"What is happening here?"
The nine Heavenly Kings of the imperial dynasties changed color one after another, looking at both sides, but more so at Ye Chen, because they had a certain agreement with him.
Thus, to some extent, they leaned more towards Ye Chen, rather than the Ancient Divine Palace.
However, the Sun God and the other True Kings all had divine radiance shining in their eyes, because the current state of the Battle Saint King was undoubtedly the same as when he confronted the Blood-clad Heavenly King. Primordial Chaos Qi surged, his aura shook the heavens—how overwhelmingly powerful it was, leaving them with no power to resist.
Was this the Battle Saint King's trump card?
Before Ye Chen could speak, Elder Tianmei spoke up. His complexion was very pale, having been shattered to pieces by Ye Chen once, and he was filled with killing intent. "The Battle Saint King is arrogant and overbearing. He intends to completely control this Great Power-level ancient ship and threatened us. If we do not hand over control of the ship, he will cause massive destruction and kill us."
"What!?"
Many people changed color, looking at the Battle Saint King in shock. Was he really so audacious?
But the various True Kings remained expressionless, instead looking at Ye Chen, as did the nine Heavenly Kings.
Ye Chen sneered coldly, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Truly a case of the thief crying 'stop thief'! It was you four old scoundrels who invited me into the grand hall, wanting to snatch back the Mythical Crown, and you've been using me all along to come to the Ancient Emperor Continent. As for me wanting to kill you four... although I don't want to say it, I have to ask: have your four old scoundrels' heads been squeezed by a door? Why would I, for no reason, not bring others to gang up on you, and instead foolishly challenge you alone? Next time you fabricate a lie, could you please use those brains of yours that have grown weeds?"
This single sentence directly made the four Heavenly King Xuan Elders so angry that smoke seemed to rise from their seven orifices. Although their cultivation was profound and they had achieved great attainments, they had basically been focused on cultivation and were in the transcendent place that was the Ancient Divine Palace. When it came to verbal insults, how could they be a match for Ye Chen, who had been tempered in the mortal world?
Being mocked and insulted so thoroughly, anyone could understand that this time, the four Heavenly King Xuan Elders wanted to frame the Battle Saint King.
Ye Chen looked at the nine Heavenly Kings of the imperial dynasties. "Gentlemen, it's time for you to act. No need to kill them, just suppress them."
The nine Heavenly Kings of the imperial dynasties also breathed a slight sigh of relief, after all, they didn't want to oppose the Ancient Divine Palace too absolutely. They rushed forward together, saying, "Forgive our offense, sirs."
But the four Heavenly King Xuan Elders remained motionless, especially the First Elder, who coldly shouted, "Stop if you don't want your clansmen to die."
The nine Heavenly Kings immediately stiffened, then understood something, looking at the four Heavenly Kings with shock and fury. "Scoundrels! What exactly have you done?"
The First Elder sneered. In his hand appeared a sparkling, crystalline blood-red bead, within which countless figures floated.
However, the Heavenly King of the Liuxia Imperial Dynasty changed expression drastically, because he clearly saw that the figures within this bead were all from the Liuxia Imperial Dynasty—from the current Sovereign down to his descendants, there were hundreds of figures from the direct imperial lineage, all floating uncertainly within the bead.
"This is a Blood Soul Pearl. Inside are wisps of Primordial Spirit marks from all the direct imperial lineage members of the Liuxia Imperial Dynasty. Heavenly King of Liuxia, if you dare to act, don't blame this old man for accidentally crushing it, which would cause all the imperial lineage of your Liuxia Imperial Dynasty to perish."
"What!?" Everyone on the ship changed color, especially the Heavenly King of Liuxia, who was both shocked and furious.
Although he had become a king and ancestor for many years, this was an imperial dynasty he had personally nurtured, all his direct descendants, the offspring who continued the dynasty's glory. He could not abandon them. He looked at the First Elder with anger. "What do you want?"
The First Elder did not answer him, but instead took out eight more beads in succession, each containing the Primordial Spirit marks of direct lineage members from the other imperial dynasties.
This move directly caused all nine Heavenly Kings to change color, their faces pale with both shock and fury as they looked at the four Heavenly King Xuan Elders. They never expected them to be so vicious, nor could they detect their methods, not knowing when they had accomplished this.
The Heavenly King Xuan Elders of the Ancient Divine Palace then sneered, "The Primordial Spirit marks of the direct lineage members of the nine imperial dynasties are all in our hands. You must be careful, otherwise, if this old man accidentally crushes one, an entire imperial dynasty will be wiped out."
This made the expressions of the nine imperial dynasty Heavenly Kings extremely ugly. The Ancient Divine Palace was threatening them.
Although filled with rage, they dared not be careless, because the opponent's methods were too vicious. Even the other heroes never expected that the Ancient Divine Palace, the undisputed ruler and overlord of the Ancient Divine Continent, would use such lowly, despicable tactics.
When Ye Chen saw the four Heavenly Kings of the Ancient Divine Palace looking at him with sinister smiles, his heart sank even further.
"Now, I order you to immediately kill the Battle Saint King. Otherwise, all the direct descendants of your nine imperial dynasties will die, and the nine imperial dynasties will be conquered and destroyed by my Ancient Divine Palace."
Elder Tianmei spoke, commanding the nine Heavenly Kings to kill Ye Chen.
A threat—a naked threat!
Everyone changed color, including the other Immortal True Kings.
The nine imperial dynasty Heavenly Kings looked at Ye Chen with some hesitation. They had a special agreement with Ye Chen, and compared to Ye Chen, their anger and killing intent were more focused on the Ancient Divine Palace. But the opponent had control over their vital points, making them hateful yet helpless.
They had a complete advantage in numbers. On a normal day, they might have been able to forcefully capture the four to intimidate them, but this was a Great Power-level ancient divine ship, which had become an unstable factor. It might hide Great Power-level defensive formations that could be activated by the four Heavenly King Xuan Elders to block the nine imperial dynasty Heavenly Kings.
"What a despicable Ancient Divine Palace!" Ye Chen was also furious. He never expected the other side to be so shameless and vile, coercing the nine ancient imperial dynasties.
Elder Tianmei swept his gaze over the nine Heavenly Kings, holding an imperial dynasty Blood Soul Pearl in his hand, and snorted coldly, "Why aren't you acting yet? Do you all want your imperial dynasties destroyed?"
"You—" The imperial dynasty Heavenly Kings were furious, yet helpless. They all charged towards Ye Chen, and some even transmitted helplessly via voice transmission, "Battle Saint King, we apologize."
Ye Chen did not blame them. He knew they had no choice and was even more shocked and angered by the shamelessness of the Ancient Divine Palace, yet also extremely wary.
Enough, enough. There was never any invincible external power, only the invincible self.
Ye Chen did not engage in battle at all, nor was he foolish enough to meet their attack head-on. He directly turned and left, using his extreme speed movement technique to flee far into the horizon.
"Thinking of escaping? Not so easy." The Heavenly Kings of the Ancient Divine Palace sneered. They actually piloted the Great Power-level ancient ship, with swathes of Dao marks and divine patterns appearing. Its speed instantly increased manyfold as it chased after the Battle Saint King.