Beneath the purple canopy of the metal carriage sat a youth in rich brocade, attended by several breathtakingly beautiful women, their fragrance intoxicating as they poured wine and laughed—a scene of pure, decadent pleasure.

Ye Chen had not expected to see a vehicle of such ancient styling here. As he watched the carriage approach, his brow furrowed. Just as he prepared to step aside, the two Flame Qilin beasts pulling the carriage suddenly fixed him with blazing, wide eyes and lunged forward, as if intending to crush him beneath their hooves.

The aura surrounding these two Flame Qilin beasts was extraordinary, dense and heavy, like a living volcano, and they moved with frightening speed. Their massive, fiery hooves struck down, seemingly shattering the very air, sweeping Ye Chen with an intense wave of heat.

A cold glint flashed in Ye Chen's eyes. He stomped his foot down suddenly, causing the ground beneath him to indent deeply. Clenching his fist, a chilling light shone in his gaze, and he unleashed a powerful punch! Enough! As the left Flame Qilin’s hoof descended, it collided squarely with Ye Chen's fist. Time seemed to freeze in that single instant.

Immediately afterward, the entire fiery hoof of the Flame Qilin beast violently exploded, shattering into a mist of flesh and vapor. Its whole body was hurled backward by the surging force, tumbling backward towards the sky. The slack in the reins caused the entire carriage to instantly become unsteady, swaying violently left and right. Had the vehicle's base not been equipped with a levitation device, it surely would have crashed.

The other Flame Qilin beast also appeared startled. It let out a long roar, its hooves pawing the empty air in a motion like an abrupt emergency brake, halting directly before Ye Chen. Its fist-sized, fiery eyes glared murderously at him.

"Who dares!" an angry shout rang out from within the carriage. A soft red light then drifted out, latching onto the massive body of the Flame Qilin beast, arresting its backward momentum. Ye Chen frowned slightly and looked up. A figure slowly emerged from the vehicle: tall and slender, with black hair falling to his shoulders, skin as white as jade, eyes sparkling with starlight, and lips richly red. It was the youth in brocade who had been seated inside.

"You actually dared injure my treasure!" the youth in brocade looked down at Ye Chen, his eyes thick with killing intent. "State your race!"

Ye Chen's expression was cold. "Mind your own beasts. This is the first offense; I'll spare its life. If there is a next time, you will be buried with it!"

The youth in brocade paused for a moment, then burst into mocking laughter as if he had heard the greatest joke. "Good! Good! How arrogant! Hua Longtian has never met anyone so presumptuous! Die!" With that, his body shot forward explosively. A light flashed in his palm, and a long spear, radiating firelight from every surface, materialized out of thin air.

The spear was wreathed in the aura of the Great Dao; its carvings were exquisitely detailed. It was clearly no ordinary weapon.

A cold light flashed in Ye Chen's eyes. He swept his hand through the void, drawing open a patch of inky blackness like a zipper. Reaching in, he slowly pulled out a battle saber radiating lightning, enveloped in purple thunder, as if it had been sealed away in the Abyss World. It emerged into the light of day.

The entire soft sky seemed to fall into a momentary silence.

Amidst the dense atmosphere of killing intent, Ye Chen stood, the Thunder Roar Saber wreathed in purple lightning, staring coldly at the youth in brocade. With his sharp vision, he immediately discerned the other party’s aura: the faint tang of demigod power.

"Die!" Hua Longtian roared, swirling his flame spear into several bright arcs. His body moved like the wind, hurtling forward. The spear struck with the speed of lightning, carrying with it the faint, roaring sound of a dragon's call as it whistled towards Ye Chen.

Ye Chen’s eyes were icy. Facing this fierce spear thrust, he did not retreat in the slightest. He gripped the Thunder Roar Saber in his hand, and suddenly, the secret technique Blind Heaven flashed through his mind.

"Mind, still!"

"Water, cease!"

Ye Chen slightly closed his eyes. It was as if all sound in the world vanished, replaced by absolute darkness; he could see nothing at all. In this profound stillness, a streak of white light suddenly appeared in the darkness before him, saturated with sharp killing intent, striking directly at his face.

This spear thrust, in Ye Chen's mind, seemed to slow down a hundredfold, a thousandfold, like a slow-motion film.

Ye Chen abruptly opened his eyes, two beams of sharp light erupting. Facing the flame spear nearing his face, a flash of killing intent crossed his gaze. He stepped forward sharply, causing the ground to tremble slightly and crack open. Swinging his arm, without any unnecessary flourish, he swept the Thunder Roar Saber horizontally. The purple lightning coiling around the blade tore through the void as he cleaved down towards Hua Longtian’s flame spear.

Crack!

The spear snapped in two.

Hua Longtian froze, a flicker of shock in his heart. This flame spear was his strongest weapon, always invincible—a High-Grade Divine Artifact!

And now, it had been severed without mercy?

However, being a veteran of countless battles, his combat experience was profound. After only a moment of stunned disorientation, he reacted with surprising speed, decisively abandoning the broken shaft and retreating rapidly.

Ye Chen’s eyes were as cold as a knife. He took several successive strides, his figure moving like the wind, closing the gap to pursue. The Thunder Roar Saber in his hand seemed to grin like the Grim Reaper, growing rapidly in Hua Longtian’s pupils.

"Stop!" Suddenly, a sharp shout rang out.

The instant the voice sounded, the entire sky seemed to shudder. Immediately, a figure materialized before Ye Chen, standing squarely between him and Hua Longtian. A hand, like a vise, clamped onto Ye Chen’s wrist, halting the fight.

Ye Chen's gaze was distant. He looked up at the figure who had suddenly appeared. It was a middle-aged man, with thick brows and large eyes, sporting a pair of sharp, black horns on his forehead—a Demon race member from the Hell Civilization. His skin was dark and coarse, covered in black hair, and he exuded a powerful, rugged aura.

"Release me!" Ye Chen spoke with chilling intensity.

The middle-aged man looked at Ye Chen, his expression calm, but his heart was shaken. Through the wrist he held, he could feel the restrained power within, clearly not the strength a mere junior demigod should possess. If he hadn't exerted true power, he might not have been able to hold him.

What shocked him even more was that this plainly dressed young man had managed to force back Hua Longtian!

He frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "This is the center of Donglin City. Combat is strictly prohibited. If you have personal grudges, you can settle them elsewhere. If you insist on fighting here, our entire Enforcement Squad will not permit it!"

Ye Chen stared at him coldly, a hint of mockery in his eyes. "Let go of me!"

A flash of anger crossed the middle-aged man's eyes. He tightened his grip on Ye Chen’s hand and sneered, "I haven't dragged you to the dungeons, so consider yourself lucky. You dare to be so ungrateful!"

Hua Longtian, panting nearby, felt a slight relief seeing Ye Chen restrained by the middle-aged man. He glanced covertly at the Thunder Roar Saber, a trace of apprehension in his eyes, and fixed his gaze on Ye Chen, saying coldly, "Brat, you have guts, daring to cross me and destroy my weapon! You won't leave Donglin City alive!"

"Still daring to squawk!" A murderous glint flashed in Ye Chen's eyes. He suddenly exerted force, shaking his entire arm slightly, flinging off the middle-aged man's hand. He took a step forward, raising his saber to cleave directly at Hua Longtian's head.

"What!" The middle-aged man felt his hand go numb at the juncture of the thumb and forefinger from the shockwave. He was astonished that this person, who was only in the Demigod realm, possessed such strength. Could he have activated his Superhuman Mode?

Seeing Hua Longtian about to meet his end beneath the blade, his brain reacted swiftly. A powerful aura erupted from within him, his skin turning somewhat crystalline. Two wings shot out from his back, and he instantly burst forward, intercepting Ye Chen and simultaneously activating his Domain power, sealing and crushing Ye Chen from all sides.

"Get lost!" Ye Chen roared, his eyes fierce as a wild beast, his dark hair flying wildly, muscles bulging. He forcibly tore through the restrictive power of the Domain and swung his saber down directly.

It was worth noting that although this middle-aged man was a Divine Spirit expert, his physical body strength had reached the peak of the Divine Spirit realm; restraining him easily was no simple task.

The middle-aged man was taken aback. With no time to resist, he grabbed Hua Longtian’s shoulder, and in a flash of light, vanished instantly, reappearing a thousand meters away.

Ye Chen gripped the Thunder Roar Saber, looking up, staring intently at the middle-aged man and Hua Longtian in the sky, his eyes savage, like a rampaging, enraged beast.

Simultaneously, the other nineteen Divine Spirit experts from outside the Heavenly Gate teleported over and jointly activated their Domain Worlds, imposing powerful binding forces upon Ye Chen.

Ye Chen felt as if a colossal mountain had been placed upon his shoulders. Even with his current physical strength, under the pressure of so many Domain Worlds, he struggled to hold on. His body was involuntarily forced down with audible cracking sounds, beads of blood seeped from his pores, and his bones felt as if they were being crushed.

In the sky, the middle-aged man's Superhuman Mode state quickly subsided. At his level of power, he had pushed the mode to the fourth tier, capable of sustaining it for only about thirty seconds.

The middle-aged man watched Ye Chen, completely immobilized by the constraints of the many Domain Worlds, and finally let out a breath of relief. He felt a touch of awe; it was incredible that a mere junior in the Demigod realm could force him to use Superhuman Mode just to narrowly save Hua Longtian.

Even with the power of his Domain World, he had been utterly incapable of truly restraining this youth!

As he stood in shock, Hua Longtian beside him looked pale. The sheer peril of the scene he had just witnessed would be unforgettable for his entire life.

Although he had experienced countless near-death battles in the virtual world, those were virtual—he knew there was no real death, so the tension wasn't too high, only the annoyance of defeat. But that moment just now had allowed him to truly smell the scent of death.

Thinking of this, a surge of anger rose within him. Looking at the immobilized Ye Chen, he clenched his fist and said darkly to the middle-aged man beside him, "Captain Xue, kill this brat for me!"

The middle-aged man paused. "Kill him?"

"I will bear all consequences!" Hua Longtian’s eyes flashed with intense killing intent. "I will absolutely not let him walk out of Donglin City alive!"

The middle-aged man frowned slightly. "We have surveillance everywhere here. Everything must proceed according to protocol. If we actually kill this person, there will be repercussions from above. Even though you are a member of the Genius Hall, you won't escape severe punishment!"

"I’m not afraid!" Hua Longtian declared firmly. "Kill him!"