Chapter 1784: Emperor's Demise

In an instant, Ye Chen's state of mind underwent a profound transformation, evolving through the tribulation as both his trial and his opportunity for enlightenment. The insights he gained from facing the four emperors during his Saint Tribulation still applied today: only by risking his life completely could he defy the heavens and achieve the Dao.

Once again, he slightly closed his eyes, meditating on the Dao amid battle, piercing through the hazy mists to reach the most fundamental essence of the Dao, merging with the heavens and earth, standing shoulder to shoulder with the great Dao itself. He slowly raised his hand, grasping the heavens and earth to manifest all things, delivering a punch that seemed utterly ordinary yet forced the Tianxie Emperor to retreat.

The Qiongqi Great Emperor attacked, striking him with a palm that sent blood and bones flying. Yet, Ye Chen paid it no mind. In response to the Qiongqi Great Emperor's palm, he countered with a punch—the most fundamental and simple punch—that obliterated half of the emperor's body.

The six emperors converged, their imperial Dao laws intertwining to expand the Honghuang lands, trapping Ye Chen and eroding his Dao. Surprisingly, however, Ye Chen was unbound by the Honghuang restraints. He walked forward steadily, each ordinary step infused with the myriad aspects of the great Dao, moving through the Honghuang fertile soil as if it were uninhabited territory.

At that moment, the so-called imperial Dao laws were mere ornaments to him. Though they wounded his body, they also tempered it. He continued to suffer injuries, yet it seemed as if he felt no pain. The concept of death had become unimportant, or perhaps he had forgotten it entirely. With no distractions in his heart, he transformed under the tribulation and achieved nirvana within it. His Chaotic Dao returned to its purest state, gaining a spiritual essence, for the initial spirit of all things was the supreme Dao.

The battle scene had become utterly lawless; every punch from him made the emperors spill blood, their thunderous forms on the verge of collapse. This great war exceeded all expectations. Even the surrounding Quasi-Emperor level experts could not fathom what Ye Chen had endured, as he suddenly became so dominant that even the eight emperors united could not suppress him.

"How is that possible?" The Honghuang great clans stared wide-eyed, unable to accept Ye Chen's sudden surge in strength. Those were their ancestral emperors, who once ruled over all spirits! Now, eight of them together were being beaten into cripples one by one. As their descendants, watching this unfold filled them with frustration and rage. How could they not be furious seeing their forebears pummeled? Yet, their fury changed nothing—the Honghuang eight emperors were still being overpowered. In an eight-against-one formation, they were astonishingly counterattacked.

"Kill, kill, kill." Every Honghuang clan member had bloodshot eyes, grinding their teeth in hatred, desperate to charge forward, slaughter Ye Chen, devour his flesh, and drink his blood.

"Master." From another side of the void, Shangyin and Shangyang both looked toward Yantian Ancestor. "This is too strange."

Yantian Ancestor remained silent, his aged eyes narrowing slightly as his fingers in his sleeves moved in calculation. No matter how he tried, he could not divine Ye Chen's true identity—Ye Chen seemed like an endless loop. The more he failed to calculate, the angrier he became. As a Quasi-Emperor level expert, it was humiliating not to see through a mere Saint. The Honghuang clans hated Ye Chen, and so did he. Two of his Quasi-Emperor disciples had met their end—one in Ye Chen's heavenly tribulation and the other slain by Ye Chen himself. This was an enmity that could never be reconciled.

"Kill, kill, kill." His face twisted more ferociously than those of the Honghuang clans, like a bloodthirsty demon.

Under everyone's watchful gaze, Ye Chen unleashed his divine might. He opened his eyes, his gaze as still as an ancient well—clear and untainted, without dazzling divine light or intimidating coldness, only pure ordinariness and calm without a ripple. His attacks were also commonplace, yet their power was terrifying enough to shock all, forcing the Honghuang eight emperors into collective retreat.

"This guy must be cheating!" Xiao Yuan Huang grinned. "One person beating eight emperors? That's just insane."

"It's just like Ye Chen in the past, suddenly getting stronger."

"He must have undergone transformation and nirvana in the tribulation."

Chi Yang Zi sighed softly. "His level of comprehension is truly heaven-defying."

"The enlightenment from the tribulation is both an opportunity and a blessing."

Jiu Xiao Zhenren said with satisfaction. "He's indeed extraordinary."

"The eight emperors have been defeated." Bei Sheng murmured quietly, drawing flickering glances from the crowd.

The Honghuang eight emperors were indeed defeated, their imperial bodies shattered, streaks of fresh blood like bolts of lightning scattering across the heavens, returning from whence they came to the world itself. Notably, before their final dissipation, the Honghuang eight emperors all showed a sense of contentment toward Ye Chen, as emperors. This contentment had nothing to do with grudges; it was surprise and recognition for the later generations. After countless ages, the prodigies of the descendants were truly astonishing, surpassing even the Honghuang forebears. Such recognition from emperors was the ultimate glory. Though Ye Chen emitted no light, he shone brighter and more piercingly than the blazing sun.

"I bid farewell to the predecessors of past eras." Ye Chen swayed unsteadily, nearly falling, but steadied himself and bowed deeply with hands clasped. This bow had nothing to do with grudges; it was reverence for the ancestral emperors. Though the Honghuang descendants had tarnished their forebears' prestige, the emperors' pride still endured in the world.

"Impossible, this is impossible." The Honghuang eight clans roared in unison, unable to accept the breaking of their emperors' undefeated legend.

"What's impossible about it?" The human cultivators' descendants muttered curses under their breath. You thought you could bully the myriad heavens unchecked, but now look—your eight Great Emperor level experts, joining forces, were all taken down by our heavenly Saint. It's just that poetic—watching it is pure satisfaction. The most thrilling thing in this lifetime is seeing the Honghuang eight emperors extinguished today.

"Truly bringing glory to the myriad heavens." The human cultivators were all exhilarated, excited to the point of nearly leaping up. He was a prodigy of reverse-heaven caliber.

"The Great Emperors marched through life undefeated, yet tonight, they fell to a later generation. The later world has risen; we are old now." The elder cultivators all sighed with melancholy.

"It's as expected." Laughter echoed from the five forbidden zones.

"The Saint Body lineage is making a splash again." In the Ming Realm's Ming Mountain, the Ming Emperor chuckled. "I'm growing fonder of him."

Di Huang smiled without speaking, already accustomed to Ye Chen's feats of slaughtering emperors—this was mere child's play in comparison.

"Kill." Shouts of slaughter rose from the bustling Western Desert. They came from all directions, from the Honghuang clans. With the eight emperors destroyed and the heavenly tribulation truly ended, it was time for them to act.

Eight imperial weapons ascended to the sky, simultaneously unleashing extreme imperial radiance, aimed at Ye Chen. They pierced through the cosmic Honghuang, disrupting the balance of yin and yang, with destructive power that could annihilate the heavens and earth. The patch of heaven and earth where Ye Chen stood was enveloped in utter devastation, with apocalyptic visions appearing everywhere, as if doomsday had arrived. The human cultivators from all sides paled. Eight imperial weapons at this level of attack were beyond any rescue efforts. Even if they wanted to help, they lacked the power—Quasi-Emperors would die all the same.

Ye Chen's expression remained serene, calm and undisturbed, as the imperial divine radiance bore down on him without a hint of fear, for there was nothing to fear. In the next instant, he activated the Great Reincarnation Heavenly Dao, instantly escaping into a spatial black hole and evading the imperial kill strike. The eight bursts of imperial divine radiance descended, bombarding that stretch of heaven and earth into a wasteland of ruins, reducing everything to ash.

Ah! The human cultivators from all sides sighed upon seeing it. Though he escaped one tribulation under the Emperor Tribulation, he still could not avoid the Honghuang's extermination. This was his destined fate. Yet, he had left behind an immortal legend, to be told as a story to future generations in a thousand years.

"He's dead, he's dead." Sinister laughter echoed through the heavens, unrestrained and wild, from the Honghuang eight clans, excited to the brink of madness, some even disturbingly perverse and evil.

"Dammit." Xiao Yuan Huang and his group of juniors were furious enough to curse, their eyes bloodshot and fists clenched until they bled.

"This is infuriating." Long Jie cursed loudly. "We finally produced a talent, only for him to be snuffed out in his cradle."

"Imperial level kills— even with imperial weapons, there's no stopping them." Nan Di sighed. They were powerless to change this.

"Let's go." Jiu Xiao Zhenren waved his sleeve, sweeping away many of the juniors and opening a teleportation domain gate, instantly entering it. The old Quasi-Emperors, along with Chi Yang Zi and the others, were not idle either, opening domain gates and retreating swiftly. With the heavenly tribulation over, no one could guarantee that the Honghuang eight clans' anger had subsided. If they went berserk and targeted the myriad heavens' human cultivators, it would be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood—utterly tragic. Without imperial weapons, even Quasi-Emperor level experts had to temporarily avoid the edge. The Honghuang was too powerful, especially with clans possessing imperial weapons.

However, not everyone left. Some stayed, like Yantian Ancestor and his two disciples.

"The imperial Dao immortal methods promised by Honghuang." Yantian Ancestor extended his hand, his demeanor arrogantly superior, though his face showed displeasure. To help the Honghuang capture Ye Chen, he had lost two disciples.

"Immortal methods? What imperial Dao immortal methods?" The eight Quasi-Emperors all feigned confusion, playing dumb with impressive acting skills.

"Are you going back on your word?" Yantian Ancestor snorted coldly.

"We did say we would give imperial Dao immortal methods, but we never specified a time." The Qiu Niu Quasi-Emperor stroked his beard and smiled faintly. "We'll present them after our clan's matters are settled."

"You..." Yantian Ancestor nearly choked on his breath, realizing the Honghuang eight clans were reneging. It was a classic case of crossing the river and destroying the bridge, discarding allies once used. In that moment, his killing intent surged uncontrollably. As the ancestor of his lineage, when had he ever been toyed with like this?

Hmm? Seeing his killing intent emerge, the eight clans' Quasi-Emperors all turned cold, their suspended imperial weapons radiating imperial divine light. This made Yantian Ancestor back down, clearly forgetting who he was dealing with. These were the Honghuang great clans—the entire myriad heavens couldn't stand against them, let alone him. It would be suicide.

"Master, the other side is too strong; it's unwise to clash head-on!" Shangyang and Shangyin hurriedly sent voice transmissions, fearing their master might act impulsively and foolishly rush in. If he did, not only would they three perish, but the entire Yantian Dao Palace would be flattened by the Honghuang.

"Good, very good." Yantian Ancestor laughed sinisterly, finally suppressing his rage. Though furious, he wasn't foolish enough to fight when he knew he couldn't win. "Farewell." With a cold snort, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave. This trip had left him with pent-up injuries—mobilizing forces for nothing, failing to obtain the imperial Dao immortal methods, and losing two disciples. It was a total loss.

"What a thing—he thinks our clan's imperial Dao immortal methods are something ants like him can touch?" Watching Yantian Ancestor's retreating figure, the eight clans' Quasi-Emperors all sneered, each one eerily sinister. This was fortunate for Xiao Yuan Huang and the others, who had left early. If they had seen this, they would surely have laughed and mocked without end. This was the fate of being Honghuang's lapdogs—slapping a hot face against a cold backside. Now you've been tricked, haven't you? Serves you right. Facts proved that being a lapdog was thankless; those like Shangshan and Shang'e, those unfortunate brothers, were probably regretting it on the road to the Yellow Springs right now.