Chapter 653: Slaughtering Gods

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Between heaven and earth, aside from the thunderous rumbles, there were the roars and howls of divine beasts.

Gazing up at the vast, empty sky, five massive divine beasts stood in formation, each formed of thunder and radiating overwhelming pressure. Their presence made the entire world tremble.

"Old... Old man, I'm just crossing a tribulation. Do you have to go this far?" Ye Chen said, his mouth twitching as he looked up at the empty sky.

"Let's fight them!" Taixu Gulong shouted excitedly.

"Let's fight them!" Ye Chen immediately rolled up his sleeves and charged into the empty sky with his Ba Long Knife.

At that moment, his golden figure was the center of attention, dazzlingly bright.

Everyone wondered how Ye Chen was managing to cross such a heavenly tribulation.

However, under the watchful eyes of all, the Ye Chen who had just boldly declared his intent suddenly turned and fled midway through the fight.

Yes, he really fled, faster than a rabbit. Perhaps running too quickly, he tripped and fell hard, but after scrambling up, he kept going without a second thought.

Uh!

Seeing this, everyone was stunned. You put on such a brave front, only to slip away?

Boom! Rumble! Rumble!

As Ye Chen fled, the sea of thunder and the five massive thunder divine beasts followed suit, matching his speed. The thunder strikes showed no mercy, striking anything in their path.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Soon, the roars of the five thunder divine beasts shook the heavens, and five thick beams of divine light shot toward Ye Chen.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Ye Chen was immediately sent flying by the five thunder strikes, his powerful Shengti body torn and bloody.

Then, he crawled up and stumbled away, yelling as he ran, "No more! I give up on this tribulation!"

His escape nearly terrified the onlookers, as the appearance of the five divine beasts had made the thunder even more ferocious than before. A single strike could obliterate one's soul.

"Scoundrel! Shameless!"

Crowds of people scattered in panic, cursing as they went. "Have you no shame? This is your tribulation—why is it chasing us?"

Pfft! Bang!

Amid the curses, Ye Chen was struck again and sent flying, collapsing a mountain on impact.

"You scoundrel, running won't help! This is your heavenly tribulation—it'll follow you to the ends of the earth!" Taixu Gulong couldn't hold back and started yelling.

"Dammit! One against five, those huge things—why don't you try it?" Ye Chen had just climbed out of the rubble when he was hit again and sent flying.

"No other way around it," Taixu Gulong said, picking his nose. "You chose to cross the tribulation, after all. But I'll warn you, it's only going to get stronger. Better end it soon."

"Damn it, I'll fight!" Ye Chen gritted his teeth and stopped retreating, stepping straight into the sky.

He ascended in one bound, shattering a descending thunderbolt with a punch, then charged upward against the heavens.

Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom!

He kept rising, blasting apart every thunder strike that came his way with overwhelming force.

In the void, his figure shone like a brilliant star, covered in golden divine light and radiating golden glory. His body was stained with golden blood, as if forged from pure gold—he was like an invincible golden war god, conquering all as he fought skyward.

Roar!

Perhaps his attacks provoked the thunder Shen Long, which coiled its massive body and dove down, spitting out a thick beam of divine light that knocked Ye Chen away.

Roar!

The thunder Shen Long roared again and unleashed another thunder strike, giving no quarter.

"Break for me!" Ye Chen stabilized himself below and unleashed his Ba Huang Fist, infused with various secret techniques, punching straight into the sky.

Bang!

His peak punch was devastatingly powerful, nearly shattering the thunder Shen Long.

But the thunder Shen Long quickly reformed, its body exploding with thunder light as it dove again.

"Messing with me, huh?" Ye Chen drew his Ba Long Knife and Wu Huang War Spear. He swept the spear to block the thunder Shen Long's strike, then charged into the misty void and, without a word, swung his knife downward, cleanly severing the Shen Long's head.

This sight made everyone's hearts race with shock.

Slaying a dragon?

It was a thousand-zhang thunder Shen Long, and its head was just chopped off like that.

Roar!

The fallen dragon head still roared, but in its cries, it dissolved into thunder and fell, its power so overwhelming that it struck bystanders who were still staring in awe.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

High in the void, Ye Chen, who had just slain the dragon, was hit with successive heavy blows.

Though the thunder Shen Long's head was gone, the other thunder divine beasts sent him spinning wildly, his dominant Huanggu Shengti body riddled with wounds.

"Again!"

Ye Chen burned his essence, channeling all his spiritual power into the Ba Long Knife to form a massive blade aura over a hundred zhang long.

Boom!

With one swing, he cleaved the thunder Bai Hu in half.

In that instant, he was struck again by the thunder Feng Huang, thunder Xuan Wu, and thunder Qi Lin, nearly causing his golden blood body to explode on the spot.

"Kill!"

Bloody and battered, Ye Chen stepped back into the sky, punching through a thunderbolt before swinging his knife to lop off the thunder Qi Lin's horn.

"Give me power!"

Ye Chen roared, and his eighteen clones activated fully, transferring vast star power and earth essence to him, which he refined into pure spiritual energy.

Buzz!

The Ba Long Knife unleashed its might again, manifesting a hundred-zhang blade aura that split the misty sky, sending the thunder Qi Lin's head tumbling down.

Pfft! Pfft!

His Shengti body burst open—his right arm was blasted into blood mist by the thunder Feng Huang, and his chest was gouged by the thunder Xuan Wu, nearly sending him plummeting from the sky.

"Dammit! I can't hold on." Ye Chen spat blood while fending off the descending thunder.

"You have to hold on," Taixu Gulong's tone was serious this time. "The longer you drag this out, the stronger it'll get. The thunder Shen Long, thunder Bai Hu, and thunder Qi Lin will reform."

"Hell with this!" Ye Chen cursed, though gravely wounded, he charged back into the sky with gritted teeth.

Immediately, the thunder Feng Huang dove down to crush him.

"Ah!"

Ye Chen roared defiantly, enduring the immense pressure as he swung the Ba Long Knife skyward. His sacred blood burned, generating surging essence that flowed into the knife, forming another hundred-zhang blade aura.

Pfft!

With his heaven-defying swing, he severed the thunder Feng Huang in two.

Pfft!

In turn, his remaining arm was blown apart by the thunder Xuan Wu.

Now, his body was in utter ruins—both arms gone, covered in countless wounds, with blood gushing from the hole in his chest. He was a bloody mess, barely recognizable.

This scene left onlookers from all directions in horrified awe. They knew they couldn't withstand such a dominant heavenly tribulation.

Boom!

A thunderbolt struck from above, sending Ye Chen crashing into the ravaged mountains below.

"Arms gone, barely alive—he's probably done for," many sighed.

"Serves him right to be struck dead," others grumbled, all looking disheveled from Ye Chen's tribulation.

"Better if he dies from it," the experts from the three sects sneered.

"Saves me the trouble," Yin Zhiping said with a sinister grin.

"Can he make it?" Ji Ningshuang gazed quietly at the void, feeling an inexplicable emotion toward that blood-soaked figure.

As discussions buzzed, the armless Ye Chen rose again, staggering and barely able to stand.

After battling four thunder divine beasts, he was at his limit.

"Don't be afraid, fight it!" Taixu Gulong's voice echoed in his mind, firm and resolute. "The heavenly tribulation represents the will of heaven and earth—it's the authority of the heavenly dao. The more you fear it, the more rampant it becomes. To defy the tribulation, you need an indomitable will. Listen to me—charge into the empty sky and shatter that damned thing with your invincible dao."

"Indomitable will, invincible dao," Ye Chen murmured, his eyes flashing with sharp golden light.

"Kill!"

With a roar, Ye Chen shot upward like a golden divine ray piercing the heavens. Amid the endless thunder, he seemed as insignificant as an ant, his body torn and bloody.

"My heart is undying, my body unyielding!" His defiant roars mingled with the thunder as the armless Ye Chen rammed the descending thunder with his flesh and blood head.

"This kid," Taixu Gulong, far away in some distant place, seemed to see Ye Chen's heaven-defying charge through mountains and rivers. That bloody scene even moved him.

"This..." Everyone around, whether spectators or pursuers, froze in place at the sight.

Boom!

As discussions continued, the sky trembled violently.

In full view, Ye Chen, charging upward, collided with the descending thunder Xuan Wu.

Rumble!

The heavens shook again, and to everyone's shocked gazes, the massive, thousand-zhang thunder Xuan Wu was shattered by the tiny Ye Chen.

"How is this possible?" Moments later, voices of astonishment and disbelief filled the air.

Whew!

Seeing this, Taixu Gulong, deep in the underground world of Zhengyang Zong, finally exhaled deeply.

He knew Ye Chen had shattered the thunder Xuan Wu not with brute force, but with an invincible will.

The so-called heavenly tribulation was the will of heaven and earth—the more you feared it, the stronger it grew. Breaking it required an unyielding dao heart.

"The Shengti lineage, an unyielding one," Fu Ya marveled in the grand hall of Tianxuan Gate. Even with her cultivation and composure, she couldn't help but sigh, for the boy in the water screen had shocked her deeply.

"A dao of self-confidence and invincibility is the most effective way to overcome tribulations," Donghuang Tai Xin smiled beside her.