After the Battle Saint King appeared, under countless astonished gazes, the Ancient Hua Heavenly King also emerged, actively approaching Ye Chen's side and making a gesture of seeing him off, causing countless eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets.
What in the world was going on?
The experts of the Ancient Hua Imperial Dynasty were even more dumbfounded.
Before leaving, Ye Chen spoke to the Ancient Hua Heavenly King: "Ancient Hua, in a while, I will be heading to the Ancient Divine Palace. You shall accompany me there."
Of course, this conversation was already shielded from the void, unknown to anyone.
If the world were to learn that the Ancient Hua Heavenly King had submitted to Ye Chen, who knows what kind of immense uproar it would cause, and it would also be detrimental to Ye Chen's upcoming plans.
The Heavenly King was one of his hidden powerful trump cards, not to be revealed unless absolutely necessary.
Upon hearing this, the Ancient Hua Heavenly King's eyes flickered rapidly, showing obvious changes, but he did not respond, tacitly accepting it.
After a pause, Ye Chen added another sentence: "I know you still feel somewhat unwilling about following me with your noble status as a Heavenly King, but in the future, you will feel honored by today's decision. Moreover, if possible, I will lead you away from the cage of the Ancient Emperor Realm to the myriad realms in the future."
Strike with a stick, then give a candy—Ye Chen naturally understood this principle.
Sure enough, after hearing this, the Ancient Hua Heavenly King revealed a look of pleasant surprise.
Because he was a figure from the ancient era, only surviving to this generation through slumber and seals, the curse shackles within his True Spirit were far more intense than those of people from the current era. Even with strength as powerful as a Heavenly King's combat power, he could not shatter these shackles.
Therefore, if he could leave the Ancient Emperor Realm and go to the myriad realms, it was actually a kind of yearning for him.
As for staying in the Ancient Emperor Realm, unless it was the Ancient Emperor Continent on the other side of the Chaotic Sea, he had long grown tired of the Ancient Divine Continent. If not for the sake of the Imperial Dynasty, he would have long wished to leave. Now that he had such an opportunity, how could he let it go?
The experts of the Ancient Hua Imperial Dynasty could only watch helplessly as Ye Chen departed, filled with unwillingness but even more with terror, all because of the Ancient Hua Heavenly King's earlier statement: Ye Chen's strength was not inferior to a Heavenly King's.
Others looked on with even more awe-filled gazes.
The Battle Saint King had truly matured into a formidable force and was, in the true sense, invincible among his peers in the entire world.
With Heavenly Kings not making an appearance, he could reign supreme in the world, finding it difficult to locate an opponent even after searching the vast Ancient Divine Continent.
The fact that Saint Lords could be killed with a single hand was the best example.
Now, with the Battle Saint King's departure, even a Heavenly King was seeing him off—who would dare to obstruct him?
The experts of the three great Imperial Dynasties wished at this moment that the Battle Saint King would leave sooner, because his presence here was a tremendous ordeal.
Ye Chen took a step forward and left the Ancient Hua Imperial Capital. After a few more breaths, he was ten thousand miles away, where a full eight True Kings had appeared. Looking at the Battle Saint King who had retreated safely and completely, they were filled with sighs and incredibly complex expressions.
The Battle Saint King was now completely invincible among his peers, standing above the True Kings, making them deeply feel a terrifying sense of threat.
This was not merely a matter of cultivation realm height, but also invincibility within the same realm.
In the same Saint Treasury Realm, perhaps one or two among the True Kings could surpass the Battle Saint King in realm, but in actual combat, they might not necessarily gain much of an upper hand.
Not to mention that he controlled the origin force of the Ancient Lan Great World; merely in the realm of the Mythical Tenth Heaven, it was a lifelong goal for many, even for True Kings.
Yet Ye Chen had long since stepped into it and was advancing along the Chaos Supreme Dao, which even the Mythical Emperors and Sovereigns had not succeeded in, having pioneered the most crucial first step and was now perfecting it.
Even these True Kings competing in the current era could not help but feel a trace of despair.
"The Battle Saint King has already surpassed us..."
This was a heartfelt sigh from a True King. In the past, they had competed within the same domain, even evenly matched, able to fight to the death, with neither being much stronger than the other.
But now, seeing the Battle Saint King's majestic figure, they could only utter such words.
This was also the sentiment of many True Kings.
They could naturally be considered young; in fact, compared to the long river of time, they were practically like infants, at the golden stage of life's ascending ladder, possessing infinite potential and still having enormous room for development in the future. They should be youthful and vigorous.
They should have vigorous fighting spirit, wanting to sprint to the pinnacle of the Great Dao. But now, facing their peer, the Battle Saint King, standing at such a height, they could not help but feel a trace of looking up, as well as a sense of inferiority.
When had such emotions ever appeared in their invincible Dao hearts?
It could be said that the existence of the Battle Saint King had, imperceptibly, already affected the Dao hearts of his peers, even making True Kings sigh with a sense of inferiority.
"Cough—"
Suddenly, Ye Chen shuddered through his entire body, and a stream of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, golden and brilliant, dyeing his entire face as colorless as golden paper.
He had been injured, and not just ordinary injuries—it was the price of opening the world portal.
Within the Ancient Emperor Realm, under immense suppression, Ye Chen simply could not open the world portal of the Ancient Lan Great World from a long distance to obtain its origin force.
At all times, there was a kind of supreme Great Dao origin exerting suppression.
This time, in order to forcibly open the world portal, Ye Chen had paid a great price, suffering severe backlash that caused serious injuries, even incurring some Dao injuries.
However, to avoid being detected by the Ancient Hua Heavenly King, he had forcibly suppressed it until he left the imperial capital, when it finally erupted.
His face was like golden paper, devoid of color. Although he had paid a considerable price, and even the world portal within his body would temporarily be difficult to communicate with, all of this was worth it because he had gained the allegiance of a Heavenly King—a force far superior to a world portal that could not be opened freely.
Only now, a full eight True Kings were eyeing him covetously, and some even revealed genuine killing intent, wanting to take this opportunity to kill Ye Chen.
Because Ye Chen posed too great a threat to them, even the greatest enemy on the Path of the Human Emperor, the biggest obstacle.
If they could seize this opportunity to kill the Battle Saint King, undoubtedly, for the present, it was the best chance not to be missed.
Ye Chen did not immediately wipe away the golden blood at the corner of his mouth. Instead, he looked at the eight True Kings, sensing the intense killing intent from some and the strong apprehension from others. He smiled: "Whoever wants to kill me, step forward. Now is the best opportunity."
The True Kings were taken aback. They had not expected that even at this point, the Battle Saint King could remain so calm and composed, such a calm attitude truly astonishing.
"But whoever wants to kill me must be prepared to pay the price of being killed by me like crushing a chick." Suddenly, Ye Chen's attitude became much more forceful, his expression indifferent and ruthless, looking down upon all the True Kings.