Chapter 2898: Single Combat Against Nine Emperors (V)

Boom! Rumble!

During the Emperor's tribulation, Ji Ningshuang was still resisting the thunderbolts that stretched endlessly into the ethereal void. She was launching a heaven-defying assault, needing to fight her way to the highest peak of the ethereal realm to catch a glimpse of the Emperor Path gate.

Her beautiful dark eyes were streaming with fresh blood. As a mother who had lost her child, she was driven mad. Though she dared not look, she knew Ye Chen was fighting desperately, on the brink of annihilation at any moment, possibly perishing in the next instant.

Ah!

The female demon god's shriek was filled with grief and fury as she charged against the billions of thunderbolts, defying the heavens.

Having lost her child, she refused to lose her husband as well.

Eventually, she caught sight of the Emperor Path gate, faintly veiled in the depths of the ethereal void, appearing and disappearing like a distant dream. She had to cross that gate to achieve emperor status.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The buzzing of Lingxiao Hall grew increasingly intense.

As Ji Ningshuang drew one step closer to the Emperor Path gate, Lingxiao Hall trembled once more.

It wasn't the hall itself trembling, but Ruoxi within it. They had merged bodies countless times and failed just as many, now attempting again while waiting—waiting for Yaochi to defy the heavens and become emperor. That moment would surely allow a successful merger.

Puff!

The blood splatter from the Cangqiong Emperor Path was extraordinarily brilliant.

It was the seventh peak emperor; his indestructible emperor body was actually shattered by a single punch from Ye Chen, leaving only his primordial spirit. He was the first to engage Ye Chen in battle, and from start to finish, he had suffered the most severe wounds. This time, his injuries were the most devastating.

A majestic peak great emperor, struck down by a small sacred body that hadn't even undergone tribulation, his emperor body destroyed with one punch. If another punch landed, even his primordial spirit could be obliterated. That tiny sacred body wielded punches that could destroy heavens and earth.

Puff!

After crippling one peak emperor, Ye Chen paid a heavy price. In destroying the seventh peak emperor's body, his own sacred body was nearly obliterated, leaving only half a ruined form. Though he wanted to finish off the seventh peak emperor, the other eight emperors wouldn't give him the chance.

"Forbid!"

"Destroy for me."

"Slay him!"

The eight peak great emperors attacked in unison, using seals, emperor path immortal arts, life-extinguishing techniques, or world-ending divine abilities. Their assaults rained down on Ye Chen like a storm—blade lights, sword glows, fist shadows, and palm prints filled the Cangqiong, each strike carrying destructive power, aiming to strike while he was vulnerable.

Ye Chen gritted his teeth and unleashed the Eight Heavenly Dragons.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Eight colossal dragons, each ten thousand zhang long and infused with blood successor power, performed the eight divine dragon tails.

Puff! Boom! Bang!

These sounds echoed one after another.

The eight emperors who had charged forward collided head-on, each taking a direct hit, sent flying in disarray. All blade lights, sword glows, fist shadows, and palm prints were swept away by the dragon tails.

Puff!

A flash of blood light, and Ye Chen exploded again. Though he had flung back the eight emperors, his injuries worsened. His already ruined body was now reduced to just a head from the backlash.

And it was a battered head at that.

"Reform, reform for me."

Ye Chen's eyes were wild with madness, relying on blood successor boundary recovery, enhanced by sacred path revival, innate regeneration, and various other restorative immortal arts.

His sacred body could not be destroyed. If it was, only his primordial spirit would remain, and even with emperor weapons guarding him or blood successor boundaries, there would be no way to turn the tide.

"Kill!"

The eight emperors roared and attacked once more.

"You little sacred body, you're truly formidable! We've thrown away our dignity, and today, we won't stop until you're obliterated."

"If it's war you want, then come!"

Ye Chen shouted, shaking the starry skies, like a divine ray shooting into the void. It was both a retreat and a bid to buy time—to heal his sacred body.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The eight emperors pursued relentlessly, like eight demonic lights.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Soon, rumbling sounds followed.

A great accomplishment sacred body and eight peak great emperors clashed in the void once more. Sacred blood poured like rain, and emperor blood fell like radiant showers, transforming into dragon and tiger shapes mid-fall, continuing their assaults until one side was utterly destroyed.

Below, the seventh peak emperor, who hadn't joined the fight, swayed in his primordial spirit form, twisted and contorted. He gritted his teeth, glanced at the void, and headed straight for Tianhuang.

He couldn't defeat Ye Chen, but destroying a small quasi-emperor undergoing emperor tribulation was child's play.

In other words, he needed an outlet for his rage. Wasn't she trying to protect her and achieve dao? Then he'd destroy her. Wasn't it about protecting all living beings? Then he'd slaughter the cultivators of the myriad heavens, leaving none alive.

Boom! Rumble!

His path was accompanied by thunderous booms, like eternal lightning shaking the ancient immortal firmament. His emperor might carried full destructive force; wherever he went, star domains collapsed, and countless cultivators of the myriad heavens were blasted into ashes. Not everyone was like Ye Chen, capable of slaying emperors and withstanding ultimate emperor might.

"You have entered my forbidden zone."

A desolate voice suddenly rang out.

Ye Chen, still battling the eight emperors, used Flying Thunder God, dragging his blood-drenched sacred body and vanishing in an instant.

Before leaving, he had marked several star spaces with reincarnation seals, allowing him to teleport back in times of crisis.

Boom!

He reappeared in a shattered star space, his landing causing the universe to collapse as he blocked the seventh peak emperor's path.

Upon seeing Ye Chen arrive, the seventh peak emperor froze on the spot, his first instinct to flee.

In fact, he was already escaping, turning and darting away.

"Stay!"

Ye Chen stepped across the void and slammed down a palm from the heavens, nearly obliterating the seventh peak emperor's primordial spirit.

Boom!

Before he could strike again, the third peak emperor arrived, thrusting a war spear that pierced Ye Chen's sacred body, nailing him to the star space.

The fourth peak emperor followed suit, his hand like a divine blade, splitting half of Ye Chen's sacred body.

"Get back!"

Ye Chen roared, yanking out the war spear and swinging it like a staff, sending the two emperors flying.

At this moment, the emperor war finally paused for the first time.

The seventh peak emperor was rescued, while the third and fourth peak emperors held their ground. The other six peak emperors also arrived one after another.

They stood in a neat line, separated by a blood-red star river, glaring at Ye Chen. Each face was ferocious, each pair of eyes savage, all grinding their teeth in rage.

Puff!

Opposite them, Ye Chen spat blood and staggered, his head suspended with a damaged Chaos Cauldron and his hand gripping the blood-dripping Xuanyuan Sword. He could barely stand, the reformation of his halved sacred body slower than before. Perhaps the blood successor boundary power was fading, or the earlier spear strike contained forbidden forces that countered it. Either way, his condition was extremely dire.

"You little sacred body, we've truly underestimated you."

The first peak emperor sneered, his face terrifyingly sinister.

"If it's war you want, then come!"

Ye Chen steadied himself again, tightening his grip on the Zhuxian Sword. His dark eyes reflected mountains of corpses and seas of blood, portraying utter destruction and an unyielding obsession. Before Yaochi achieved her dao, he would not fall.

"Kill!"

Ye Chen's tenacity drove the emperors mad, and they charged across the star river together, sweeping in with overwhelming demonic aura that engulfed the universe.

The nine peak great emperors refused to believe they couldn't destroy him.

"Battle!"

Ye Chen's sacred body burned like fire as he charged forward. The damaged Chaos Cauldron above his head and the armor formed from various emperor weapons buzzed intensely, forcibly gathering their divine power.

They were also mad, having reached a certain resolve, ready at any moment to separate and self-destruct, determined to land a heavy blow on the peak great emperors even in death.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The brief pause ended, and the great war resumed.

The Three Realms were in battle, and the Ancient Road was too, thrown into chaos. More heavenly demons and calamity demons poured from the Ancient Road into the Three Realms, surging like tides and rolling like terrifying waves.

Fortunately, no supreme beings fell this time. If another one descended, especially to the human realm, the myriad heavens would truly be doomed.

"I don't believe it."

In the western starry skies, the Calamity Demon Emperor roared in unwillingness.

Locked in combat with the Chaos Body, he was exhausted of divine power, reduced to a formless mass with half his emperor body turned to blood mud, his heart visibly pulsing in a horrifying sight.

The Chaos Body opposite him fared no better; the Calamity Demon Emperor's misery was mirrored in his own.

"Kill!"

The Calamity Demon Emperor howled, no longer caring about tribulation-seekers, intent only on obliterating this small Chaos Body. If he escaped now, he'd be stuck at the initial great emperor stage for life.

Zing!

The emperor's sword struck with devastating force.

What the emperor didn't expect was that the Chaos Body didn't dodge, allowing the sword to pierce through his chest and out his back.

Yet, he endured the emperor sword, took half a step forward, and wrapped his arms around the Calamity Demon Emperor.

Immediately, Chaos principles formed into rune chains, binding both himself and the Calamity Demon Emperor together. Every chain burned with emperor path divine fire; he had sacrificed all his emperor path power, fusing it into the chains.

"Break, break for me!"

The Calamity Demon Emperor roared, surging his emperor path origin to free himself from the Chaos Body's grasp and the rune chains, driven by an ominous premonition.

"Emperor, let's go together!"

The Chaos Body clung tightly to the Calamity Demon Emperor, his laughter mixed with blood.

As his words fell, the rune chains rattled loudly, and destructive power erupted. This was a force capable of slaying emperors, rapidly awakening in extreme violence.

Boom!

The boom shook that star domain to ruins.

The Chaos Body exploded.

The rune chains exploded.

The Calamity Demon Emperor exploded with them, his emperor body instantly reduced to ash.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The starry skies were shrouded in bloody mist.

"You can't destroy me, you can't destroy me."

Amid the surging blood mist, a vague human form appeared, twisted and laughing wildly.

It was the Calamity Demon Emperor—or more precisely, his primordial spirit, nearly transparent. His emperor body was gone, his dao roots destroyed, but his primordial spirit fire hadn't been extinguished. As long as it persisted, his life endured, and recovery was only a matter of time.

However, his laughter abruptly stopped.

Beside him, a Chaos vortex suddenly formed, spinning rapidly and sucking him in instantly.

"No, no, no!"

The Calamity Demon Emperor's eyes were filled with terror as he tried to crawl out, only to be dragged back in the next moment. The vortex devoured everything, its power irresistible.

"The myriad heavens' destiny, may it endure forever."

A voice echoed from the vortex, the Chaos Body's words, from his lingering obsession. For a brief moment, his illusory form manifested, glancing at the myriad heavens, at all living beings, and at the Heavenly Realm. Through the barrier between heaven and earth, he bid farewell to his master.

Daozu, still fighting the first lineage's great accomplishment sacred body, didn't turn around. He left his disciple with only a vague, Chaos-shadowed back, though his Chaos eyes were misted with tears.

Who said supremes have no emotions? They too have tears; they too feel pain.

Puff!

The vortex dissipated, the Calamity Demon Emperor's primordial spirit vanished, and the Chaos Body's obsession faded with it.

This supreme disciple, like Mingjue and Baizhi, died without dishonoring his master's name, achieving the myth of slaying an emperor, and walked the Yellow Springs road alongside a supreme.

No one saw him off, and the common folk had no strength to do so. From great accomplishment sacred bodies to heavenly realm juniors, all were in battle, figures collapsing into blood pools—parents, children, wives, masters, disciples...

This was war, a cruel war so brutal that there wasn't even time for grief.