Chapter 2683: Can't Hold On

Boom! Bang! Boom!

After a brief pause, the booming sounds erupted again. The two fighters grew even more ferocious, battling from Dōngfāng Cāngqióng to Nánguó Tiānxiǎo, then from Nánguó Tiānxiǎo to Xīfāng Cāngmiǎo, and finally from Xīfāng Cāngmiǎo to Běifāng Xūwú.

"Don't fool around. The driver is making his escape."

Shūra Tiānzūn reminded him of this, but Yè Chén was already thinking about it himself. He had scanned their surroundings more than once, trying to find the easiest way to break out.

As they spoke, Dān Shén arrived and thrust a finger straight through Yè Chén's brow.

The strike was terrifyingly powerful. Even with Yè Chén's strength, he nearly fell in an instant. A bloody hole opened in his brow, spurting fresh blood, and a surge of killing intent invaded his divine sea, aiming to erase his primordial spirit.

Yè Chén snorted coldly, summoning his Dao essence to dispel the killing intent. With a sudden flash, he soared into the sky, dodging Dān Shén's palm.

Then, he turned and fled.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Dān Shén roared, his blood-red hair flying wildly as he chased with relentless fury, wrapped in rolling demonic aura. All the while, he launched attacks.

Yè Chén's path of escape was calculated—he headed straight for wherever the crowds were thickest.

"Damn it."

The heavenly soldiers and generals cursed under their breath at the sight and quickly retreated.

Both of them were peerless tyrants, and the shockwaves of their battle were overwhelmingly vast. Even an Xiānjūn might not withstand it, let alone these foot soldiers, who could be obliterated by a single ripple.

Yet, Yè Chén was as shameless as ever, stubbornly charging into the throng.

As he plunged in, Dān Shén followed suit, heedless of who stood in his way, unleashing devastating attacks along the path.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Blood sprayed everywhere as the heavenly soldiers and generals suffered massive casualties, turning into clouds of mist. The once orderly formation of cultivators dissolved into chaos in an instant.

Several elderly Xiānjūn snorted coldly and positioned themselves around the area, forming hand seals to erect massive barriers that enclosed the heavens and earth.

Their message was clear: Stop rampaging everywhere—just fight inside the barrier.

Yè Chén ignored it completely, using his Dì Dào ethereal technique to pass right through.

Dān Shén did the same, deploying a Dì Dào immortal art to cross the barrier.

Huh?

The Xiānjūn were furious at the sight and layered barrier after barrier.

However, they had underestimated these two experts. To them, such barriers were mere decorations—anything below Dì Dào level was useless.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Yè Chén advanced while fighting, and Dān Shén pursued while attacking. The thunderous roars shook the nine heavens, and everywhere they passed, blood mist billowed, claiming countless heavenly soldiers and generals.

The army of several hundred thousand fell into disarray once more, with people and mounts tumbling over one another. Severed limbs, broken weapons, and scattered armor flew through the air. The weaker heavenly soldiers and generals vaporized into ash on the spot, painting a gruesome scene.

"Damn it all."

The heavenly soldiers and generals wore dark expressions, backing away the moment they spotted Yè Chén, as if he were the plague.

It was as if Yè Chén had become a harbinger of doom.

"What a mess!"

Onlookers from all sides shook their heads with hands clasped behind their backs, sighing. An army of several hundred thousand had been thrown into utter disarray by just two people, turning the battlefield into a sea of blood.

"Your Majesty."

For a moment, many Xiānjūn commanders glanced at Yǐn Míng, their faces wretched. The looks in their eyes held a glimmer of hope, wishing for Yǐn Míng to order an assault.

With a single command, the several hundred thousand troops would swarm forward, exterminating Yè Chén and Dān Shén together.

If this chaos continued, who knew how many more would die in vain.

Yǐn Míng merely smiled without a word, watching the scene with great interest. He quite enjoyed the spectacle. In his eyes, the lives of the heavenly soldiers and generals were cheaper than weeds.

He was seeking his own amusement, while Yè Chén was seeking his escape route.

After the uproar, the heavenly soldiers and generals were in total disarray, giving him the perfect chance to slip away amid the confusion.

"Kill!"

Dān Shén's roar carried a sky-shattering rage as he burned his essence and origin for a surge of power, boosting his speed.

Yè Chén's eyes blazed like torches as he used profound evasion techniques to dodge Dān Shén's assaults, charging toward one side. Once he broke through the encirclement, he would be free as a bird.

The heavenly soldiers and generals kept retreating, unwilling to attack without Yǐn Míng's order, only passively yielding ground and dodging quickly. If they got caught in the aftershocks, their fate would be miserable.

"Your Majesty."

Zǐyáng Xiānjūn, standing beside the jade carriage, looked at Yǐn Míng. His gaze made it clear—if this went on, Yè Chén might truly escape.

Yǐn Míng's lips curved slightly, but he said nothing.

"Anyone who blocks me dies."

From another part of the heavens, Yè Chén's thunderous shout echoed, no longer hiding his intent. He aimed to force his way out before Yǐn Míng could change his mind.

"Where do you think you're going?"

A cold snort rang out as someone blocked his path—not heavenly soldiers or generals, but the elders of Dān Shén Hall. With the troops holding back, that didn't mean they would. Whether it was ganging up or being shameless, they had to stop Yè Chén for Dān Shén.

"Get out of my way!"

Yè Chén's magical power burned like fire. He swung his staff, sending the great elder of Dān Shén Hall flying, and followed with a palm strike that flipped the second elder.

In return, he suffered heavy wounds, taking a sword from the third elder that nearly severed his arm. Dān Shén, right behind him, was even more savage, condensing thousands of secret arts into a single finger that pierced through Yè Chén's back.

"Seal!"

Over a dozen Zhǔndì from Dān Shén Hall arrived, casting sealing secret techniques, with countless magical tools raining down. They were clearly intent on a group assault. Yǐn Míng had said to give Dān Shén a chance, but he hadn't forbidden ganging up. Capturing Yè Chén would complete their mission.

"Seal this!"

Yè Chén sneered, performing a Swap Heaven and Earth technique, switching places with the ninth elder of Dān Shén Hall.

Though he escaped, the ninth elder wasn't so lucky. Before he could react, he was blasted to pieces, his soul scattering on the spot.

"Lock the space."

Hundreds of Zhǔndì from Dān Shén Hall joined forces, forming seals to confine the four directions and seal Yè Chén's divine abilities.

"Lock this!"

Yè Chén went berserk, releasing a beam of immortal light from his body—a Zhǔndì weapon that shot into the sky and shattered the seal. Another Swap Heaven and Earth sent yet another Dān Shén Hall elder to his doom.

"Bastards!"

The experts of Dān Shén Hall howled in anger. With the seal broken, they cast another, but as long as they couldn't lock down Yè Chén's Swap Heaven and Earth, they couldn't catch him. Worse, they kept losing people to his tricks.

They were dedicated, and Yè Chén was no slouch.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The explosions came one after another. Every time Dān Shén Hall sealed the realm, he detonated a Zhǔndì weapon to break it. He fought, exploded, and swapped positions all the way, carving out a bloody path.

"This guy is loaded!"

"At least he has dozens—are Zhǔndì weapons just cabbages to him?"

"It's worth it for survival."

The spectators watched in shock, their hearts skipping a beat with every Zhǔndì weapon's destruction. It was painfully distressing.

"Almost there, almost there."

The great demons and devils held their breath, like the Niú Mó Wáng, whose eyes were threaded with blood vessels. They hoped Yè Chén would break through the encirclement.

Pfft!

As they watched, Yè Chén coughed up blood, struck by another of Dān Shén's fingers.

The experts from Dān Shén Hall clung to him like dogskin plaster, with pursuers ahead and blockers behind, giving him no chance to breathe. Even if it meant exhausting themselves, they would wear him down here. The pills from Dān Shén Hall weren't so easily swallowed.

"Anyone who blocks me dies."

Yè Chén roared, his hair disheveled and his eyes blood-red. Ignoring his wounds, he charged wildly. With no Zhǔndì weapons left to break the seals, he had no choice but to fight straight through.

"Die!"

The great elder of Dān Shén Hall struck again, his sword devastating everything in its path.

Yè Chén didn't dodge or evade, taking the sword head-on and swinging his staff to send the elder flying.

Buzz!

The heavens hummed as the experts from Dān Shén Hall unleashed their arts—magical tools, divine abilities, and secret techniques blanketing the sky.

Yè Chén scoffed inwardly and cast Eternal Thought, summoning the other shore flower once more.

In that frozen instant, he used Shrink the Land into Inches, swapping positions with many others, finally bursting through the encirclement in strides of tens of thousands of zhàng.

"Oh? He really broke out."

But no sooner had the words fallen than, before Yè Chén could summon his Dì Dào domain gate, a sword light slashed toward him.

The sword was overwhelmingly dominant, carrying destructive power. It manifested suddenly, without warning, leaving even him off guard.

Pfft!

Blood splattered as he took the full force of the sword, sent flying back and crashing through countless Dān Shén Hall experts, along with hordes of heavenly soldiers and generals.

Boom!

He slammed into a towering mountain, which collapsed with a roar.

"I knew it—there must be someone guarding the perimeter."

"Look at that sword's power—it's from a master, infused with extermination divine might."

"Could be an Xiānzūn."

The onlookers murmured, all turning toward that direction to see who had struck Yè Chén back.

As everyone watched—the great demons, devils, heavenly soldiers, and generals—the space distorted, and a shadowy figure emerged, cloaked in black robes that obscured his features. His body flickered between illusion and solidity, like a ghost drifting on the Silent Extermination Immortal River, approaching from the horizon with a aura of desolation and destruction. The destructive Dao essence outlined apocalyptic visions.

His eyes delved into abyssal depths, and even a glance could make one's mind feel swallowed.

"Is that... Silent Extermination Xiānzūn?"

Someone exclaimed in shock, their expression full of disbelief.

"It's him, no doubt."

Many elderly Xiānjūn inhaled sharply, their souls trembling as if witnessing something terrifying. Numerous faces paled, as if they knew his background and his dreadfulness.

"Silent Extermination Xiānzūn?"

"What's his story? Never heard of him!"

The lesser Xiānjūn and Xīngjūn scratched their heads, curious.

"In the past, the Upper Immortal Realm was divided: one side under the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Court, the other under the Demon Lord's demonic lands. They opposed each other for a thousand years. It was Silent Extermination Xiānzūn who infiltrated alone and assassinated the Demon Lord, aiding the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Court army in conquering the demonic lands and unifying the Upper Immortal Realm, leading to today's Heavenly Court."

"Even the Demon Lord fell to him—no wonder he's so formidable."

The world was stunned, and the way people looked at Silent Extermination Xiānzūn now carried a hint of awe.

He was the real deal, a veteran from the Jade Emperor's conquests—who among them was ordinary?