In the end, Ye Chen was completely bathed in surging golden light. His divine power boiled with immense vigor, his blood energy roared deafeningly, and he had recovered most of his strength. His essence, energy, and spirit were all much stronger.
He stood in the void like an invincible, peerless deity, overlooking the six directions and eight wildernesses.
Yuan Yao Divine King, Feng Wu, Sun God... one Young True King after another stood firm in the distant sky. They all felt an unprecedented wariness towards Ye Chen.
All the methods displayed by the Battle Saint King exerted an immense pressure, one that even supreme True Kings like them could not help but feel.
However, the wariness in their eyes was less than before. Having witnessed his ultimate battle with Cang Jitian, they had grasped many profound secrets and gained a certain understanding of the Battle Saint King's true strength.
In future battles, they would hold a certain advantage.
Boom—
A brilliant radiance shot up from the crown of Ye Chen's head. An immortal, magnificent divine crown floated there, displaying a lofty, noble aura as if it were the imperial crown of a mortal emperor.
The divine crown erupted with endless divine radiance. The gem inlaid upon it shone even more brilliantly, more dazzling than the sun in the sky.
The True King divine crown floated indeterminately, reflecting the golden light and resonating with a metallic hum that pierced the heavens.
At the same time, a True King divine crown also shot up from the crown of the defeated Cang Jitian's head. It was equally resplendent and majestic, yet different from Ye Chen's, as if forged from Azure Firmament Gold.
Every True King's divine crown was unique, one of a kind. Just like this Azure Gold divine crown, it belonged solely to Cang Jitian, certified by heaven and earth.
Now it appeared, but it was many times dimmer than Ye Chen's True King divine crown. Because its master was defeated, the divine crown no longer shone so brilliantly and was about to be devoured.
Whoosh! The Azure Gold divine crown transformed into a streak of light and directly merged into Ye Chen's True King divine crown.
Rumble—
At this moment, the True King divine crown above Ye Chen's head underwent a strange transformation. To its original foundation was added a noble azure gold, along with many intricate and profound patterns, making it even more extraordinarily magnificent.
Moreover, the flawless gem inlaid at its top fused with the gem from Cang Jitian's divine crown, becoming a two-colored gem that more resembled a brilliant dual-colored star.
Hum! The dual-colored True King divine crown, having absorbed another divine crown, suddenly shot up a divine radiance that pierced the heavens. Azure and emerald lights merged, rumbling with a long resonance that reached beyond the Nine Heavens. An unparalleled Sovereign's pressure slowly bloomed and spread.
It was as if the mythical Emperors and Sovereigns had descended to the mortal world, a trace of their majesty emerging.
Under this powerful Sovereign's pressure, everyone in this world couldn't help but want to kneel and worship.
Even Saint Lord-level powerhouses were horrified to find they almost had this impulse.
That impulse was like commoners in the mortal world encountering a lofty emperor—a desire to kneel arising from the depths of their hearts.
Even the True Kings in the distance felt the True King divine crowns within their bodies tremble and resonate. A sliver of awe emerged, resonating distantly with the Battle Saint King's dual-colored True King divine crown, yet seemingly carrying a strange sense of reverence.
It was like a subordinate facing a superior.
Was this the difference between a dual-colored True King divine crown and a single-colored one?
In other locations far across the Ancient Divine Continent, True Kings suddenly awoke, sensing the tremors within their True King divine crowns and receiving vague yet extremely important information.
In a True King battle, someone had fallen, someone had triumphed.
The True Kings' expressions changed instantly. Which two True Kings had fought, and who had won or lost?
Having lost a fair battle, with his True King divine crown gone, Cang Jitian seemed to age many years in an instant, his state of mind becoming despondent.
He smiled faintly, but it was filled with endless bitterness: "I lost. I accept it wholeheartedly, yet I am unwilling. You are at the Tenth Heaven, while I am not, only a hair's breadth away. Given a little more time, I would surely reach that step, but Heaven did not grant me the chance."
Ye Chen did not deny it: "Cang Jitian, I admit you are indeed astonishing. Not only are you an extraordinary Heaven's Pride from the Mythical Era, but your Supreme Law is almost perfected. Yet, you were always lacking something."
Lacking something?
Unfortunately, that 'something' was the difference between heaven and earth.
Cang Jitian's smile was extremely bitter, his face filled with desolation.
On the path to the Human Sovereign throne, across the myriad realms, True Kings competed and clashed. Every True King believed in their own invincibility, that they would be the final victor.
Cang Jitian was the same. He had always believed that even in this era, he would inevitably be the invincible one who walked to the end. He had even created his own Great Dao of the Five Elements.
Not to mention in the already shattered Mythical Era, but in the current Great Era, after emerging from the ancient seals, he had displayed his heaven-defying divine talent. Not only within the Cang Clan, but across the entire Qixia Domain where the Cang Clan resided, he had always swept through with an invincible posture, reigning as the number one among the younger generation of a great domain, unrivaled and unmatched.
One must know that Qixia Domain was different from ordinary great domains. It had several immortal forces and several Young Kings, making the competition naturally extremely fierce.
Yet he had also pushed through with an invincible posture, becoming the number one in Qixia Domain.
Later, during the Myriad Domains' contention, when the new generation of Heaven's Pride talents surged forth together, he had long since carved out a fearsome reputation, hailed by the world as a suspected True King, standing at the absolute peak of the younger generation.
For countless young aspirants aiming for the Human Sovereign throne, he was like a towering mountain blocking the path ahead, lofty and insurmountable, leaving his peers only able to look up from afar, out of reach.
All along, whether in the Mythical Era or the Golden Great Era, among his peers, he had never truly suffered a single defeat.
Even now, after all the True Kings had emerged together, he remained the same, standing shoulder to shoulder with the True Kings, overlooking the world—who could contend with him?
But today, he who was hailed as the undefeated myth, revered as the invincible Cang Jitian of his generation, had finally been defeated.
Defeated by the taboo figure, the Battle Saint King.
From now on, his progress on the Human Sovereign path would halt, and he would become the first defeated True King.
Ye Chen spoke softly: "When you reach the Tenth Heaven, you will see a whole new world."
"A new world?" Cang Jitian felt a flicker of anticipation but then shook his head. "I originally thought breaking through to the Tenth Heaven would make me many times stronger. But after battling you, my thoughts changed. The Tenth Heaven is nothing more than this."
"Nothing more than this?"
Ye Chen suddenly laughed, a bright and brilliant laugh. Yet his next sentence struck Cang Jitian like a thunderbolt: "Do you truly believe I fought with my full strength?"