Chapter 1407: The Price

Boom!

With a deafening boom, that Saint King Soldier copper furnace exploded, its fragments raining down like a shower of light. Due to their immense weight, they embedded deeply into the earth upon impact.

Glancing again at the Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang, he staggered backward, blood surging from his mouth uncontrollably. The Saint King Soldier copper furnace was his life-bound artifact, and its destruction directly backfired on its owner.

Ye Chen stepped through the Taixu, crossing the vast sky, and with a peerless sword strike, sent him flying.

"You truly want to fight to the death?" Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang coughed up blood, his roar shaking heaven and earth. His hair was disheveled, making him look like a fiend from the Nine Nether, his blood-soaked form terrifying and grotesque.

"It's not about fighting to the death—it's about you dying." Ye Chen was overwhelmingly dominant, swinging his sword to attack.

Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang was wounded again and dared not continue the battle. Dragging his blood-drenched body, he turned and fled while shouting, "Kaiyuan Daoyou, save me, save me."

"Who is Kaiyuan?" Hearing Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang's words, many people scratched their heads in confusion.

"Kaiyuan Zhenren! You don't even know that?" someone said. "He's the real deal, a genuine Zhun Sheng Wang. From what Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang said, Kaiyuan Zhenren is likely in this ancient city."

Sure enough, as soon as those words were spoken, a faint voice echoed from a tavern in the ancient city: "Young friend, it's best to leave some room in all matters. Give this old man some face and show mercy where you can."

Ye Chen heard this and immediately laughed. "Senior, why didn't you step in and say something when the Yang Jia people were acting recklessly at the Zhou family? Or were you just sitting back and enjoying the show?"

"Are you accusing this old man?" A sinister voice came from the tavern.

"How could I? You're a senior, wise and respected. This junior wouldn't dare accuse you." Ye Chen spoke as he struck with a palm, making Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang spit blood. "However, since you enjoy watching the show, you should just stay put, drink your wine, and keep watching. Don't go looking for trouble."

"Good, very good." A laugh of extreme anger rang out, and the massive tavern collapsed with a boom. An elder in purple robes emerged, his Zhun Sheng Wang pressure causing the void to rumble. "This old man didn't want to get involved, but since you're so arrogant, I'll step in today."

With that, Kaiyuan Zhenren suddenly raised his hand, sending a divine light finger strike hurtling toward Ye Chen's back.

Ye Chen said nothing and simply ignored it, allowing the divine light to pierce his sacred body. In that same instant, he struck with a sword, cutting down the fleeing Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang.

Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang fell to his knees, smashing a pavilion to rubble. In the ruins, he staggered to his feet, but before he could steady himself, Ye Chen's palm arrived, grinding his physical body into a mist of blood. Only his Yuan Shen remained, trying to escape, but Ye Chen sealed it into the Chaos Cauldron on the spot.

At the same time, Kaiyuan Zhenren's attack came from behind—a peerless sword light.

Ye Chen couldn't dodge in time, and his right arm was instantly severed, golden blood splattering across the misty void.

Seeing Ye Chen gravely wounded, Kaiyuan Zhenren advanced slowly, blood-stained sword in hand, and stopped in mid-air. Stroking his beard lightly, he adopted the air of a superior elder: "Surrender now, and this old man will only destroy your cultivation and spare your life. Otherwise, I'll make sure you die without a burial ground."

"I'm just baffled—who gave you that confidence?" Ye Chen was amused. I just suppressed a Zhun Sheng Wang, are you blind or didn't you see it? If I can suppress Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang, I can do the same to you. Don't you have any sense?

"You're the one courting death, so don't blame this old man." Kaiyuan Zhenren said leisurely, stepping forward and instantly closing in on Ye Chen, delivering another deadly sword strike aimed straight at his Yuan Shen true form.

Splash!

Blood sprayed through the air, but the one wounded wasn't Ye Chen—it was Kaiyuan Zhenren.

In the previous moment, Ye Chen had invoked the Heavenly Dao, vanishing into a black hole and reappearing instantly behind Kaiyuan Zhenren. With a single sword, he cleaved open Kaiyuan Zhenren's back, exposing his spine.

This bizarre scene left the onlookers below baffled—why was Kaiyuan Zhenren the one injured?

They hadn't seen it clearly, and neither had Kaiyuan Zhenren. He was struck out of nowhere and hadn't even figured out what happened before Ye Chen's second sword arrived, chopping off half his body.

Kaiyuan Zhenren collapsed, plummeting from the void and smashing a deep crater into the ground.

"Senior, how are you feeling now?" Ye Chen stood in the void, smiling down at him. The arm that had been severed regrew, his recovery speed shockingly powerful.

"Who exactly are you?" Kaiyuan Zhenren struggled to his feet, his old eyes fixed fiercely on Ye Chen. With such combat strength and mysterious abilities, Ye Chen's identity was clearly no simple matter—perhaps the divine child of a major sect or sacred land, explaining his overwhelming power.

"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that today, you'll pay a bloody price for your foolish actions." Ye Chen descended from the void, unleashing a devastating sword strike.

Kaiyuan Zhenren's expression changed drastically as he hastily fled, barely dodging the sword by a hair's breadth and scrambling to a distance of a thousand zhang. "We have no grudge between us—do you really want to fight to the death?"

"That's why they say you're a Zhun Sheng Wang. Your last words are the same as Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang's." Ye Chen pursued him. "Let me reiterate for the junior: it's not about fighting to the death—it's about you dying. As for so-called grudges, in the face of the strong's rules, they're just a joke."

Kaiyuan Zhenren panicked, burning his lifespan as he turned to escape. Ye Chen's power had shattered his limits, and this once lofty figure had severely underestimated this Zhun Sheng.

Ye Chen sneered and chased after him with Shrinking Earth into Inches, striking with a palm that sent blood and bones flying.

Kaiyuan Zhenren halted, his eyes wild with madness as he summoned his life-bound artifact, which bore down from the sky.

This was a powerful artifact, another Saint King Soldier, even superior to Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang's copper furnace, forged from rare immortal iron. Its might was terrifying, causing the void to collapse upon its appearance.

However, despite its strength, it paled in comparison to the Chaos Cauldron. The massive, ancient Chaos Cauldron flew out on its own, colliding with it and sending it trembling.

With his life-bound artifact heavily damaged, Kaiyuan Zhenren vomited blood. His newly healed, blood-soaked body exploded again, even threatening his Yuan Shen, making his entire skull buzz.

Ye Chen advanced through the sky, his vital energy surging and immortal light swirling around him. His three Divine Plagues merged into one in an instant.

Screams erupted immediately. Like Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang, Kaiyuan Zhenren couldn't withstand the Divine Plagues' power—especially with three merged as one. The force nearly extinguished his Yuan Shen in an instant. Though he barely survived, he was half-dead, his divine sea pierced through.

Ye Chen closed in, unleashing world-shaking divine abilities one after another. The gravely wounded Kaiyuan Zhenren was forced to his knees, his already bloodied form reduced to something unrecognizable as he fell from the void a second time.

Ye Chen activated the Taixu Dragon Seal, infused with Dao principles and bloodline power, suppressing Kaiyuan Zhenren.

The spectators around couldn't help but twitch their mouths, some smirking at Kaiyuan Zhenren. You're really not up to snuff—at least Yang Jia Zhun Sheng Wang fought over a hundred rounds. You came out to show off and couldn't even last ten.

Showing off requires the capital to back it up. Many old folks stroked their beards meaningfully, or else you might get struck down, and the consequences—and the price—would be severe.

"S-spare me." On the other side, the suppressed Kaiyuan Zhenren looked at Ye Chen with eyes full of terror. Only now did he understand regret. He should have just stayed quietly drinking and watching the show, but he had to get involved, leading to this fate.

"Heaven's sins can be forgiven, but one's own sins lead to death." Ye Chen's expression was ice-cold and merciless as he raised his killing sword. "In your next life, don't provoke those you shouldn't."

"N-no, no!" Kaiyuan Zhenren's eyes bulged, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints. His mangled body turned ice-cold in an instant.

The raised Chixiao Sword fell, targeting Kaiyuan Zhenren's Yuan Shen. With one strike, it was obliterated completely, even a Zhun Sheng Wang's Yuan Shen true form unable to escape such doom, vanishing entirely into nothingness.