Faced with a pillar of light imbued with destructive power, Ye Chen's eyes turned icy. He took a step with his left foot, clenched his fist, and instead of evading, charged directly up, slamming his fist into the beam of light.
Thwack
The air at the tip of his fist compressed into an arc, colliding with the laser beam in a deafening impact.
The laser beam, originally in a state of pure energy, wavered slightly under the force of the punch before abruptly collapsing, dissolving into a myriad of shimmering streams of light. These streams danced before Ye Chen’s eyes like fluttering butterflies, each one capable of tearing an ordinary person to shreds, but upon touching the Black Feather Armor enveloping Ye Chen, they were automatically extinguished.
The smiling expression of the Dark Prince froze suddenly, his pupils contracting. He stared intently at Ye Chen, secretly shocked by the strength the latter had just displayed.
In truth, although this punch carried immense power, Ye Chen had relied primarily on the Blazing Fist Gauntlets; otherwise, no matter how strong he was, he couldn't shatter an energy column like that.
“You are human?” The Dark Prince frowned as he looked at Ye Chen, an inscrutable light flickering in his eyes.
Ye Chen replied coldly, “I don't care which spatial plane you hail from, but in the next three seconds, vanish from my sight, or I won't mind adding a few more souls to the ledger.”
The Dark Prince scrutinized him for a long moment, then suddenly chuckled, “A joke. You think that will intimidate me? Since my birth, I have lived for 800 years, seen storms you cannot even imagine. Hmph. If you truly possessed such terrifying power, you would have already slain us. The dignity of the strong cannot be provoked.”
A cold glint flashed in Ye Chen's eyes before quickly returning to normal. He looked at the Prince with detached indifference. “You don’t believe me?”
The Dark Prince’s gaze flickered, and after a moment of deep thought, he smiled slightly. “Whether it’s true or not, we’ll know once we test it. I have 280 brethren; the cowardly and weak would have long since perished. I don’t believe you are truly that powerful…” With that, his figure moved, carrying the Dark Throne, and he charged toward Ye Chen.
Ye Chen’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly, his heart sinking slightly. If they engaged, and the Prince, a Ghost God Realm expert among the dark creatures, entered his ‘Ghost Form,’ Ye Chen would have no recourse and his secret would be exposed immediately.
Whoosh
The Dark Prince’s figure moved like the wind, his eyes eerie, his mass of serpentine hair billowing, sending chills down the spine. He raised a hand to grasp, his internal aura surging, coalescing into a long spear that he thrust toward Ye Chen.
Ye Chen found himself cornered; retreat was impossible, so he met the attack with a forward punch.
Whoosh
The fist pierced the tip of the spear. The entire spear instantly shifted from solidity to incorporeality, becoming like a projection—visible, yet intangible.
“En?” The Dark Prince raised an eyebrow. His transcendent intellect immediately grasped the situation, and a sinister grin curved his lips. “I see. It’s through a secret technique that you amplify your strength, but you are merely a novice who hasn't reached the Ghost God Realm. Hahaha…”
As a creature of darkness, he had learned from his father and numerous ancestral texts about various civilizations, knowing that some could create potent secret arts to drastically boost physical power. Seeing Ye Chen’s current state, he instantly made the connection.
Ye Chen frowned but, without hesitation, quickly retreated, accelerating away into the distance.
“When I acquired the God Blood, that black-winged man said he would dispatch subordinates in a year. His subordinate would be a Ghost God Realm expert, with a Myriad-Level physique and a combat rating of 500,000.”
“To prepare for that, I searched everywhere for ruins.”
“First, I established the Light Base City as a fortress against the confrontation, then I excavated the Fire Civilization to utilize the corpses of monsters from the siege battle—the objective was the Energy Divine Tree within.”
“The original plan was to first find a Beast Taming Civilization to acquire their technology to make myself stronger before heading to that ruin. Now, it seems the order must be reversed.”
Ye Chen’s eyes were cold. In his Superman Mode, his power exceeded 80,000, yet he couldn't handle a 10,000-level Ghost God Realm expert. He felt extremely helpless; this was the inherent flaw of Superman Mode, otherwise, it would be too overpowered.
Reaching the Ghost God Realm required a genetic metamorphosis, a type of evolution of life itself.
“With my current strength, I wonder if I can enter that ruin,” Ye Chen frowned, musing to himself, but his movement didn't slow. He bypassed the ruin entrance and sprinted toward the south-west direction.
“In my previous life, the knowledge base of the Atlantis Civilization recorded a Sixth-Level Ruin called the Xuanyuan God Tomb. This ruin was high-tier among the Sixth-Level Ruins, with a danger coefficient far exceeding the Fire Civilization. However, it contained a Ghost Treasure—the Xuanyuan Divine Sword.”
Ye Chen surged forward, covering several kilometers in the blink of an eye.
Seeing that his attack had been broken through, the Dark Prince decisively turned to flee, feeling momentarily stunned. Then, gritting his teeth, a cold light blooming in his eyes, he moved his body, piloting the Dark Throne to pursue.
This Dark Throne was made of an extremely special material, allowing it to fly incredibly fast, resembling a small rocket. Two propulsion vents at the rear expelled gases that caused the air to subtly distort.
Whoosh
Within a few breaths, he caught up.
“Die!” The Dark Prince’s face was contorted with malice. He slapped out a beam of black light toward Ye Chen.
Ye Chen ran at full tilt, yet it was as if eyes were on his back. Just as the black light descended, his body flickered, dodging by a hair's breadth, then he dashed forward without looking back.
“Once I obtain the Ghost Treasure, I can deal with a Ghost God Realm expert in ‘Ghost Form’,” Ye Chen thought, his gaze sharp. “In my previous life, this ruin wasn't opened by the Huaxia Base City until three years into the Dark Era.”
Ye Chen had never entered the Xuanyuan God Tomb in his past life, but he knew some things about it from the records in the Knowledge Tower.
“Obtaining the Energy Divine Tree was a matter of nine deaths and one life, relying entirely on the Fire Seal to succeed by sheer luck. This time, I might not be so fortunate,” Ye Chen clenched his fist, his expression chillingly cold. This was the first time he had fled since his rebirth, and it was the most humiliating.
However, in the apocalypse, there was no concept of running away, nor was there a concept of dignity…
To live was the ultimate way.
It was the foundation.
“He who laughs last, wins,” Ye Chen snarled, his face full of killing intent. “When I possess the Xuanyuan Sword, it will be the day I bathe in your blood!”
Swish, swish, swish
Streams of black light descended like a deluge, bombarding Ye Chen. His movements were elusive; treading the Sky Soaring Steps, he dodged through the hail of spears like a phantom.
Suddenly—
Ye Chen’s body stiffened slightly, and he was struck by a black light. The blow nearly shattered his spinal column, sending agonizing pain surging through him. Cold sweat drenched his forehead, and the dark horns on his brow had retracted without him noticing.
“Lightning Superman!” Ye Chen clenched his fist, his aura exploding again, growing madly.
“Die!” Ye Chen didn't flee immediately. Instead, he turned, fixing a gaze filled with killing intent on the Dark Prince. His figure vanished abruptly, without stirring a single speck of dust, disappearing into thin air.
The Dark Prince was momentarily stunned, and before he could process it, a sense of extreme crisis suddenly enveloped him. His pupils contracted involuntarily…
Boom
The Dark Throne was violently ruptured. A figure, swift as light and electricity, shot out from behind, piercing straight through the Dark Prince and hurtling into the distance.
A large hole was blasted through the backrest of the extremely hard, specially-made Dark Throne. Electricity flickered, and the entire throne trembled slightly before exploding into pieces.
In the distance, the Seductive Woman and the Winged Man rushed over. They paused briefly upon seeing the explosion, then hurried toward the site. They saw a large area of impact, scattered with fine components, metal shards, small instruments, and more. Emerging slowly from the black mist was a figure, slightly stooped, his ferocious snake-hair wildly agitated, looking rather battered.
“Bastard!” The Dark Prince gritted his teeth. “If I hadn't entered Ghost Form at the critical moment, I would have been instantly killed!”
To be instantly killed by an ant that hadn't even reached the Ghost God Realm!
What humiliation!
The memory filled him with rage.
“Kill! You must kill him for me! I want his soul to suffer torment forever! I want him to be my slave for all eternity!” The Dark Prince roared toward the heavens, then lowered his head, clenching his fist, his eyes unnatural as he stared in the direction Ye Chen had fled. “You cannot escape. Even if I destroy the Source God Star, I will find you!”
The Seductive Woman and the Winged Man beside him were somewhat shocked, realizing that even the mighty Dark Prince had suffered a minor loss and had his Throne destroyed by Ye Chen.
“What are you standing around for? Chase him!” The Dark Prince snapped, his gaze ferocious.
The Seductive Woman and the Winged Man shivered, quickly nodding, and pursued Ye Chen’s trajectory.
The Dark Prince’s figure moved, surging forward. He entered his Ghost Form, appearing like a projection; if he wished, he could become completely invisible.
However, the Ghost Form consumed massive amounts of energy.
Yet, thinking of the terrifying killing intent Ye Chen had erupted with moments ago, he felt a lingering fear. Even if it meant draining his energy, he had to endure it, which only fueled the hatred in his heart for Ye Chen.
“You will repay this a hundredfold!”
Whoosh, whoosh
Ye Chen’s figure darted like the wind, moving at terrifying speed under the Lightning Superman Mode. Within a few breaths, he had put significant distance between himself and the Dark Prince and his entourage, flying from the original site of the Huaxia Base City—the Mentougou District of Beijing—to the Tongzhou District.
Faster, faster!
Ye Chen streaked like the wind, rushing forward without daring to stop for a moment. Once the Lightning Superman Mode wore off, his base physique of Level 1400 against these three Ghost God Realm monsters would be like a sedan crashing head-on into a massive truck—suicide.
Time ticked by, second by second.
99 seconds, 98 seconds, 97 seconds…
Ye Chen silently kept count, his figure streaking over mountains and rivers. He encountered countless monsters and survivors along the way but ignored them all, blasting past.
A survivor team was hunting monsters when they suddenly felt a violent gust of wind sweep past, kicking up dust from the ground. They turned in astonishment but saw nothing.