Chapter 1525: Old Friend?

Kill!

The seven Shen Zi roared and charged forward with all their might. Feng Huang Shen Zi and Shen Zu Shen Zi were particularly fierce, their faces contorted like vengeful spirits.

They had believed that reaching the Saint level and merging with their origins and divine repositories would significantly enhance their combat power, allowing them to show off their strength. However, they had encountered a mysterious and ruthless figure who appeared out of nowhere.

Had they provoked anyone? Were they simply inviting trouble? Every major event seemed to end in defeat: the Yao Chi gathering, Dong Huang Ancient City, the ancient ruins, and now the Ling Shan Dharma preaching, where they were ambushed again.

As they thought about this, their anger grew, and their fury boiled over as they launched frantic attacks. They unleashed earth-shattering divine abilities and secret techniques without reservation, aiming to annihilate Ye Chen.

That stretch of the void had become desolate, with the sky collapsing, space in chaos, and cracks spreading everywhere, one after another.

Even ordinary Saints dared not set foot there; entering would likely result in being crushed into a mist of blood, their souls scattered.

Yet, Ye Chen acted as if nothing was wrong. He walked through the Taixu, soaring across the nine heavens. No matter how overbearing their attacks were, he simply countered with a single strike of his staff. They had all grown stronger, but he hadn't been idle either.

Although his cultivation had fallen to the initial Saint level, the opponents he had faced and the insights he had gained were unmatched. It was the most profound tempering.

Just as he had slain the Tian Mo Great Emperor more than two hundred years ago.

Just as he had fought through several heavenly tribulations against the Emperor Dao Law Bodies.

His profound comprehension of the Dao had reached a state of perfection, returning to pure simplicity, unmatched by anyone at the same level.

The Huang Gu Saint Body was invincible at the same rank—a truth proven by history, not mere empty words. Their fame was forged through countless battles.

"Who are you? Why are you helping me?"

Locked in battle with Yao Zu Shen Zi, Xiao Chen couldn't help but send a telepathic message.

"An old friend."

Ye Chen smiled faintly.

"An old friend?"

"Don't worry, focus on your fight. I'll handle all the major threats."

As Ye Chen spoke, he gently flicked his sleeve.

From within, a strand of light emerged, piercing the vast sky and landing precisely in Xiao Chen's hand.

Upon closer inspection, that beam of immortal light was a battle halberd, inscribed with ancient divine patterns and bearing the marks of countless years.

It was the Zhan Wang Ji, the lifelong weapon of the Zhan Wang.

In the great war against the demons, Xiao Chen had fallen in battle, and the Zhan Wang Ji had been left behind, later picked up by Ye Chen and carried for over two hundred years. Now, this divine weapon had finally returned to its rightful owner.

The Zhan Wang Ji possessed its own spirit, buzzing with what seemed like joy and excitement, filling Xiao Chen with a sense of immense familiarity.

"What a magnificent halberd!"

Xiao Chen roared to the heavens, his battle blood boiling and his fighting spirit soaring. A golden divine dragon manifested from within him, soaring through the sky like a war dragon.

"Die!"

Yao Zu Shen Zi charged, his hair disheveled, eyes blood-red, and hands forming a seal that could shatter the heavens.

Xiao Chen's divine eyes gleamed with golden light as he swung the halberd.

His strike was utterly dominant, its power unmatched. It split the seal in two and sent Yao Zu Shen Zi flying.

Demon blood splattered everywhere as Yao Zu Shen Zi's body instantly shattered.

But this one's regenerative ability was overwhelmingly powerful. Essence energy burned at the wounds, and demonic light swirled around them, causing them to heal once more.

Creatures like him could reform their demonic form even if reduced to a pile of flesh; it was hard to kill them despite being able to defeat them.

Xiao Chen snorted coldly, shattering the void with a step and lunging forward, his black hair whipping in the wind as every drop of his battle blood burned.

He fought like a madman. Though it was difficult to kill Yao Zu Shen Zi, he blasted him apart time and again.

Time was short, and he didn't know how long Ye Chen could hold off the enemies. Xiao Chen desperately needed to slay Yao Zu Shen Zi in the shortest time possible to settle that blood debt.

Yao Zu Shen Zi was terrified, sensing the aura of death. He no longer dared to fight and summoned a teleportation platform, attempting to escape.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Xiao Chen stepped forward in an instant, yanking Yao Zu Shen Zi back just as he reached the platform.

"Save me!"

Yao Zu Shen Zi shrieked wildly, roaring for reinforcements. If the fight continued, he would die.

Remarkably, his cries drew many others.

More demonic prodigies and talents rushed in, one after another.

These demonic elites were all from clans allied with the Yao Zu. If they helped slay the Zhan Ti, it would be a great achievement, and they could claim the bounty on his head.

Most importantly, it would bring them fame. Stepping on the Zhan Ti's blood and bones would be a glory for their path to imperial dominance.

But their wishes were beautiful; reality was absurd.

The Zhan Ti wasn't without aid—he had a guardian deity, and a fiercely dominant one at that.

Ye Chen welcomed all challengers, going from facing seven opponents to eight, nine, and then ten.

His movement techniques were divinely crafted, his spear strikes overbearing and sweeping. He wielded it with utmost grandeur, sending Shen Zi flying through the air one after another.

Seeing his ferocity, even more Shen Zi ascended, totaling over thirty. Weapons, secret techniques, formations, fist shadows, and palm seals rained down like a storm.

Ye Chen frowned, feeling the pressure, and immediately activated his forbidden laws.

The scene was utterly astonishing. The Shen Zi he sent flying couldn't be counted individually anymore—it was by groups. They charged in waves, only to be taken down in droves.

This stretch of heaven and earth trembled, obscured by dazzling secret techniques. Weapons and killing swords filled the sky, with fresh blood raining down in various colors, each drop representing a clan's heritage.

"This must be what a real prodigy looks like!"

The onlookers swallowed hard, their hearts trembling at the sight. He was too powerful.

"One person taking on thirty Shen Zi—this has already surpassed the Huang Gu Saint Body's past feats outside Dong Huang Ancient City!"

"This time, I should have just stayed with my family and returned to our ancestral land."

Nan Di sighed involuntarily, his expression full of meaning. "Coming to Xi Mo to listen to the Dharma, and I end up encountering such a ruthless character. I don't even know who he is—it's so oppressive."

"Anyway, I couldn't beat him."

Xiao Jiu Xian puffed out her cheeks. "I've never seen anyone fight like that."

The battle raged on fiercely, and the talents who hadn't joined in simply watched, showing no intent to help.

It wasn't that they didn't want to assist, but they hoped to use these fighters to force out Ye Chen's hidden cards and uncover his identity.

Unfortunately, it was awkward. The thirty Shen Zi not only failed to expose his identity but were instead sent flying all over by Ye Chen alone. The sight was genuinely terrifying.

"What family's junior is this? So extraordinarily talented."

Even the old folks on Ling Shan were shocked. Ye Chen's strength had shattered their expectations. Such a junior was dominance personified.

"Venerable One, can you discern that person's identity?"

Many turned their gaze to one side, where a Buddha sat, dignified and serene, with benevolent brows, radiating Buddha light and surging with nianli. His eyes were clear and profound, containing supreme Buddhist principles, truly extraordinary.

This was none other than Shi Jia Venerable from Xi Mo, who was supposed to deliver the Dharma lecture today.

By the schedule, he should have started long ago.

But who would have thought that the juniors outside Ling Shan would start a war?

As a quasi-emperor-level Buddhist venerable, he felt no anger and simply observed the battle quietly.

In response to the gazes around him, he only smiled, watching Ye Chen intently. His Buddha eyes showed admiration and a deeper meaning, as if he already knew Ye Chen's identity but chose not to reveal it.

Seeing this, the other old folks didn't press further and turned their attention back to the scene outside the mountain, focusing on Ye Chen.

As they watched, Feng Huang Shen Zi lunged forward.

That one was disheveled and gnashing his teeth, his face twisted in madness, like a rabid dog that had lost its mind.

From within him burst a bronze furnace, a terrifying artifact—a Saint King weapon with immense power.

However, fearsome as the artifact was, the person wielding it was even more formidable.

Ye Chen was overwhelmingly fierce, using his spear like a staff to send the bronze furnace flying. The Saint King-level furnace's divine light dimmed, nearly cracking.

With the artifact damaged, Feng Huang Shen Zi suffered a terrifying backlash and was flung backward, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Shen Zu Shen Zi and Mo Zu Shen Zi joined forces and attacked, their killing intent soaring. One formed hand seals, the other unleashed fist shadows—both supreme divine techniques, deadly arts.

Ye Chen snorted coldly and swung his staff abruptly.

Mo Zu Shen Zi was done for, sent flying with his seal.

"You're next."

Ye Chen shouted coldly, flipping his staff in a supremely dominant sweep toward Shen Zu Shen Zi.

But in that instant, he suddenly felt a chill on his back, a killing intent emerging that made his Saint body ache.

In a flash, he retracted his staff and sharply turned aside.

The next moment, a pitch-black killing sword rang out, grazing past the ghost mask on his face.

The sword's ring was deafening, its killing intent too strong—the mask shattered on the spot.

Ye Chen's true face was revealed, causing an uproar in the heavens and earth.

"Did I see that right?"

Countless people exclaimed in shock.

"The Huang Gu Saint Body is still alive?"

The onlookers' expressions turned spectacular in unison. "How is that possible? Wasn't he said to have died in the Ming Tu? So many saw it with their own eyes—what's going on?"

"The Nan Yu's ten thousand clans went to such lengths, issuing a clan-wide warrant with nine quasi-emperor levels and nine ultimate emperor weapons, and they still couldn't kill him? Has he become a god?"

"Under a clan-wide warrant, even the Tun Tian Mo Zun was wiped out, but the Huang Gu Saint Body survived. This guy is incredible."

"No wonder he has such overwhelming combat power—we should have guessed it earlier."

Zhong Huang and Nan Di both shook their heads with a smile.

"I wonder if Jin Wu and Kun Peng will come back from their ancestral lands once they find out. Such a massive operation, and they still couldn't kill the Huang Gu Saint Body."

"You little brat, we'll settle accounts after the battle."

Bei Sheng's beautiful eyes blazed with fire, a flush crossing her cheeks. As the divine maiden of the Jiu Li Zu, the Bei Sheng of Xuan Huang, and the top beauty of Bei Yue, she had been stripped naked by that shameless one—an event still fresh in her memory.

"I knew it!"

Xiao Jiu Xian giggled, her bright eyes twinkling like crescent moons.

"Are you all stunned?"

Bai Hu Tai Zi coughed dryly, glancing at Qing Long and Xuan Wu beside him.

"We're used to it by now."

Everyone laughed and shook their heads.

"What a divine figure!"

Even Long Zu Shen Zi and the others grinned. "He didn't die outside Dong Huang Ancient City, didn't die in the ancient ruins, and survived the clan-wide warrant. When it comes to survival skills, we have to bow to the Huang Gu Saint Body. It's like he has the life of a cockroach—impossible to kill."

"You're alive, you're actually still alive."

Feng Huang Shen Zi, Shen Zu Shen Zi, and the others laughed grotesquely, their smiles twisted with rage and excitement. They were furious that Ye Chen lived, yet thrilled because now they could unleash their revenge without restraint to make up for past regrets.

"Excellent."

Xian Zu Shen Zi chuckled darkly, his eyes burning with fervor, excited to the point of madness. With the Saint Body alive, he still had a chance to seize the Six Paths Immortal Eyes.

"It's really the Huang Gu Saint Body."

In another part of the void, Xiao Chen was stunned, his halberd strike hesitating for a moment as a look of admiration crossed his face.

"When did I have such an old friend?"

Xiao Chen was puzzled, certain he had never crossed paths with the Huang Gu Saint Body.

"This is impossible."

A voice spat blood—it was Yao Zu Shen Zi. He had just reformed his body when he heard Ye Chen was alive, causing him to vomit blood on the spot, his body cracking again as he howled in hysteria.

On Ling Shan, the old folks' faces were equally colorful.

During the battle, they had speculated about Ye Chen's identity, considering every possibility, but they never imagined it was the supposedly dead Saint Body. Now that they saw it, it was quite awkward.

As the main character in all this, Ye Chen remained expressionless, standing like a statue, utterly still.

His divine sense locked onto a distant patch of sky, as if he could see through the void to an elusive figure. That one was like a ghost, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.

It was the Ji Mie Shen Ti. The lethal strike that had just targeted him came from the Ji Mie Shen Ti—a sure kill.

If his reactions hadn't been fast enough, his head might have been pierced, and instant death wasn't out of the question.

"What a surprise for this king."

Ji Mie Shen Ti chuckled eerily, his withered eyes like bottomless abysses, flickering with dark light that made one's mind blur.

"One day, I will personally slay you."

Ye Chen replied calmly, his expression unchanged.