring and ferocious beasts howling. All sorts of terrifying divine abilities shattered the heavens and earth, and columns of light began to appear.
Dao weapons and magical instruments flew through the skies and burrowed into the earth, tearing apart the world, capable of destroying heaven and earth with a single move, almost completely covering the entire million-mile radius of the Plunder Heaven Plains' inner region.
Even the ancient cities occupied by the True Kings were nearly affected. If not for the invincible True Kings manifesting, their divine pillars piercing the heavens, their auras flooding the skies, their divine might overwhelming their generation, intimidating all sides, and forcefully suppressing and killing a group of people—whether Dragon Phoenix Academy geniuses or bandits—as a warning, some schemers would have already directed the flames of war towards those True King cities to draw them out.
There were also supreme Saint realm Kings comparable to True Kings who moved with entourages, acting as commander-level figures for the thousands of geniuses. Leading many prodigies, they swept across the land, razing countless bandit dens and slaughtering innumerable bandits, staining hundreds of miles with blood.
They even gazed towards Dark Night City from dozens or even hundreds of miles away.
If not for those Saint realm Kings each possessing keen spiritual senses, able to sense the extraordinariness of Dark Night City—the city churning with surging blood energy, terrifying auras rippling and wantonly spreading in all directions, the ancient city devouring the radiance of the sun, moon, and stars, everything appearing otherworldly—they might have prematurely launched the Dark Night Siege Battle.
In the end, several Saint realm Kings retreated, not lingering in the area.
The inner region of the Plunder Heaven Plains was everywhere a scene of ravaged, bloody warfare, exceptionally fierce and brutal.
Unprecedented.
For countless years, the bandits of the Plunder Heaven Plains had roamed this desolate plain, never encountering such a devastating battle. It was as if the entire world had turned against the Plunder Heaven Plains. Infinite smoke and fire shot into the sky, the smell of battle permeated everywhere, truly terrifying.
This time, they dealt the Plunder Heaven Plains a heavy, unexpected blow. By the time the bandits reacted, even though the Plunder Heaven Plains had countless bandits, they too suffered innumerable casualties, losing at least twenty percent of their combat power. Countless bandits were caught off guard and killed, their blood staining the ground.
At the final moment, the overlord-level great bandits among the top thirteen of the Twenty-Four Great Bandits personally appeared. Even Saint Lords and the most powerful ancient recluses took action, manifesting on the plain, employing supreme methods to personally behead a group of genius prodigies, hanging their heads on the gates of various ancient cities.
They even led armies of bandits to pursue the Myriad Domains geniuses, initiating terrifying clashes.
Naturally, the top-tier strength of the great bandit faction, possessing super-powerful Saint realm experts, was overwhelmingly strong and unstoppable.
Those great bandits, able to rank among the twenty-four, were at least supreme Ancient Saints, some were Saint realm overlords, even Saint Lords and peak ancient recluses. Who could contend with them? They were unstoppable.
Among the Myriad Domains geniuses, only a handful of Saint realm Kings could resist. The invincible True Kings almost never emerged, all having taken control of various ancient cities to watch from the sidelines. No matter how the Dragon Phoenix Academy geniuses invited them, they never moved.
The Twenty-Four Great Bandits knew these True Kings were not to be trifled with, so they never disturbed them and were unwilling to make enemies of them.
Precisely because of this, the Plunder Heaven Plains bandits gained the upper hand. Whenever those Myriad Domains geniuses saw overlord-level great bandits leading armies, they would immediately retreat, not daring to engage head-on, fighting a guerrilla war instead.
Because after experiencing the previous joint expulsion by the Twenty-Four Great Bandits, the Dragon Phoenix Academy geniuses had paid a heavy price, with quite a few geniuses paying the ultimate price, leaving their lives forever on this desolate plain.
Moreover, these Myriad Domains geniuses, qualified to be selected for the Dragon Phoenix Academy, were each truly outstanding among men. They were not lacking in extraordinary methods bestowed by their elders, especially for survival and escape, which left the Twenty-Four Great Bandits of the Plunder Heaven Plains astonished and dumbfounded.
Often, before they could truly catch up, those Myriad Domains geniuses had already fled beyond sight, escaping as far as possible, even directly leaving the Plunder Heaven Plains and disappearing into the peaceful zones.
If not for fearing the Dragon Phoenix Academy, that terrifying colossal entity, otherwise, if it were any other Immortal Sacred Land, these great bandits would probably have charged to attack the Sacred Land.
Precisely because of this, even though the Plunder Heaven Plains faction clearly held the upper hand, they could do nothing, finding it extremely difficult to pursue.
The living forces of the Dragon Phoenix Academy geniuses were thus preserved.
More importantly, from relevant important channels, he received another crucial piece of news.
Some genius prodigies had contacted other major mercenary groups in the peaceful zones, even preparing to spend vast amounts of spirit stones to invite various powerhouses for the Dark Night Siege Battle. They would join the thousands of Dragon Phoenix Academy genius prodigies in the siege warfare, harassing the bandit faction to increase their chances of success.
Some even began inviting terrifyingly powerful figures from other domains to participate. By then, at least five Saint realm overlord-level figures would appear to assist, possibly even true Saint Lord-level existences. They also invited supreme ancient weapons, prepared to use them to contain the ancient Heavenly King within Dark Night City.
Each genius was mobilizing their own terrifying resources. The forces behind them, wanting them to secure a spot in the Ancient Divine Domain, although not daring to act openly under the Dragon Phoenix Academy's supervision, secretly spared no effort to help them compete.
There were even rumors that a certain Immortal Sacred Land had mobilized its most terrifying Immortal Ancient Weapon, secretly delivering it to a certain genius prodigy for use in the Dark Night Siege Battle.
Once this news spread, it caused an uproar, even startling the various True Kings, who were somewhat shocked.
Such an Immortal Ancient Weapon was a Sacred Land's most important secret treasure, needed to suppress the clan's heritage, not to be used lightly. Yet now it was reportedly brought to participate in the Dark Night Siege Battle? That was simply too astonishing.
But someone came forward to debunk the rumor, saying it couldn't be a true Immortal Ancient Weapon, at most a replica or a Heavenly King-level Great Dao ancient weapon.
Although the reality was somewhat exaggerated, hearsay suggested that some genius prodigies might indeed have the qualification to wield an Immortal Ancient Weapon.
And many forces, though not at that level, had sent out forbidden artifacts and secret treasures. Even if they couldn't compare to an Immortal Ancient Weapon, their effect at critical moments was no less, capable of unleashing terrifying power beyond the norm.
All of this was solely for the Dark Night Siege Battle, to compete for spots in the Ancient Divine Domain.
For this Dark Night Siege Battle, even if that ancient Heavenly King could truly act without restriction, facing the assault of those forbidden artifacts and even Immortal Ancient Weapons, whether he could withstand it was truly hard to say.
After hearing the news, Ye Chen, though surprised by the extraordinariness of the Ancient Divine Domain—that someone would use a heritage-suppressing Immortal Ancient Weapon—upon reflecting that the Ancient Divine Domain might contain the inheritance of Tai Sheng Huang, it became explainable.
After all, that was the supreme inheritance of an Emperor and Sovereign, Tai Sheng Huang who taught the mythical twin Sovereigns. The currently flourishing supreme Emperor and Sovereign clans could only look down upon the myriad realms, fearless of the Human Sovereign, by relying on the immortal legacies left by their ancestral Emperors and Sovereigns.
However, his intuition told him this matter wouldn't be so simple. This intuition stemmed from the Battle Saint's instinct, the most keen and extraordinary, often able to perceive some omens from the unseen.
"And you?"
Ye Chen looked at Wang Tian, wanting to know his plans.
Wang Tian shook his head, offering a bitter smile. He was no longer considered a great bandit now; everyone knew he had submitted to the Battle Saint King. Therefore, during the Dark Night Siege Battle, the bandit faction would view him as an enemy. If he came, he would be attacked, unavoidably.
"If there's a chance, I'll bring you into the Ancient Divine Domain with me," Ye Chen said, patting his shoulder, giving a corresponding promise.
Not long after, an invitation was respectfully delivered to Wind Heaven City. Opening it, someone was clearly inviting the Battle Saint King to participate in a gathering of the younger generation. The main purpose was to unite various forces to jointly attack Dark Night City.
Of course, the content of the invitation showed the utmost respect, the wording extremely polite, hoping the Battle Saint King would certainly participate in this discussion gathering. It was even stated that a limited number of commander figures would be decided there; the stronger one was, the more qualification one had.
"On the surface, they want to unite various forces to siege the city together. But those organizers establishing this discussion gathering probably don't have good intentions. They want me, the strongest of this generation, to become the sharpest spear, expending the greatest effort for this so-called siege. Then they can sit back and reap the benefits, entering Dark Night City with ease and seizing the spots."
Ye Chen gave a cold laugh, his eyes flashing with cold lightning. Pinching the invitation between his index and middle fingers, a glazed golden flame flickered, instantly turning it into a shower of ashes. He paid it no heed.
At this stage, how many could truly restrain him?
True Kings? Not even them.
He stood on the city wall, gazing towards that Dark Night City about to be plunged into boundless war, his eyes appearing very profound...