Chapter 884: Dragon Soaring in the Sky

The heavens and earth were dim, and blood winds howled.

Time seemed to stretch into eternity in that instant.

The Shi Xue Army was filled with terror; everyone gazed up at the sky at that figure, like a war god or a demon king, holding Xue Zun's blood-drenched head in his hand. The sight was too horrifying to behold directly.

"And who else?"

Ye Chen roared, shaking the heavens and earth, with thunder booming.

The Shi Xue Army trembled collectively; they had been cowed by the killing, and that silhouette filled them with dread.

The Shi Xue Double Venerables—a joke!

Ye Chen laughed wildly, tossing Xue Zun's head down from the sky, and threw out Yan Zun, who had been sealed in the Hun Dun Shen Ding.

Buzz!

The pitch-black war spear hummed as he hurled it far away.

Thud! Thud!

Xue Zun's head was pierced through, and so was Yan Zun's. The Shi Xue Double Venerables were impaled alive on the same war spear, nailed high in the sky.

At this scene, the Shi Xue Army trembled again, their faces deathly pale.

Those were the double venerables of the Shi Xue Hall! Quasi-Tian peak experts, slain amid an army of hundreds of thousands of cultivators. What courage did they have left to advance? One step forward meant the endless hell.

In that moment, many people suddenly realized the truth.

Not long ago, when Shi Xue Yan Zun met his demise and the young masters of various great families were killed, it was all Ye Chen's doing.

"Kill! Kill for me! Retreat, and die!"

Shi Hun Wang roared in fury. If not for Nan Ming Yu Shu restraining him, he would have charged out without hesitation.

The Shi Xue Army surged forward from all sides, like tidal waves.

"Kill!"

Ye Chen charged straight into one flank, his Ba Long Dao in hand, stained with sacred blood and humming with power. The blade's light was unmatched, cutting a bloody path for its master.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ye Chen sustained wound after wound; even his Xian Lun Tian Sheng could no longer hold up.

Yet, he fought on fiercely, leaving a trail of mangled bodies behind him and treading a road paved with blood and bones.

Suddenly, in his blood-soaked state, he entered a wondrous realm.

He forgot his pain; his invincible battle intent allowed him to undergo nirvana and transformation amid blood and bone. Every drop of sacred blood in his body burned, every segment of sacred bone trembled, his sacred body essence surged, and his bloodline power raged.

The blade in his hand felt different now; though the path ahead was dark, he cleaved through it to reveal light.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

At some point, deep dragon roars echoed around him. A golden dragon shadow burst from his body, wreathed in thunder, its form agile as it circled him, its voice like thunder shaking the nine heavens.

"Zhan Long Zai Tian!" Xiao Chen, standing in the sky, murmured, his expression momentarily dazed.

"Zhan Long Zai Tian— to witness such a phenomenon again, I am not his equal!" Long Teng muttered to himself.

"Grandpa, what is Zhan Long Zai Tian?" A young cultivator, naive to the world, asked curiously, looking at the elder beside him.

"It is the external manifestation of an invincible battle intent," the elder cultivator said in awe, gazing at the sky.

"An external manifestation?" The young cultivator scratched his head. "Like an outer dao law phase?"

"No, not a dao," the old cultivator replied, shaking his head gently. "It is a will—an invincible will of 'I alone am supreme.'"

Ah! Ah!

On the blood-soaked battlefield, cries of agony filled the air.

The dragon form born from Ye Chen's battle intent crushed wave after wave of cultivators. Though illusory, it was as heavy as a mountain, its primary force being the invincible will that ground down their spirits.

Seeing this, Shi Hun Wang's face twisted with malice, his eyes flashing with cold light as he suddenly struck out with a palm toward Ye Chen.

"Do you think we do not exist?"

From behind Nan Ming Yu Shu, eight towering figures emerged, unleashing world-shaking divine abilities to block Shi Hun Wang's devastating attack.

In the other directions of the sky, figures like Gui Wang and Xue Wang stirred restlessly.

However, Zhou Tian Yi and Xiao Chen watched them closely; any move they made would invite a thunderous counterattack.

" Fight!"

Ye Chen let out a sky-shaking roar, accompanied by thunder and dragon roars that struck fear into the heart.

He battled to the point of self-forgetfulness; his sacred body cracked repeatedly, but his battle intent only grew stronger. It was an invincible will, as he fought on in blood, undergoing his own unique nirvana.

"My heart undying, my body indestructible."

Only now did he truly comprehend the essence of these eight characters. The path was full of thorns; without an invincible will, how could one achieve a bright and clear world?

"Kill! Kill for me!"

On the war chariot, Xue Qiong wildly swung his killing sword, pointing it at Ye Chen from afar.

Yet, he cowered in the rear; Xue Zun and Yan Zun were bloody examples. If Ye Chen turned his fury on him, he dared not face him in battle.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

As the crowd was repeatedly broken through, Ye Chen carved out a bloody path, charging out of the encirclement like a flood dragon.

"Damn it!"

Shi Hun Wang roared in rage, his killing intent soaring to the heavens.

"Chase! Chase for me!"

Xue Qiong issued the order, driving his war chariot in pursuit. Though he feared Ye Chen, he feared death even more; he needed Ye Chen to ensure his own survival.

The army moved like a black ocean, rolling after Ye Chen.

Yet, everyone knew it was impossible to kill him now. Aside from whether they could catch up, even if they did, Ye Chen could escape a second time just as he had the first.

They had already missed the best chance to eliminate him.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

In the misty sky, dragon roars echoed as Ye Chen shot forward like a streak of light, the Zhan Long Zai Tian following like a shadow. Wherever he passed, many felt an urge to kneel.

Behind him, the ninth branch of the Shi Xue Hall spread out across the sky, in hot pursuit.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Experts from the great families of Bei Chu swarmed out; Ye Chen could not be allowed to live.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

In the Shi Xue Hall's main hall, Shi Xue Yan Luo bellowed, mobilizing the armies of the other eight branches to converge from all directions, vowing to slay Ye Chen on the vast Zhong Tong lands.

Bei Chu was in uproar, Nan Chu was shaken, and the entire Da Chu was boiling.

"What a massive commotion!"

Gu San Tong and the others, still building walls at the Nan Chu border, received the intelligence and their expressions changed drastically.

The nine branches of the Shi Xue Hall and the major forces of Bei Chu joining forces—this scale far surpassed their Nan Chu Tian Ting. Such a vast force was mobilized just to hunt down one man, Ye Chen.

"Let's fight them head-on!"

Yan Huang Yan Shan had already grabbed his battle axe, and the entire Tian Ting was boiling with blood.

"Sound the war drums!"

Zhong Jiang's voice echoed through the heavens and earth.

The deep, resonant drumbeats spread across Nan Chu. The Tian Ting generals donned their armor, and the Tian Ting army quickly assembled. With Nan Chu unified, the Tian Ting army marched out beyond its borders for the first time.

"Stop!"

Just as the Tian Ting army entered Bei Chu, a figure blocked the sky. Upon closer inspection, it was one of Ye Chen's clones, holding a golden token inscribed with two characters: Tian Ting.

"The Tian Ting army, return to Nan Chu. Disobey, and be executed." Ye Chen's clone raised the token high, his voice ringing clear and firm through the nine heavens.

"I can't believe it—you popped up out of nowhere." Yan Shan, carrying his battle axe, shouted.

"This is what the original left behind before departing Nan Chu." Ye Chen's clone scratched his ear.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone frowned; no one present was a fool. Ye Chen had foreseen this very scenario and left behind this clone with the Tian Ting sacred token.

"Hope you all understand the original's good intentions." Ye Chen's clone still held the token aloft. "Tian Ting generals, stay at ease. The original has his own ways to survive. Hey, hey, hey—who just ran off?"

Before Ye Chen's clone could finish, a divine light streaked past him. It was Chu Ling Er.

"Ling Er!"

Heng Yue Zhen Ren and the others quickly acted, sealing Chu Ling Er in the sky.