Chapter 1853: Battle Emperor's Path

Chapter 1853: Zhan Di Dao

The starry sky collapsed, stars exploded, and Ye Chen battled the emperors. Everywhere they passed turned to chaos, as if doomsday had arrived.

More cultivators were drawn over, and upon seeing the great battle, their expressions changed drastically, their faces turning pale and bloodless.

The Sacred Body was a legend, and his heavenly tribulation was known throughout the myriad domains. Others crossed tribulations with thunder, but he fought against the Di Dao.

Under the watchful eyes of all, Ye Chen bled profusely again. He was struck by Xuanyuan Di, losing an arm, and pierced through the chest by Yaochi Nü Di. Even his primordial spirit was not spared, heavily wounded by Yan Di.

Like a falling meteor stained with blood, he crashed onto an ancient star.

The sixteen emperors did not charge in but instead surrounded that ancient star.

The male emperors stood majestically, the female emperors gracefully, each forming emperor seals.

Immediately, sixteen brilliant pillars of light pierced through the starry sky, converging into a Di Dao cage that enveloped the ancient star.

This was an emperor-level immortal technique, cast by sixteen young emperors, aiming to refine the ancient star and Ye Chen along with it.

On the ancient star, the heavens crumbled, the earth shattered, dark clouds gathered, lightning flashed and thunder roared. Rolling rivers dried up in an instant; vast fields of flowers and grass withered away; and endless mountain ranges exploded, turning to ashes.

Ye Chen staggered to his feet, spitting fresh blood, his vital energy rapidly depleting, even his sacred blood quickly drying up.

The Di Dao-level refinement was overwhelmingly domineering, intent on turning this ancient star into his grave, reducing it all to dust.

The onlookers' faces turned ashen. The sixteen emperors were too ruthless; such a level of refinement would horrify even great saints.

"Open for me!"

Ye Chen ascended to the sky, clenching his golden fist. He merged ninety-nine Bahuang paths into one, enhancing it with Dao principles, bloodline power, and origin force, trying to blast open the cage.

However, his peak strike failed to shake the cage and instead caused his sacred body to explode from the Di Dao thunderbolts.

"How to break it?" His figure staggered, eyes blood-red, his vital energy mostly ground away, his momentum plummeting, his dominant combat power no longer at its peak.

In response to his roar, the sixteen emperors showed no reaction, their expressions cold and indifferent, devoid of any emotion, like puppets.

They represented the will of the heavens this time, mere manifestations of Di Dao laws, without the intelligence of great emperors. Their sole purpose was to exterminate Ye Chen.

"Lao Qi!" Kui Niu shouted, about to rush over.

"What's the use if you go?" Kui Niu Huang held him back. Not just Kui Niu—even quasi-emperors were powerless. This was Ye Chen's heavenly tribulation; outsiders couldn't interfere.

"The young emperors are truly despair-inducing when they go all out!" Qilin Huang shook his head secretly, feeling utterly helpless.

"Ye Chen's fate is sealed." Jiuxiao Zhenren sighed.

"Never!" Xiao Yuan Huang roared, shaking the starry sky, his golden eyes radiating divine light. "He is Ye Chen, the Archaic Sacred Body Ye Chen. He's slain true emperors before—how could he fear Di Dao manifestations? Lao Qi will survive this deadly tribulation."

"I believe it too." Kui Niu bellowed at the top of his lungs. The two brothers had utmost confidence in Ye Chen.

Listening to their roars, sighs and head-shakes echoed from all around.

The situation was against him. The Sacred Body was dominant, but the young emperors were all undefeated legends, and there were sixteen of them.

Ye Chen couldn't withstand this Di Dao-level refinement.

Not just Kui Niu and Xiao Yuan Huang—even the Great Chu quasi-emperors had lost faith. The enemy's lineup was too terrifying.

But they were powerless. Each person must face their own tribulation; rashly charging in would only invite their own doom.

As everyone watched, that star exploded, shattering into fragments that then turned to flying ash.

Such a massive star truly became dust of history, drifting with the stellar rivers. Glancing into the depths of the starry sky, Ye Chen was nowhere to be seen—he too had become dust of history.

Kui Niu and Xiao Yuan Huang's tense bodies relaxed in an instant, their faces turning pale. Reality was brutally harsh.

The people around couldn't hide their sorrow. He had once slain great emperors and forged myths, yet still couldn't escape the vast power of the emperors.

"Is this fate?" The Great Chu quasi-emperors clenched their fists tightly. The peerless Sacred Body had finally been erased by the heavens.

"He's still alive." Ren Wang roared, shaking the starry dome.

His words made everyone tremble in shock, all turning their gaze to that part of the starry sky.

Though Ye Chen was not visible in that space, the sixteen emperors remained. Since they hadn't dissipated, it proved the heavenly tribulation wasn't over. And if the tribulation wasn't over, the one crossing it hadn't died.

A breeze blew by, and the sixteen emperors all looked up at the void.

Not just them, the onlookers also raised their eyes.

Above the void, a cluster of golden light bloomed with divine radiance, faintly visible, accompanied by the resounding heavenly sounds of the Great Dao weaving together.

Beyond that, various visions appeared: divine dragons coiled, phoenixes cried, white tigers roared, and black tortoises paved the way.

The golden light spread, and the visions evolved further—vast rivers and mountains, forests and vegetation, expansive plains. This was the manifestation of all things, from the dawn of heaven and earth to the flourishing of eternal life.

"What's that?" The younger cultivators stared in astonishment.

"The Dao." Chiyang Zi spoke up. "Ye Chen's Dao."

"What do you mean?" The younger ones were even more confused upon hearing it.

"Transforming into the Dao to evade refinement." Jiuxiao Zhenren explained. "Before the star was destroyed, he had already escaped."

"The chaotic Dao of the Sacred Body is indeed profoundly mysterious."

"I told you! That kid isn't so easy to kill." Ren Wang grew excited, rolling up his sleeves and howling, "Fight! Kick their asses!"

His words drew looks from Jiang Taixu, Moyuan, Yaochi Xianmu, and the Di Dao inheritors, all collectively glancing over.

Their eyes were full of meaning, as if saying: Are you an idiot? Why are you yelling? Looking for a beating?

Even the Great Chu quasi-emperors tactfully stepped back, keeping a distance from this vulgar fellow, as if to say: We're not acquainted with him.

One had to say, Ren Wang was as crude as ever. Didn't he know that among the sixteen emperors, there was also the Human Sovereign? And he still dared to curse?

"They've moved! The sixteen emperors are advancing." Yan Laodao shouted excitedly, drawing everyone's attention.

The sixteen emperors stirred, but not in human form—they transformed into Di Dao immortal light, more precisely, into the Dao itself.

This was truly tit for tat: whatever Ye Chen did, they did the same. He enhanced his power, and they did too; he transformed into the Dao, and they collectively followed suit.

Looking up, sixteen strands of Di Dao immortal light shone brilliantly, ancient and profound, each one embodying the emperor's path.

At the same time, Ye Chen in the void had become a strand of golden light, facing off against the sixteen Di Dao strands in a chaotic melee.

The starry sky rumbled again, collapsing inch by inch. No human forms were visible, only sixteen strands of immortal light darting about.

Among them, Ye Chen's golden light was the most dazzling, tracing brilliant arcs through the starry sky.

The world finally understood: this was no longer a battle between the young Sacred Body and the young emperors, but a clash of Daos—the Chaotic Dao against the Di Dao.

One Sacred Body, sixteen emperors; one strand of Chaotic Dao against sixteen strands of Di Dao. The Daos clashed, seizing heaven's creation.

Such a scene was unparalleled in eternity. This heavenly tribulation had forged a new legend in the immortal river, destined to be recorded in history.

It could be seen that among the seventeen strands of immortal light, only Ye Chen's golden light grew brighter, while the sixteen emperors' lights gradually dimmed, unable to match his edge.

"Impressive! Actually devouring the Di Dao." Ren Wang clicked his tongue, seemingly grasping the clue—the Chaotic Dao was absorbing the Di Dao.

"Clearly, in the contest of Daos, Ye Chen has the upper hand." Donghuang Tai Xin smiled lightly. "I really underestimated him. Fighting sixteen and still being this dominant."

"Done beautifully." Kui Niu grinned.

Kui Niu Huang heard this and was covered in black lines. What? Our ancestor is getting beaten, and you're happy? You wastrel.

Kui Niu pouted, as if saying: I'm already holding back. If our ancestor weren't involved, I'd be cursing up a storm.

"The sixteen emperors have fallen." Chiyang Zi said with a sigh.

No need for him to say it; everyone could see. The sixteen Di Dao strands fell like sixteen shooting stars in the ethereal void, their lights dimming to the extreme before transforming back into human forms. Their figures were all illusory, nearly transparent.

Looking at the void, Ye Chen's golden light remained, staggering but not falling.

The sixteen emperors stood still, not attacking further. For the first time, they lifted their eyes, showing emotion—a smile befitting emperors.

That smile carried supreme honor, the recognition and contentment of ancestral emperors for a later genius.

After smiling, they began to dissipate, turning into wisps of ethereal clouds, returning from the heavens to the heavens.

"Red Lian." Moyuan stepped forward, calling out hoarsely.

"Sister." Chen Yi also approached, crossing over.

"Father Emperor." Wu Qing, Xiao Lu, and Tian Shuo all cried out.

"Ancestors." Canglong Huang and the others called out one after another.

Red Lian Nü Di turned back, her imperial smile making the world pale in comparison; Yaochi Nü Di also smiled lightly, looking at her brother Chen Yi; Xuanyuan Di faced away from Wu Qing, gently waving his hand; Yan Di and Xuan Gu Great Emperor both wore smiles of paternal affection.

"I bid farewell to the esteemed ancestors." Ye Chen bowed deeply, performing a junior's rite, showing reverence to the emperors.