Chapter 1601: He's Down Again

"Senior, save me."

Zhi Yang Dao Ren flew over unsteadily, clutching at a lifeline as he begged desperately.

However, the fishing old man, a Zhǔn Dì, ignored his pleas entirely, as if he were deaf.

Ye Chen arrived with his sword drawn, his expression cold and detached. He glanced at the old man before slashing Zhi Yang Dao Ren away with a single strike.

"Senior, are you truly going to stand by and watch me die?" Zhi Yang Dao Ren roared.

But instead of a response from the old man, he was met with another sword strike from Ye Chen. His entire body was sent flying, crashing through over a dozen mountains before landing, his form utterly destroyed.

Ye Chen crossed the sky in pursuit, his killing intent as cold as ice.

The onlookers followed, and as they passed the old man, they all bowed respectfully, their faces filled with awe.

"Is it true that even a Zhǔn Dì-level expert won't intervene?" the onlookers clicked their tongues in amazement. "Is Ye Chen really that terrifying?"

"Damn, this is awkward." Only after everyone had left did the Zhǔn Dì old man mutter to himself, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

It wasn't that he feared Ye Chen, but rather Tian Xu.

Even the Great Saints could see that Ye Chen carried the sacred bones of Chen Zhan. As a Zhǔn Dì, how could he fail to notice this secret?

Tian Xu had saved Ye Chen and given him Chen Zhan's sacred bones, which said it all. Provoking Ye Chen was one thing, but offending a forbidden zone could lead to unimaginable consequences.

"Save me." Zhi Yang Dao Ren's roars echoed through the heavens.

Yet, no one responded to his cries for help.

With three Great Saints already fallen and even a Zhǔn Dì unwilling to get involved, who would dare step in? Only someone seeking death.

Still, Zhi Yang Dao Ren, who was just a step away from Zhǔn Dì level, was incredibly fast, fleeing at an extraordinary speed.

Ye Chen chased and struck relentlessly but still couldn't take him down.

Sensing that delay could lead to trouble, Ye Chen went all out, burning his essence to boost his speed, closing the gap and swinging his sword.

Zhi Yang Dao Ren's back was split open, his spine exposed as he was hurled over eight hundred zhang, nearly cleaved in two.

"I'll fight you to the death." Zhi Yang Dao Ren's eyes were wild with madness as he sacrificed his origin, his combat power surging in an instant.

He summoned his life-bound artifact, a bronze furnace.

Ye Chen snorted coldly, channeling the power of the sacred bones into his Zhǔn Dì sword, executing a Zhǎn Xiān Hé strike that shattered the bronze furnace on the spot.

Pfft!

Zhi Yang Dao Ren spat blood, suffering backlash, and was sent tumbling through the air.

"Blood debts must be repaid in blood." Ye Chen pressed forward, his Zhǔn Dì sword humming as it mercilessly descended, intent on sending Zhi Yang Dao Ren to the underworld.

But at that moment, a divine light suddenly manifested from afar, striking the Zhǔn Dì sword with perfect accuracy.

Ye Chen was forced to stagger back, his gaze fixed on the distance.

From the east, three figures approached together, and he recognized them: the three Great Saints of Tian Fa Sheng Di.

Above their heads hovered a treasure seal, a genuine Zhǔn Dì weapon—the very one that had repelled Ye Chen moments before.

The heavens rumbled, not just with the three Great Saints from Tian Fa Sheng Di.

From the west, clouds churned as three more figures arrived: the three elders of Cang Ling Dian, their momentum overwhelming, with a divine mirror suspended above them—a true Zhǔn Dì weapon.

From the south, the void buzzed as three people stepped through the sky: the three elders of Yu Hua Shen Chao, all Great Saint level, with a black spear overhead exuding Zhǔn Dì might.

From the north, the firmament trembled as three elders drove a war chariot: the three elders of Zhi Zun Cheng, with a divine pearl above them, a Zhǔn Dì-level artifact that dimmed the entire world.

From the southeast, killing intent billowed as three more elders arrived: the three ancestors of Tai Qing Gong, bearing a Zhǔn Dì weapon—a killing sword wreathed in Zhǔn Dì-level laws.

From the southwest, immortal seas surged as the three ancestors of Piao Miao Gong swooped in, all Great Saint level, with a Zhǔn Dì-level treasure vase overhead, a notorious and fearsome artifact.

"This... this must be coordinated!" The onlookers paled, as Great Saint-level cultivators arrived in groups.

"Tai Qing Gong, Zhi Zun Cheng, Piao Miao Gong, Cang Ling Dian, Yu Hua Shen Chao, and Tian Fa Sheng Di, plus Zhi Yang Dao Ren—that's a total of nineteen Great Saints!" someone exclaimed in shock.

"And six Zhǔn Dì weapons, each one a deadly instrument."

"With this lineup, even a Zhǔn Dì would feel fear!"

"Ye Chen is probably done for this time. After all, he's only borrowing power—it diminishes with every use, and he can't hold out forever!"

"Good, very good." In the vast sky, Zhi Yang Dao Ren's unbridled laughter rang out, his eyes manic and confident, never expecting such powerful reinforcements.

Nineteen Great Saints and six Zhǔn Dì weapons—what a formidable force, enough to make even a Zhǔn Dì hesitate.

"Eighteen Great Saints, it seems you all think highly of me." Ye Chen surveyed the heavens coldly, as the many Great Saints arrayed themselves in the void, surrounding him in the center.

"Old grudges will be settled with you today." The Great Saints all snorted coldly, their auras merging into one, shaking the heavens and freezing the very air.

"How long can you sustain that borrowed sacred bone power?" A Great Saint from Tian Fa Sheng Di sneered, a playful smirk on his lips.

"Then come on." Ye Chen shouted, charging forward.

"Overestimating yourself." The nineteen Great Saints sneered in unison, moving as one—some forming seals, some chanting incantations, some wielding swords—all unleashing devastating killing techniques.

"Kill." Zhi Yang Dao Ren joined in, flicking his sleeves to summon a tattered array diagram that flashed with divine light.

Ye Chen advanced, his Zhǔn Dì sword unleashing its might, slashing the Tian Fa Great Saint until blood and bones flew, then flipping his hand to smash down like the sky itself, forcing the second Tian Fa Great Saint to vomit blood and retreat.

For the third Great Saint, he unleashed the Ba Huang Fist with all nine paths united, empowered by the sacred bones, obliterating half of the saint's body. A dignified Great Saint was defeated in an instant.

In return, Ye Chen suffered heavy wounds: pierced through the chest by a finger from the Tai Qing Great Saint and slashed across the back by a sword from the Zhi Zun Great Saint.

The Piao Miao Gong Great Saint was the most ruthless, using a Zhǔn Dì weapon to sever one of Ye Chen's arms, sacred blood spraying across the sky.

"Die!" Zhi Yang Dao Ren activated the tattered array diagram, sweeping out annihilating divine light that pierced through the misty void.

Ye Chen met it head-on, his sword decapitating Zhi Yang Dao Ren.

Zhi Yang Dao Ren retreated, his origin spirit damaged, hastily reforming a new head, his face twisted and ferocious like a malevolent ghost.

"Seal him for me." A Great Saint from Tian Fa Sheng Di charged in with surging killing intent, an array light in his palm—an ancient great array that descended from the sky, attempting to seal Ye Chen.

Ye Chen said nothing, as a chaos phenomenon suddenly appeared, chaos dao principles dancing wildly, breaking through the array's seal and soaring into the nine heavens.

That Tian Fa Great Saint knelt on the spot, his brow pierced by Ye Chen's sword, his origin spirit extinguished as he plummeted from the sky.

"You deserve to die." The remaining two Great Saints from Tian Fa Sheng Di roared in fury, wielding their Zhǔn Dì weapon to press the attack.

"It's all on your own heads." Ye Chen swung Fen Ji, repelling the Tian Fa Zhǔn Dì weapon, then swept his sword across the heavens, sending the two Tian Fa Great Saints flying.

Both were gravely injured, their fresh blood drenching the stars.

Ye Chen ignored the surrounding assaults, focusing solely on them, knowing to strike while they were weak.

The two Tian Fa Great Saints froze in place, their expressions changing drastically as Ye Chen charged. They hurriedly formed hand seals.

But Ye Chen was faster—one sword extinguished the wind god, slaying one, and with ten thousand swords united, he executed the other Great Saint.

The sight of the blood was stunning, making the onlookers' hearts race.

Three Great Saints, wiped out in three exchanges—now only sixteen remained of the nineteen.

Even the Tian Fa Sheng Di's Zhǔn Dì weapon treasure seal couldn't escape, shattered under Ye Chen's foot.

In ancient times, the Great Accomplishment Holy Body had clashed bare-handed with ultimate emperor weapons; tonight, though Ye Chen was but a fraction of that legacy, he was still overwhelmingly dominant, crushing the Zhǔn Dì weapon with his foot.

Fragments of the Zhǔn Dì treasure seal rained down like light.

The Chaos Cauldron seized the opportunity, swallowing them whole, leaving the onlookers stunned at its initiative.

Amid the cries of astonishment, Ye Chen was covered in blood in the sky, struck repeatedly by Zhǔn Dì weapons, his powerful sacred body cracking open.

"Exterminate him." The three Zhi Zun Great Saints closed in, each with a sword, nearly cutting Ye Chen down on the spot.

Ye Chen roared, his blood essence burning as he endured his spine being severed, swinging his sword to split one Zhi Zun Great Saint in half and flipping his palm to obliterate the second.

The third Zhi Zun Great Saint retreated with his Zhǔn Dì weapon, escaping death but with a face as twisted as a demon.

"War!" Ye Chen's shout shook the heavens, his entire body engulfed in flames, golden blood essence surging like a tidal wave.

He fought like a war god, his will invincible, pushing the sacred bones to their limits—every drop of blood, every bone fragment, radiating Zhǔn Dì power, utterly dominant.

"Suppress him for me." The Yu Hua Shen Chao Great Saint ascended to the nine heavens, activating his Zhǔn Dì weapon and pressing it down from above.

"Get lost." Ye Chen roared in defiance, charging upward against the heavens, uniting the nine paths of Ba Huang Fist to shatter the Yu Hua Zhǔn Dì weapon, sending that Great Saint vomiting blood and flying back.

Though he won that bout, he was cleaved open by the Tai Qing Gong Zhǔn Dì weapon, his sacred bones fracturing and sacred blood gushing forth.

The Cang Ling Dian Zhǔn Dì weapon's divine light swept over, crushing half of his sacred body skull and severely damaging his origin spirit.

Ye Chen soared into the sky, rampaging through the nine heavens, his wounds healing rapidly with surging blood essence, his sacred body forged like golden metal.

His sheer power astonished all, as he withstood a palm from the Piao Miao Gong Great Saint and turned to tear that saint apart.

"Sacrifice the array and seal him." Three Great Saints joined forces, setting up a formation with ninety-nine ancient war banners.

It was an ancient array, with countless runes flowing, ninety-nine linked in a chain, wielding sealing and exterminating divine might.

Ye Chen was trapped on the spot, his blood essence ground away significantly.

"Open for me." Ye Chen bellowed, slashing an opening with his sword and bursting out like a flood dragon.

But as soon as he escaped, he saw five Zhǔn Dì weapons hovering overhead, all buzzing as they descended together.

Ye Chen spat blood, his sacred bones shattering under the pressure, his legs bending as if sanctioning an eight-thousand-zhang mountain.

"Open!" He roared, his golden blood essence roiling, forcibly resisting the five Zhǔn Dì weapons' suppression.

"Suppress!" The surrounding Great Saints roared, each enhancing their secret techniques and madly channeling the Zhǔn Dì weapons.

The five weapons, just lifted, crashed down again, pinning Ye Chen in place.

His healing sacred body cracked once more, sacred blood seeping from the fissures, each drop painfully vivid.

"It's over, completely over. Five Zhǔn Dì weapons working together—even with the Great Accomplishment Sacred Bones, he'll fall." The onlookers gasped, their hearts in their throats.

"It's not that Ye Chen is too weak; it's that his attackers are too many and too strong." The elder cultivators sighed.

"If it were one-on-one, no one below Zhǔn Dì could match him."

"Die! Die!" Zhi Yang Dao Ren and the others grinned savagely, their eyes bloodthirsty, as they drove the five Zhǔn Dì weapons, forcing Ye Chen downward.

"Power, give me power." Ye Chen gritted his teeth, holding firm, his eyes blood-red, forehead veins bulging, his inner self roaring madly.

He needed power, more power, to break the suppression of the five combined Zhǔn Dì weapons.

Suddenly, his right eye's Immortal Wheel began to spin.

Then, a mysterious and ancient force awakened, its origin unknown but incredibly strong.

"Very good." Ye Chen laughed wildly, his blood hair dancing, as if realizing what his left eye's Immortal Wheel had awakened. He sacrificed his lifespan on the spot, triggering that domineering forbidden technique.

"Immortal Wheel Heavenly Burial, activate."