Chapter 2632: Assassin's Counterattack

Boom! Rumble!

In the dim heavens and earth, thunderous booms shook the sky. The Song Shan army suffered a crushing defeat; although they hadn't received the order to retreat, the entire army was in full flight. The hall masters and commanders in charge were nearly all wiped out—what was the point of fighting on? Without morale, any further battle would only end in defeat.

Puff!

High above a range of mountains, Ye Chen swung his staff again, obliterating another commander. He was in a killing frenzy, his whole body surging with murderous aura, truly like a god of slaughter.

"Next, leave it to them. Go help elsewhere."

Man Niu Wang patted Ye Chen's shoulder and then led the barbarian experts in pursuit of the Song Shan army.

Without needing to be told, Ye Chen withdrew from the battlefield. The Song Shan's defeat was irreversible, and as a war god-like general, he had no need to toy with these minor foes.

Turning around, his steps showed a hint of hesitation. Going to fight elsewhere wasn't out of the question, but how many could he kill? Would it ever be enough?

This massive melee involved nearly a million forces and races, each with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Even if he only targeted the enemy hall masters and commanders, killing them one by one would take until next year—and Hua Shan wouldn't hold out that long.

So, to capture the bandits, he had to capture the king first.

The trouble was, every force had protective barriers. A direct assault was unrealistic, and while he could try sneaking in cleverly, certain barrier-breaking immortal arts—like Di Dao Miao—were unreliable, working only sporadically.

"Hong Jun, you old fool."

As he thought about it, he dragged the Dao Ancestor out for another round of curses. At least Ming Di was more straightforward, without all those complications. Coming to the Tian realm had left him pent up with frustration, and here you were, still sealing yourself away.

With that said, he summoned a domain gate.

But before he could step through, a chill suddenly shot up his spine, icy and piercing to the bone, even making his primordial spirit ache with pain. It was a terrifying killing intent, and without looking, he knew someone in the shadows was attacking him.

In a flash, he tried to retreat.

Unfortunately, a powerful binding force from the shadows immobilized him, slowing his escape just enough. In that instant, though he dodged the fatal blow, the attacker sliced off one of his arms with a sword. Before he could steady himself, another killing sword pierced his chest from the side. As fresh blood sprayed out, a devastating finger strike followed, pulverizing his brow and heavily damaging his primordial spirit.

In just a split second, he was nearly destroyed.

And it wasn't over—the real killing move was an oncoming black sword light that ignored his physical body and targeted his primordial spirit directly. Before it even hit, Ye Chen felt his primordial spirit on the verge of splitting apart; that sword was overwhelmingly dominant.

Di Dao Miao!

Ye Chen snarled inwardly. More than one person in the shadows was sealing him in place. Escape was impossible now—he had to use this immortal art to resolve the crisis.

Alas, Di Dao Miao still failed.

In that critical moment, a trace of Di Dao essence fused into his magical power. The unreliable Di Dao Miao actually worked this time, making his body ethereal and barely evading the killing blow.

Oh? What a pleasant surprise.

In an instant, he forcefully broke the seal and soared into the sky to escape, then unleashed a palm strike that covered the heavens, slamming down from above. There were plenty hidden in the shadows—all assassins, extremely dangerous ones, and they coordinated perfectly: one handled the sealing, while the others delivered the kill.

Fortunately, his foundation was strong enough. If it had been anyone else, they'd have been instantly slain. Assassins he hadn't even sensed—that's how terrifying they were.

Boom!

The palm strike crashed down, collapsing the vast sky.

Puff!

The shadowy figures hiding in the dark were forced out, some in groups. Grunts and spits of blood echoed frequently from the shadows. Though not all were pulled from the void, none of them fared well. The lower realm suppressed their cultivation, capping peak quasi emperors at the saint level, putting them on the same tier as Ye Chen. Among equals, few could withstand his palm strike.

"Such esteemed seniors, how entertaining."

Ye Chen looked down, smiling at the crowd of black-clad assassins. He could sense their divine positions—they were undoubtedly sent by Yin Ming, numbering several hundred.

Below, no one responded. Pairs of lifeless eyes now held a hint of wariness and shock, all directed at Ye Chen, who had surprised them greatly.

They hadn't participated in the earlier siege of the Tian court; they'd only recently emerged from seclusion. They'd heard of Ye Chen's power but hadn't fully believed it—now they did. A mere quasi emperor surviving their kill attempt was astonishing enough.

And that palm strike just now was utterly dominating—over half of them had coughed up blood. A single palm forcing hundreds of quasi emperors to bleed—what incredible might.

"So many venerable seniors ganging up, I feel truly honored."

Ye Chen said lightly, taking a step forward.

In the same instant, a slender black sword thrust out from the void, but it missed—Ye Chen had dodged just in time, or he'd have been hit.

Though the attacker missed, Ye Dasha's palm struck true, forcing the hidden assailant out and obliterating their physical body, along with their primordial spirit in a true kill.

"Underestimated you."

The leading black-robed figure spoke in a monotone, his deep eyes now filled with even more wariness. Smashing a quasi emperor with one palm—that was impressive.

"Thanks for the praise, senior."

Ye Chen chuckled, channeling his origin to erase the killing intent in his body and regenerate his severed arm.

The opponents fell silent, one after another vanishing into the void—not to continue the attack, but to flee.

That was the way of assassins: they aimed for a single instant of killing. If it failed, retreat immediately. With the target on guard, further attacks were futile. Assassins gained no advantage in direct confrontation.

Their goal was to find another opportunity for a fatal strike. An open attack was easy to dodge; a hidden arrow hard to defend. Ye Chen would have his moments of oversight.

"As if I'd let you come and go so easily."

Ye Chen snorted coldly and stepped down, vanishing in an instant. Though not an assassin himself, his assassination techniques were no weaker.

Puff!

A hundred zhang away, blood light flashed as a blood-soaked figure plummeted from the space, a gruesome finger hole in their brow—they'd been pierced by Ye Chen, their primordial spirit destroyed and soul scattered.

Appearing for a moment, Ye Chen vanished again.

Puff!

Reappearing another hundred zhang away, a second figure fell from the void. Before hitting the ground, their body exploded into nothingness.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Blood rain erupted repeatedly afterward. Every time Ye Chen appeared, another died. He couldn't detect the assassins' aura, but he could lock onto their divine positions—spot on every time, slaughtering them one after another.

That stretch of heaven and earth saw no grand commotion or visible figures, yet blood flowers bloomed endlessly. The invisible slaughter in the shadows was cold and brutal.

If any great expert were present to witness this, they'd sigh in admiration: a group of powerful assassins being countered and killed repeatedly by one person—quite the spectacle.

"A god of slaughter?"

The veteran assassins were filled with shock, their faces pale beneath their black robes. Ye Chen's strength far exceeded their expectations. Weren't we the assassins? How are we being picked off one by one by a young quasi emperor?

This group of seasoned killers felt unprecedented melancholy. Had they been in seclusion too long? Or had their era passed, with later generations of monsters being too heaven-defying?

No one knew when the space finally grew still.

Ye Chen emerged from the void, covered in blood, one hand gripping a dao sword and the other holding a dead assassin's body, which he casually tossed into the emptiness.

After the pursuit, he'd wiped out more than half of the several hundred assassins. As for the rest, they'd fled too quickly, using domain gates to escape.

"In the lower realm, I am king."

Ye Chen glanced into the distance, as if peering through endless void to see the Tian court's ruler. Back on your Tian court turf, you couldn't kill me, and now in the Sanxian realm, your people still can't.

Slowly withdrawing his gaze, Ye Chen examined his body internally. With a thought, he fused a trace of Di Dao essence into his magical power and cast Di Dao Miao.

Hey, it really worked.

He'd truly underestimated Di Dao essence—it had this effect. Using it to activate immortal arts actually bypassed the Tian realm's suppression, a genuine bonus.

Next, he tried other Di Dao immortal arts like Yi Nian Yong Heng, Fei Lei Shen Jue, and Di Dao He An, all powered by Di Dao essence. They too ignored the invisible restraints and could be used.

See? Even these complications have loopholes. Di Dao essence was the loophole—who made it the Dao Ancestor's essence? It came with certain privileges.

Ye Chen laughed, grinning broadly.

With immortal arts at his disposal, he could pay some visits. Time to invite all those enemy holy lords, clan chiefs, and leaders out for a stroll.