Chapter 1991: Imperial Dao Stripping

Outside the city, the heavens were dark. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, all due to the overwhelming pressure from the Taowu experts. Hundreds of Great Saints exerted their might together, creating a suffocating atmosphere even for a Zhun Di.

From afar, the dense crowd of figures formed an encirclement, gradually closing in on Ye Chen.

In comparison to the Taowu experts, Ye Chen's figure appeared somewhat frail.

“Are you not going to surrender?” a red-haired Taowu Great Saint sneered, reaching out with a palm to grab Ye Chen.

“Surrender my ass,” Ye Chen cursed loudly and shot into the sky, vanishing in an instant, leaving the Taowu Great Saint grasping at empty air.

“He actually knows how to transform the universe into dust. Quick, seal off that space!” the Taowu leader shouted.

“He won't escape.” The Taowu experts chuckled sinisterly and joined forces again to seal the space, while those with heavenly eyes activated their divine abilities, scanning inch by inch.

In the dust space, Ye Chen had already summoned Yanluo's blood and was forming the Tong Ming Yin Jue seals.

It was a race against time—whether he could summon Yanluo first or the Taowu would break through the dust space.

To his astonishment, the Di Dao Tong Ming was ineffective, or rather, a mysterious force was blocking his connection to the underworld. That very force prevented him from summoning Yanluo.

“What the hell.” Ye Chen moved swiftly, summoning Yanluo's fresh blood a second time and quickly forming the seals.

But the second attempt failed just like the first.

Ye Chen stopped trying and narrowed his eyes, gazing into the void as if he could peer through the endless haze to the underworld. It wasn't an issue with Di Dao Tong Ming; the problem lay in the underworld itself, more precisely, a mysterious force that enveloped it, isolating the Di Dao Tong Ming.

In that instant, the dust space was discovered and shattered with a boom.

Ye Chen was blasted out and immediately surrounded tightly, preventing any escape via transforming the universe into dust. The Taowu had sealed the space in advance.

“Why aren't you running?” The Taowu experts grinned maliciously, not rushing to capture him but watching with amusement, as they reveled in the sight of despair.

“Pushing me to break through by force,” Ye Chen snorted coldly, manifesting an immortal sword in his hand.

“You overestimate yourself.” A Taowu Great Saint charged forward, his palm like a divine blade, slashing at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen said nothing, dodging in a flash and countering with a sword strike that sent the Great Saint flying.

This scene shocked not only the cultivators of the various heavens but also the Honghuang experts.

Earlier, with the aid of a Zhun Di weapon, Ye Chen could defeat a Great Saint, which they accepted, but now, as merely a Saint King, he had slashed a Great Saint away with one sword. His combat power was extraordinarily strong.

“Don't delay—take him down quickly!” the Taowu leader ordered.

“You, a mere Saint King, can't escape.” Hundreds of Great Saints swarmed forward together.

“The hell I can't?” Ye Chen shouted, spotting a weak point in the encirclement and charging straight for it, his sword carving out an immortal river.

Blood sprayed as three or five Taowu were hit, nearly cleaved in two.

“Where do you think you're going?” Two Taowu Great Saints attacked from left and right, one wielding an immortal sword and the other a battle spear.

Ye Chen didn't slow down, enduring a sword strike and countering to send the one with the battle spear vomiting blood and retreating.

But he paid a heavy price, struck by over a dozen Taowu Great Saints in succession, his powerful sacred body nearly exploding. Before he could steady himself, a barrage of attacks rained down.

Ye Chen gritted his teeth and used an evasion technique to avoid the fatal blows.

At the same time, he waved his hand to lay out the Di Dao Fu Xi eighty-one formations—some for trapping, others for slaughter—catching the Taowu off guard, with a few nearly perishing inside.

“Di Dao Fu Xi formations.” The Taowu snorted coldly, recognizing them.

“Pity, with your level, you're far from mastering them.” Over a hundred Great Saints roared and combined their strength, shattering the formations in a single strike. It wasn't that the Di Dao Fu Xi lacked profundity; it was just that there were too many opponents, and as a mere Saint King, Ye Chen couldn't unleash their full power.

Thanks to the delay from the Di Dao Fu Xi formations, Ye Chen gained a moment to breathe and instantly escaped several thousand zhang away.

“Where do you think you're going?” The Taowu leader joined the fight personally, a peak Great Saint whose palm strike made Ye Chen stagger.

Ye Chen didn't linger in battle but fled, burning his essence to boost his speed, covering another several thousand zhang in an instant.

Yet, he couldn't get away. Before he could escape again, a sky-covering barrage descended—sword shadows, blade lights, and weapons too numerous to count, like a vast ocean swallowing him whole.

Boom! Bang!

That stretch of sky collapsed with a thunderous roar, shaking the ancient city.

When the smoke cleared, the scarred void revealed a bloodied figure—Ye Chen, stumbling and barely able to stand after withstanding the assault from over a hundred Great Saints.

“So strong?” The cultivators of the various heavens were stunned. A Saint King had actually endured a joint attack from over a hundred Great Saints. No one could believe it; anyone else would have been reduced to ashes.

“Damn it, I nearly went down.” Ye Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura weakened.

“Excellent.” The Taowu leader chuckled darkly and advanced, while the other Taowu experts blocked all directions, tightening the encirclement. Each one's eyes gleamed with fiery greed, for Ye Chen's combat prowess and resilience made it clear his bloodline was formidable, and he likely carried treasures.

At that moment, experts from over a dozen other races also approached, clearly intent on claiming a share. Such prime prey couldn't be left solely to the Taowu.

Ye Chen steadied himself, glanced around, and turned to enter the dust space again.

Earlier, in his charge, he had broken free of the sealed area. This part of the sky wasn't restricted, allowing him to use transforming the universe into dust.

“This technique is useless in Honghuang.” The Taowu leader sneered and, with a hundred Taowu, sealed the space once more.

However, before they could search, Ye Chen emerged on his own, leaving the Honghuang experts baffled. He had entered and exited the dust space in an instant—what was the point?

“Idiots, all of Honghuang are idiots.” Ye Chen cursed and charged toward a weak spot.

“Kill! Kill him for me!” The Honghuang races lost their patience and attacked again.

Looking up, the Honghuang figures blanketed the sky like a tide or a sea.

The cultivators of the various heavens sighed, unable to bear watching.

But Ye Chen was stubborn. He swallowed a handful of pills to restore his vital essence and blood, then burned his essence again, charging like a frenzied Honghuang beast, unleashing attacks wildly without regard for the cost.

Because of this, the Honghuang races suffered significant casualties.

He fared no better, however, as a wave of attacks struck him down from the sky, smashing a massive crater into the ground.

Only then did he quiet down, not even bothering to stand, simply sitting there and vomiting blood profusely. To outsiders, he seemed utterly exhausted, and his survival was already a miracle.

The Honghuang experts surrounded him, encircling the land completely, their eyes blood-red and teeth gritted, eager to tear Ye Chen apart, devour his bones, and eat his flesh.

“What more do you have up your sleeve?” The Taowu leader grinned viciously, looking down at Ye Chen.

“How about letting me leave a few last words?” Ye Chen chuckled.

“Is this the final cry of an ant? I, the king—”

“Go to hell.” The Taowu leader's words were cut off by Ye Chen's shout. Not only that, Ye Chen suddenly sprang up and rushed straight at the Taowu leader, baring two rows of white teeth in a wide grin.

His aura turned wildly violent—it was clear he intended to self-destruct.

The Taowu leader's face changed, and so did the Honghuang experts'. They could see Ye Chen was going all out, determined to drag a few down with him to the Yellow Springs in his final moments.

If it were an ordinary Saint King self-destructing, it would be negligible, but Ye Chen was no ordinary Saint King—he was exceptionally powerful. His explosion would be devastating.

Boom!

With a thunderous blast, Ye Chen erupted into a mist of blood, the force creating a shockwave.

Those Honghuang experts nearby met a grim fate—over a dozen Great Saints were obliterated, while several dozen more were left bloodied and mangled, even the Taowu leader severely wounded, reduced to half a body for charging too far forward.

“Damn it!” The Honghuang experts' fury echoed like thunder, collapsing the high heavens.

It was a humiliation, an utter disgrace.

The mighty Honghuang races, with thousands of Great Saints, had been thrown into chaos by a single Saint King, suffering heavy losses. Worse, they hadn't even captured him. If word got out, where would the Honghuang great races save face?

On the city walls, the human cultivators sighed, feeling a pang of guilt.

If they had charged out earlier, they might have fought for a sliver of hope for Ye Chen.

But joining the battle would mean total annihilation—the Honghuang forces completely overwhelmed them. For survival, they had to huddle in the city.

“Damn, this is frustrating,” Lin Xing couldn't help but curse.

“Hey, lend me your Zhun Di weapon.” Suddenly, a voice chuckled in Lin Xing's ear.

Lin Xing was startled and turned to look beside him, spotting a figure hidden in the void, grinning at him. Upon closer inspection, it was Ye Chen.

Indeed, it was Ye Chen. The one who had burst out of the dust space earlier was his sacred war clone, used to distract the Honghuang attention, while he slipped through the chaos into the void and entered the ancient city.

His diversion tactic was cleverly executed, fooling both the cultivators of the various heavens and the Honghuang experts. Everyone thought he was dead.

“You're still alive?” Lin Xing mouthed, using divine sense to communicate.

“No choice—I'm just too tough to kill.”

“You sure are tough.” Lin Xing sighed in admiration and clicked his tongue. This clever maneuver had even fooled him.

“Enough chit-chat—hand over your Zhun Di weapon. I'm going for a counterattack.”

“With Jin Ni Wang around, even with a Zhun Di weapon, it'll just get stripped away.”

“Then I'll take him out first.” Ye Chen cracked his neck and glanced toward the city outskirts, pinpointing Jin Ni Wang with precision, his eyes flashing with cold light. “Once he's dead, everything else will be easy.”