That's right, the Human Sovereign Trial had completely ended. The Immortal Phoenix guarding the fifteenth level was already a Demi-Saint level guardian. The next level would be a true Saint Treasury Realm guardian, impossible to overcome by force.
The Human Sovereign Pagoda could sense Ye Chen's true cultivation level, so it opened the gate to leave the ancient pagoda at the fifteenth level. He could leave the Human Sovereign Pagoda at any time.
Gazing at the gate of light before him, Ye Chen let out a soft sigh. In this moment, he felt a surge of complex emotions.
Because challenging these fifteen levels had taken a full two years. Now, suddenly about to leave and return to reality, he felt somewhat reluctant.
After all, over these two years, he had been constantly battling the holy spirits of the mythic era in their youth, fighting relentlessly. Ye Chen had grown imperceptibly, becoming more polished and at ease.
Two years of battle, though not resulting in a true breakthrough of a major realm, would eventually lead to a great accumulation leading to a sudden outburst. When that time came, his power would increase manyfold.
However, looking towards the next level, a gleam flashed in Ye Chen's eyes. Within his body, another figure identical to him appeared—his Supreme Dao Body—which charged towards the next level.
Ye Chen was unwilling to leave just like that, but he also understood that with his current strength, there was no way he could defeat the sixteenth level's guardian. Yet he was curious and wanted to see just who the sixteenth level's guardian was.
The Supreme Dao Body pushed open the stone door. The moment it stepped through, Ye Chen's mind and the Supreme Dao Body were one, naturally able to perceive everything there.
A long divine radiance passage suddenly appeared before it. The Supreme Dao Body walked along the divine radiance passage, continuing forward. Finally, after half an hour, it emerged into a vast space.
Or, to some extent, this didn't seem like a space at all, but more like an expansive world, extremely vast and magnificent, its end not visible at a glance.
Even if Ye Chen's cultivation hadn't been severed by the Human Sovereign Pagoda, and he could fully release his divine sense, he still wouldn't be able to explore its true extent.
It could be said this was a splendid and beautiful world. There were divine islands one after another, and waterfalls cascading down, pouring from the Nine Heavens, silver torrents flowing.
As far as the eye could see, there were only elegant mountains and forests, clear streams, and verdant gardens under a blue sky, with mist drifting ethereally. Everything seemed so refreshing and pleasant, making one linger and forget to leave. It was simply like a peach blossom paradise, a paradise-like place, making one unwilling to damage this beautiful scenery.
However, Ye Chen paid no attention to these. Instead, he stood in the void, his divine sense fully released, his five senses and six perceptions heightened to their limits, cautiously guarding against the sixteenth level's guardian.
Boom—
Suddenly, a thunderclap exploded. The heavens and earth changed color, the originally clear and sunny blue sky instantly covered by layers of dark clouds, transforming into a massive vortex. Thick silver lightning streaks, like dragons, flashed across the world, and low rumbles of thunder exploded.
Ye Chen abruptly looked towards a distant Floating Divine Island. There, he could see a blurry figure that had appeared at some unknown time, something even he hadn't detected.
This person was very mysterious, his figure blurred and hazy, appearing tall and straight. Standing there, he seemed like the very embodiment of the Great Dao of heaven and earth. Countless Dao marks and divine principles cascaded down like waterfalls, concealing his form.
In the sky above, bolts of ten-thousand-zhang lightning fell, flooding the firmament and pouring down. It was as if a lake of tribulation light and thunder had descended, blasting apart the entire world, even causing one Floating Divine Island after another to sink and crash to the ground, dust filling the sky, flames shooting upwards.
It was as terrifying as a scene of world destruction, enough to frighten one's heart and mind.
That mysterious figure, submerged in the waterfall of Dao marks, stood up. Though he didn't deliberately release his aura, an intangible influence of earth-shattering Dao pressure spread out, enveloping the six directions and eight wildernesses, incredibly fearsome.
Who was this person?
Ye Chen focused his spirit, not daring to be careless.
He had battled the Golden-Winged Roc, battled the Vermilion Bird, battled the True Dragon, battled the Kunpeng, and battled the Immortal Phoenix. Without exception, they were all holy spirits, and all were invincible existences at the level of the young generation's supreme.
But for some reason, he felt this mysterious being before him was even stronger than the previous holy spirits.
This was an intuition from the depths of his being. Undoubtedly, as a Battle Saint, his intuition had always been accurate.
But how could this be? Because those holy spirits were so powerful, each one was someone Ye Chen couldn't kill, only able to wear them down over time.
Yet this person before him felt so utterly undefeatable.
Could there really exist such an invincible being in the world, surpassing the holy spirits?
How was that possible? Those holy spirits, each one was comparable to the Emperors and Sovereigns of myth. How could there be an existence surpassing them?
The mysterious sixteenth level guardian looked over from within the waterfall formed by myriad Dao marks. A pair of eyes held scenes of ancient collapse, terrifying beyond measure.
Ye Chen met his gaze. Even though his Primordial Spirit was not inferior to a Saint Lord's, at this moment it trembled slightly. And that was him; if it were anyone else, their Primordial Spirit would have shattered long ago.
What an extremely fearsome guardian, seemingly stronger than any previous guardian.
How could Ye Chen dare be careless? Moreover, the mysterious figure before him was at the very least at the young generation's supreme level, and a Supreme One prodigy of the Saint Treasury Realm. He directly activated the Battle God Seal, achieving Extreme Sublimation. His entire being broke through the barrier of the Saint Treasury Realm, standing within this domain.
The supreme aura of the Battle Sacred Body erupted. Dazzling golden blood energy exploded, like a golden ocean, with towering waves rolling and surging, sweeping across this world.
And Ye Chen stood within it, more like a golden war god descending to the mortal realm. Under the terrifying aura of his Saint Body, one Floating Divine Island after another was shaken into directly plummeting downwards, many even shattering mid-air.
Majestic and vast Saint might was fully released, overwhelming heaven and earth.
Only by using enhancement secret techniques like the Battle God Seal did Ye Chen feel he had the power to fight. Such means hadn't been displayed even against previous guardians, because he felt it was a form of cheating. Once used, he could almost overpower them, negating the intended tempering effect.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, Ye Chen rarely used such divine abilities.
In a fleeting moment, it seemed as if a spark of intelligence flashed in the mysterious guardian's eyes, startling Ye Chen. But the next moment he looked, it was gone.
Had he seen wrong?
He shook his head vigorously, completely dismissing the thought.
"After waiting so many years, a trial-taker has finally come."
Suddenly, the mysterious guardian spoke. Ye Chen felt a chill run down his spine.