The burly man roared, raising the battle-axe in his hand and bringing it down fiercely toward the severed hand's back. This axe shimmered with the light of destruction; as the axe shadow flashed, it seemed as if worlds and planes were shattering. The imposing might was vast. When the axe blade struck the severed hand, it actually sliced through the skin and bit into the bone beneath.

The burly man trembled throughout his body. The hand gripping the battle-axe was shaken so violently that the web between his thumb and forefinger cracked. He staggered backward several thousand kilometers before managing to stop himself, gazing at the severed hand with shock. He had absolutely not expected this nameless, ancient hand to be so terrifying; even this earth-shattering blow had failed to damage its tendons or bones.

Ye Chen glanced at the burly man, his pupils contracting, his expression somewhat stunned. "Great God Pangu!"

Among the Spiritual Civilization Clan, Great God Pangu had never appeared. Those who had truly met him were only the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and some other special individuals. However, statues of Great God Pangu could be seen in the center of major city squares; even three-year-old children knew this was the strongest being in the clan—Great God Pangu!

"Ye Shi!" Just then, Pangu suddenly shouted, "Let us work together and force him back!"

Ye Chen glanced at his battle-axe, realizing this was the renowned Pangu Axe. From that single strike, it was clear that Pangu's strength was absolutely no less than that of the Ten Great Hall Masters!

And the sharpness of the Pangu Axe certainly surpassed peak Dao Artifacts; it was probably comparable to a Void Heaven Artifact.

Ye Shi felt some doubts but had no time to ponder them deeply. He quickly responded, "You attack from the rear, and I will attack from the front." The rear was the severed stump of the hand, where destructive power would be less effective, while the five fingers in the front were each as hard as iron and as sharp as lightning.

Pangu understood Ye Chen's intention and wasted no words at this crucial moment. He moved instantly, raising his axe to cleave toward the back of the severed hand. His figure twisted, his whole body emitting a metallic, resonant sound from his bones, and an astonishing killing aura coiled around the battle-axe in his hand.

"Pangu’s Thirty-Six Axes of Heaven Splitting!"

Pangu roared, raising the battle-axe in his hand. The entire sky seemed to instantly darken. Boundless black light flickered from the axe blade, transforming into an infinite swarm of axe shadows dancing everywhere, obscuring the heavens and the sun. With a thunderous crash, they converged into a giant, black energy axe, hacking fiercely down onto the scar at the back of the severed hand.

Boom!

The severed hand trembled slightly before knitting itself back together, but a faint, blood-red thread-like black mark appeared on its surface scar. There was no significant damage.

Pangu’s figure did not stop there. He spun his body, using the momentum of the downward swing to reverse the axe face upward, slamming down heavily again like a giant windmill.

"Second Axe!"

This strike landed on the severed hand, directly splitting the surface skin and cutting into the flesh beneath, carving out a bloody gash several dozen meters deep.

"Third Axe!"

Pangu roared and spun his body, and the third axe immediately followed without interruption, striking down onto the hand’s scar.

The power of this axe was stronger than before. As the blade cut through the skin, the chaotic energy blades around it tore the flesh within the hand, hacking down onto the bone.

"Fourth Axe!!"

Pangu’s eyes snapped open in anger, his muscles swelling, his entire body’s strength surging violently into his arms. He raised his axe to the heavens, and a lightning bolt from the ten-thousand-mile dark cloud above struck the axe face. However, the chaotic energy swirling around the axe face pulled the lightning into a chaotic dance across the sky, before it suddenly contracted and followed the battle-axe as it slammed down!

Boom!!

Ye Chen felt the severed hand vibrate slightly, and a measure of shock stirred in his heart. He hadn't expected Pangu’s strength to be so terrifying. With the Thirty-Six Axes of Heaven Splitting, he suspected no one on the entire Ancient Continent could withstand him; even the emperors of the Nine Great Empires wielding Void Heaven Artifacts could only retreat!

While Ye Chen was internally shaken, he did not forget to accelerate his attack. He pushed the control stick, pushing the power engine to its absolute limit. The Heavenly Dao Mecha’s thrusters whined, rushing upward fiercely, while the blood-red battle saber vibrated crazily, hacking violently into the gap between the severed hand's fingernails.

Crack!

Sparks resembling grinding metal erupted. The blood-red battle saber seemed to get stuck. Only when the Heavenly Dao Mecha's second thruster roared to life was the terrifying force able to pry open the fingernail of the severed hand's index finger. Astonishingly, the severed hand's blood was not red, but gold!

Ye Chen roared and controlled the Heavenly Dao Mecha to kick the pried-up fingernail. He put his entire strength into this kick, ripping the entire nail off, tearing away the skin beneath it along with it.

"Give me back my head!!!"

The severed hand let out an angry, ferocious roar from an unknown location, its momentum becoming even more ferocious. Suddenly, the arm spun, clenching into a fist and pounding madly toward the Heavenly Dao Mecha.

Ye Chen's expression shifted slightly. He controlled the Heavenly Dao Mecha to swing the blood-red battle saber, blocking desperately. The fist, enormous as a small mountain, struck the battle saber. If the hardness of this saber hadn't surpassed a Void Heaven Artifact, it would surely have snapped under this savage assault.

Ye Chen watched the rapidly depleting energy, a spark of anger rising in his chest. He controlled the Heavenly Dao Mecha to suddenly pivot, shifting like stars moving in their orbits, flashing directly above the severed hand. His mechanical leg lightly tapped the severed hand, springing up like a weightless feather, and in a flip, the blood-red battle saber slashed across the hand.

Splat~

A wound stretching over ten kilometers long appeared on the severed hand. Ye Chen looked at Pangu, who had just finished executing the Thirty-Six Axes of Heaven Splitting, and shouted, "You retreat first. We are no match for it. I will hold it off."

Pangu looked at the scar on the back of the hand, which had sustained his strongest battle technique, and saw that the bone beneath only had a few cracks, without any truly devastating damage. He was greatly disheartened. Hearing Ye Chen’s words, he immediately agreed, "You retreat first, I will block it. Go assist Nuwa and the others in evacuating the clan members."

Ye Chen frowned. "You are the Clan Leader. With you here, you can suppress them. I will hold it here; don't worry, I will be fine protected by the Heavenly Dao Mecha."

Pangu was slightly taken aback by the impatience in Ye Chen's voice, then let out a wry smile. He said no more. "Take care." With that, his figure flashed and streaked toward the distant horizon, vanishing in an instant.

Watching Pangu’s vanishing figure, Ye Chen slowly withdrew his gaze, looking at the severed hand floating slowly before him. A cruel smile touched his lips. He abruptly turned the control stick, and the Heavenly Dao Mecha quickly turned around, speeding away in the opposite direction from the Spiritual Civilization Headquarters.

The clan group behind him grew farther away, yet Ye Chen’s heart became calmer. Sensing the severed hand howling in pursuit behind him, he immediately engaged his maximum speed, opening both the main thrusters and auxiliary thrusters, pushing his speed to the extreme. The suppression of the universe's laws on the Ancient Continent was not as terrifying as in the Ancient Realm Peak, so Ye Chen easily reached over a hundred times the speed of light, and several hundred light-years after leaving the clan group, he swiftly entered spatial warp.

Whoosh!

The Heavenly Dao Mecha suddenly plunged into the spatial warp tunnel and rapidly switched modes, changing from mecha to Divine Ark Warship status to facilitate airflow circulation, allowing its speed to reach an even higher level.

A flash of white light appeared before him, and Ye Chen materialized on a desolate mountain peak. The dim gray sky held a few sparse stars, seemingly shrouded in a layer of ashen mist that made the heart feel oppressed.

Ye Shi knew this was a fragment of a star high above the Ancient Continent. According to the classification on the electronic map, it should be a star fragment of the Divine Realm, populated by the hybrid remnants created when the Dark Creatures allied with the Ancient Continent beings during the last Great Sage War.

Ye Shi maximized the Divine Ark's radar but detected no significant energy signatures. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly entered the virtual world to send an email to the Spiritual Civilization Headquarters, briefly explaining his situation.

Nuwa quickly replied with only a short sentence: "It's good that you are safe. Wait there for now, or take a detour back to the clan. We are currently undertaking the migration."

Ye Chen exited the virtual world and piloted the Divine Ark, speeding away into the distance.

"Ye Chen," Bai Yijun walked over from the side, her face somewhat pale. "When you were fighting just now, I entered the virtual world and discovered from the news across all nations that the entire Ancient Continent is in chaos now!"

"Chaos?" Ye Chen was stunned for a moment.

"Yes," Bai Yijun nodded solemnly. "Powerful monsters have emerged from the ground in various places across the continent, destroying major cities. In many locations, we even saw the severed hand you fought earlier, as well as a severed foot, searching everywhere for heads and destroying countless cities, killing a large number of God Emperor powerhouses."

Ye Chen's heart jolted. He hadn't realized the situation on the entire Ancient Continent had become so dire—it was practically an apocalyptic catastrophe. Who knew how many living beings would perish in this calamity.

"I wonder if those headless ancient corpses from the Ancient Realm Peak will come to the Ancient Continent. If they arrive, the entire Ancient Continent will be completely annihilated; no creature will be able to stop their army."

Ye Chen was worried for a moment, then said, "The Ancestor and the others should have discovered this too. When we reach the clan group, we will help with the migration. It would be best if we could leave the Ancient Continent; it is no longer safe here. If we encounter that severed hand, there is no solution other than spatial warp."

Bai Yijun nodded slightly.

Ye Chen looked out the viewport at the distant starry sky, his gaze thoughtful. "This time, the entire Ancient Continent might sink. We can only leave here and return to Earth. Hopefully, those headless ancient corpses and monsters won't discover Earth..."

Just then—Boom!

In the pitch-black starry sky where the Heavenly Dao Divine Ark was speeding along, a star fragment ahead suddenly collapsed and disintegrated. A beam of black light shot out from within, revealing itself to be an eyeball!

It was a blood-red eyeball, covered in blood vessels, filled with ferocity and violence. As soon as it rushed out, it spotted the Heavenly Dao Divine Ark and immediately roared, charging toward it.

Whoosh!

The eyeball blinked fiercely, and a beam of golden divine light shot out from within, moving as fast as lightning, hitting the Heavenly Dao Divine Ark like a laser. (To be continued)