Ye Chen was only undergoing a quasi-emperor tribulation, but because he was far too heaven-defying and had crossed so many realms in a single step, he had drawn the attention of this world's Heavenly Dao. It had marked him as taboo and wanted to eliminate him.
Ye Chen paid it no mind, merely casting a glance at the tribulation lightning overhead with eyes as dazzling and fathomless as the starry sky.
The Heavenly Dao, which had yet to develop spiritual intelligence, instantly shuddered. It felt a chill spread throughout its entire body in the blink of an eye.
Since its birth, it had never felt fear.
But today, it felt it-and it was utter terror.
It knew that the figure in the sky, young beyond measure, could destroy it in an instant.
Even if he was only a quasi-emperor.
It did not want to die, so it immediately withdrew the tribulation clouds. The sky returned to normal in an instant.
"Hello, my lord!"
The Heavenly Dao meekly sent out a signal of goodwill.
Ye Chen had originally wanted to temper his body in the tribulation lightning. He had not expected the Heavenly Dao to withdraw it, let alone try to curry favor with him.
He did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Hmm, where's the tribulation lightning? I haven't even started playing yet!"
The Heavenly Dao was dumbstruck.
When others broke through to quasi-emperor, they feared being struck dead by its tribulation lightning. They wished they could spend thousands or tens of thousands of years preparing, armoring themselves like tortoises, and even then, they only dared take the gamble with someone protecting them.
Yet here he was, thinking of playing with tribulation lightning.
Still, this only showed how unfathomable Ye Chen was.
And so, it grew even more respectful.
When it came to Ye Chen, it would be his lackey if it could. Even if it could not become his lackey or cling to his thigh, it must not offend him.
"My lord, if you want to play, this lowly one can let you play anytime, anywhere. But please be gentle. This lowly one can't take it!"
The tribulation lightning was the embodiment of its will, which made it equivalent to itself.
Hearing this, Ye Chen felt something sounded a little off!
"Forget it, forget it. I won't play!"
"As you command. If there's nothing else, my lord, this lowly one will take its leave!"
"Go on, go on!"
Ye Chen waved his hand.
"If you need anything, you can call Little Tian anytime. I'll come whenever you call!"
With that, it took to its heels.
It had no choice. Ye Chen's oppressive presence was too strong. It feared he might accidentally crush it to death.
After the Heavenly Dao dispersed, Ye Chen shook his head helplessly.
Any random thing he took out could blast this world's Heavenly Dao to smithereens, so he did not fear it.
He simply had not expected the thing to be so timid.
Ye Chen stopped dwelling on it and looked into the distance. A group of ants was about to arrive.
"Boy, who are you, and what are you doing here?"
A man in lavish robes suddenly appeared in the sky.
He looked at Ye Chen as though looking at an ant.
That was because he could sense no presence from Ye Chen at all, as though Ye Chen were a mortal.
It was not that Ye Chen was deliberately concealing himself. Having reached this stage, he had long since returned to simplicity and truth. His presence was entirely contained within his body, and the Dao and its laws shrouded his exterior.
Anyone who was not a Saint could not possibly sense Ye Chen's unfathomable Dao resonance, as deep as an abyss and vast as the sea.
"Heh, Chen Hao, you really are getting worse with age. You're even bullying a mortal now!"
On the other side of the lavishly robed man, a man in brocade slowly appeared in the air, his tone full of mockery.
"Oh, stop arguing, you two. Why not leave this mortal to little old me?"
A soft, seductive voice rang out as a woman walked through the air toward them.
Chen Hao, who had arrived first, frowned slightly, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes.
Such enormous tribulation clouds had vanished just like that. It certainly could not have been someone undergoing a tribulation, so an extraordinary treasure must have emerged.
Now, he could detect no trace of the treasure, not even a wisp of its presence.
Yet this mortal had been at the very center of the tribulation clouds and had withstood the might of heaven and earth. Something was certainly wrong. The extraordinary treasure was most likely on him.
Still, he had not expected the Wang Lineage and the Hehuan Sect to move so quickly. He had barely arrived before they caught up.
"Wang Ming, Fairy He, with such a commotion here, plenty of people will surely arrive. Why don't we join forces to take him away first? After that, whoever gets him will depend on their own abilities. How does that sound?"
Wang Ming and that temptress He were both geniuses at the Qi Sea Third Heaven, with cultivation comparable to his own.
Taking the man away alone was already impossible. He could only borrow the strength of the Wang Lineage and the Hehuan Sect to get him out. By then, his lineage's experts would have arrived, and would the man not end up his anyway?
Chen Hao secretly crushed a communication stone, a vicious gleam flashing through his eyes.
"Fine. Then we'll each rely on our own abilities!"
After a moment's thought, Wang Ming agreed.
"Since you two have both agreed, how could I dare object?"
He Jing spoke in a soft, delicate voice.
The three settled the matter in a few words, paying Ye Chen no heed whatsoever.
In their eyes, Ye Chen was an ant.
Who would care about an ant's opinion?
Just then, however, a languid voice rang out.
"Finished plotting out loud? I'm almost asleep!"
Immediately afterward, beneath their utterly horrified gazes, an enormous palm formed from Spiritual Qi swept toward them.
Their bodies were restrained by a powerful force. They could not flee even if they wanted to and could only watch helplessly as the palm struck them.
The three vanished, as though they had never been there.
Having killed them, Ye Chen did not want to linger here any longer. His most pressing task was still to find the Ye Lineage.
He released his divine sense, instantly covering hundreds of millions of miles around him.
After determining his direction, he shot toward the nearest city.
Black Stone City was the largest city within ten thousand miles.
The city housed over a hundred factions of various sizes, with the Wang Lineage, the Chen Lineage, and the Hehuan Sect being the strongest.
Wang Zhan, head of the Wang Lineage, was Black Stone City's strongest expert, a master at the Xiantian Fifth Level.
The moment Ye Chen arrived in Black Stone City, an earth-shaking roar erupted from the city lord's residence.
"Speak! Were you the one who killed my son, Wang Ming?!"
In the blink of an eye, a square-faced man appeared above Ye Chen.
His face was livid, and his body trembled ceaselessly with rage.
Just moments earlier, he had discovered that his son Wang Ming's soul lamp had gone out.
He had fathered his son late in life, and Wang Ming was exceptionally gifted. In the future, he might even have had a chance to join the sixth-grade Huayun Sect and enter that legendary realm.
He had never expected such a calamity to befall him today.
He had just been about to leave to exact revenge when he discovered a mortal bearing Wang Ming's lingering presence entering the city. His fury immediately became uncontrollable.
"Speak! Were you the one who killed my child, Chen Hao?!"
On the other side, a short, stout middle-aged man also appeared above Ye Chen, his gaze vicious.
"Did you kill my disciple too?!"
An old woman, her face filled with venomous resentment, slowly appeared as well.
The three unleashed their imposing presence, leaving the people in the city struggling to breathe beneath its weight.
"Heavens, th-that's the city lord!"
"And the head of the Chen Lineage, and that old hag from the Hehuan Sect!"
"What are they doing?"
"Didn't you hear them say their sons and disciple died?!"
"Holy shit, someone actually dared touch their sons? Do they have a death wish?!"
"It seems to be that mortal!"
"He's got guts, but he's dead for sure!"
"I'd call him a brave warrior! Rest in peace, brave warrior!"
"..."
The three looked at Ye Chen, surprise and uncertainty in their eyes.
There were no Spiritual Qi fluctuations coming from Ye Chen whatsoever. He could not possibly have killed their children.
He had probably witnessed someone else make a move and picked up some lingering traces.
Thus, none of them immediately struck and killed Ye Chen.
They wanted to find out who the killer was before killing Ye Chen.
Those who witnessed it had a share in it. Everyone who had seen it would be buried alongside the dead.
"I killed them!"
Ye Chen spoke indifferently, then gave the three a slight glance. They vanished without a trace, as though rubbed out by an eraser. "A free reunion for you!"
The onlookers were scared witless.
"Holy shit, what did I just see?!"
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?!"
"Where did City Lord Wang and the other two go?"
"How did they vanish into thin air?"
"Heavens, something unclean is here!"
"Didn't you notice? That young man just glanced at City Lord Wang and the other two, and they were gone!"
"What kind of joke is that? All three were supreme experts in the Xiantian Realm! How could a glance make them disappear?!"
"..."
While everyone was still immersed in shock, Ye Chen swept out his divine sense and located the Wang Lineage, the Chen Lineage, and the Hehuan Sect.
He extended his palm and gently pressed down.
At once, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. Accompanied by tremendous explosions and cries and pleas for mercy, the grounds of all three factions were razed flat.
The commotion was so great that everyone noticed.
They knew the Wang Lineage, the Chen Lineage, and the Hehuan Sect were finished.
These three factions had entrenched themselves here for over a thousand years, summoning wind and rain in Black Stone City and deciding countless lives with a single word. Yet beneath a gentle press from that white-robed young man, they had been reduced to dust and ashes.
Terrifying. Utterly terrifying!
Everyone first fell into a stupor, their eyes filled with disbelief. Then fear and panic set in. Their faces turned deathly pale, their hands and feet shook uncontrollably, and they were so frightened they pissed and shit themselves.
Although Ye Chen revealed no imposing presence, the pressure he exerted on them now was more terrifying than that of immortals and demons.
To Ye Chen, wiping out the three factions was merely a casual act.
If someone provokes me, I will kill them.
Such was the world of martial artists. There was nothing more to say.
He flew toward the city lord's residence. There should be a map of the Profound Heaven Great World there.
Seeing Ye Chen fly away, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as though they had narrowly escaped death, then scrambled and crawled out of the city.
They could guarantee that they would never come to Black Stone City again. They had truly been scared out of their wits.
From then on, Black Stone City never recovered, eventually becoming a small city with fewer than a hundred thousand people.
Of course, none of this interested Ye Chen.
He found a map in the city lord's residence and only then learned where he was.
He was currently in Heavenly Profound Province, one of the Eastern Domain's three thousand great provinces.
According to the Seventh Ancestor, the Ye Lineage's ancestral grounds were also in the Eastern Domain's Heavenly Profound Province, right at its center.
Having determined his direction, Ye Chen tore through the sky toward the Ye Lineage's ancestral grounds.