These were figure after figure of humanoid form, descending from above the ten-thousand-foot chaotic sea of lightning — each one overawing the nine heavens, looking down upon eternity. Without even considering anything else, that aura alone was enough to make even Great Sages tremble!
Who were these people? Many were instantly stunned — who had ever seen people emerging abruptly from a Heavenly Tribulation? This defied all common sense.
“This isn’t a person, it’s lightning given form!” a young powerhouse cried out in shock.
As for the elder generation, their lips trembled, their bodies shaking uncontrollably — some of them knew what was happening, having glimpsed the heaven-defying secret.
This was figure after figure of humanoid lightning — throughout all of history, how many had witnessed this, and experienced it personally? Truly bizarre beyond words!
“What is this, walking out of a Heavenly Tribulation — are they divine beings? It’s terrifying people’s very souls!” Naturally, many didn’t understand, their bodies simply convulsing, involuntarily terrified, unable to comprehend any of it.
To ordinary people’s eyes, these were gods!
How else could they descend from a Heavenly Tribulation, normally dwelling in the nine heavens above, yet now manifesting in the mortal realm — far too mysterious, stirring people’s hearts to their core.
“How can this be happening… impossible, how could… this happen?!” Even Great Sage-level figures murmured, as if lost, filled with disbelief.
Only they truly understood what was happening — these were the ancient Great Emperors!
This was far too heaven-defying, utterly beyond common sense, like something out of legend — one young Great Emperor after another manifesting from the Tribulation, descending into the mortal world. Why was this happening?!
In the void, those figures bore a divine, awe-inspiring presence, each one looking down upon all under heaven, disdaining eternity, each carrying an air of being unrivaled above and below — every one of them a supreme being.
At this moment, they walked forward one after another, their steps steady and firm, as if cracking the ancient blue sky beneath their feet!
“One, two, three…” the Stone Man Sacred Spirit counted carefully, his voice trembling, nearly on the verge of kneeling down.
Not three or five, but a full nine figures, an aura that could swallow mountains and rivers, disdaining the vast cosmos, standing side by side there, each one possessing divine might that surpassed the era!
Anyone who had only just glimpsed this great secret found it impossible to remain calm, their hearts surging with monstrous waves — this was too terrifying, all of them frightened out of their wits. How could the sacred body have such a Tribulation?
The sacred body from the Emperor’s Burial Star was truly defying the heavens!
“Great Emperors — these are all their youthful forms…” Finally, a Guardian of the human race arrived here, his voice trembling as he spoke this secret aloud.
“BOOM!”
This place could not remain calm, chaos beyond measure, everyone utterly shocked — this was an unprecedented event since ancient times, something no one had ever witnessed or even heard of before.
“Senior, what exactly is going on here?”
“Please, Great Sage, enlighten us.”
Many, upon hearing this, felt their hearts surge with monstrous waves, unable to comprehend, begging the elders to explain — this truly exceeded the understanding of ordinary people.
“This is the sacred body’s unique Heavenly Tribulation — the humanoid lightning figures it has drawn forth belong to… the ancient Great Emperors!”
“Nine young Great Emperors… these are their youthful divine forms, each one disdaining past, present, and future, heroic and magnificent, their mana reaching the heavens!”
This stretch of the heavens erupted into uproar, as elder-generation figures spoke out their speculations in broken fragments — people finally understood what was happening.
The assembled heroes realized — it wasn’t that Ye Fan was being arrogant. Now that nine Great Emperors’ youthful divine forms had appeared, just how many young supreme beings of this era would it take to fight them?
One Emperor Tian? Not enough, far from it!
Add in a Great Demon God, still not enough, still incomparable!
Even counting in Immortal Qingshi, the Human King, the Goddess, and all the rest, it would still be too thin, still falling short, still unable to withstand nine young Great Emperors!
People’s hair stood on end in terror — the words Ye Fan had spoken weren’t arrogant at all; in fact, telling everyone to come at him together was already being modest — it absolutely wasn’t enough against nine young Great Emperors!
All the saints were shocked. Thinking carefully, searching through the entire ancient human road, even combining all the most talented people together, they still couldn’t defeat nine young Great Emperors.
How could just one Emperor Tian be enough? It would take a whole group of young supreme beings! This was a fact that left people unable to help but feel shaken and terrified.
Moreover, even if they searched the entire cosmic starry sky for nine supreme beings and gathered them together, they would almost certainly lose more than they’d win.
These so-called supreme beings, at their strongest, could only rival the Great Emperors in their youth — no matter how talented, they could never surpass them, because “Emperor” was already the limit.
Had Ye Fan defied the heavens? This kind of Tribulation was too terrifying, one that fundamentally should not exist in this world.
How could he possibly get through this? The answer was clearly no — throughout history, no one had ever fought nine Emperors in bloody battle and survived alone.
People’s very marrow ran cold, all of them trembling with fear.
Within that sea of lightning, the nine young imperial figures — each one filled them with terror, making them want to kneel and prostrate themselves in worship.
“Awe-inspiring, deeply reverent!” At this moment, even Daoist Baijie sighed such words.
In the distance, the two Yin Spirits both wore expressions of dread, their hearts filled with terror — facing nine young Great Emperors, they felt a trembling that came from the depths of their souls.
Because these people had all truly existed once, their “Dao” branded into the great cosmos itself — even now, at the Sage King realm, that unrivaled, supreme spirit could still pierce through the heart of any powerhouse.
Qi Tian, Guardian of the ancient human road, changed expression — he could not accept this fact. Ye Fan’s Tribulation was far too heaven-defying; at this moment his face had turned somewhat pale.
He clenched his fists tight, yet felt a sense of powerlessness — for the first time, regret welled up in his heart. Just what kind of person had he provoked?
Guardian Qi Tian’s heart was in turmoil, thinking it over again and again, the taste hard to describe — he deeply felt that he truly shouldn’t have given Ye Fan such trouble in the past; this Tribulation of his was simply too monstrous, absolutely terrifying.
This was a great menace — once he grew to maturity, he would surely become world-endingly terrifying. Would there even be a path forward for him in the future? A flash of malice crossed Qi Tian’s eyes as he clenched his Great Sage fist.
However, he loosened his grip again, filled with exhaustion and a sense of helplessness — for now, nine Sage-King-level imperial figures had manifested. If he were to provoke this, the consequences would be unimaginable!
If a Great Sage dared to provoke this, without doubt nine figures of the same rank would appear — at that point, it would truly be a defiance of the world. Nine Great-Sage-level imperial figures — even a god descending would be blasted to death; every Great Sage in this star region acting together would still die!
Qi Tian’s expression turned ugly, as if he’d swallowed something foul. If he made a move, he would absolutely be blasted into mush, turned into rotten mud, without the slightest doubt.
Across this stretch of starry sky, all the saints trembled — this was the first time they had witnessed such a Tribulation, all of them filled with awe and dread.
In the past, whenever Ye Fan underwent Tribulation, it had always been in some uninhabited place, with no one aware of it. Now, this kind of Tribulation was appearing before the world for the first time — it was bound to spread across the entire starry sky!
“Emperor Tian, Immortal Qingshi, Great Demon God, Human King — have you all arrived? Come at me together!” Ye Fan spoke, surrounded by the nine humanoid lightning figures.
He moved first, charging toward Emperor Tian, determined to drag this man in no matter what, to let him experience what it felt like to be besieged by nine young Great Emperors.
Emperor Tian genuinely wavered somewhat — he had already sensed something was amiss, having realized these were the figures of the ancient Great Emperors in their youth, and this shook him deeply!
However, fleeing was not in the nature of a contender for the Emperor’s path — especially since another rival could survive being besieged by nine young Great Emperors; if he retreated, wouldn’t that mean admitting he was inferior to others?
Moreover, after his initial shock, Emperor Tian actually felt a sense of anticipation stirring within him — his blood gradually boiling, a most exalted fighting spirit surging forth!
The ancient Great Emperors — who could contend with them? They had reigned gloriously in their time, ruling over heaven and earth, commanding reverence from all. Yet in the hearts of some later generations of talented individuals, there remained a glimmer of hope, or perhaps regret, at never being able to contend with the departed “Emperors.”
Now, the opportunity had appeared right before his eyes. The combative factor deep in Emperor Tian’s bones revived — his battle-blood surged, his essence and spirit boiling over!
He wanted to battle against the youthful divine forms of the ancient Great Emperors!
A true brave soul dares to take up the challenge, advancing along the Emperor’s path — it requires possessing tremendous courage, a mindset that fears not even the ancient Great Emperors, and one must be able to match them in accomplishment as well.
“BOOM!”
Between heaven and earth, the nine Great Emperors moved, attacking and slaughtering toward Ye Fan, while Ye Fan moved as well, fighting and weaving across the star field at the same time, drawing Emperor Tian into the fray.
He possessed unrivaled speed under heaven — once he had locked onto a person, he could naturally catch up to them, and with Emperor Tian harboring a will to fight, he was smoothly drawn into the conflict.
Everyone stood dumbstruck, and then sighed in admiration — Emperor Tian truly lived up to his title as a young supreme being, possessing such tremendous spirit, willingly entering the Tribulation punishment to battle against the Great Emperors in their youth!
“Ancient Great Emperors, is it? I’ve come too, to contend for supremacy!”
Just then, another figure appeared — not very tall, somewhat thin and frail-looking, yet exuding an overwhelming demonic might, with mountains of corpses and seas of blood surfacing behind him.
Endless white bones, along with countless lives’ worth of blood, piled up into a divine platform, upon which that person stood alone. The Great Demon God, Gu Huang, had arrived as well!
He possessed a powerful warrior’s heart, willing to battle against the ancient Emperors on equal footing, valiant and unmatched, transforming into a demon god as he charged forward.
Rumble rumble!
The most terrifying battle of all broke out — the nine young imperial figures, overlooking the cosmic river of stars, each one’s strength defying the heavens, each one having dominated an entire historical era, now reliving their former glory in this instant.
This was a bloody slaughter, heaven and earth in turmoil, chaos being born anew, hundreds of millions of layers of lightning covering this place.
The moment it began, blood and flowers of gore scattered everywhere — Emperor Tian, extraordinarily powerful, contended with one of the young imperial figures. Yet here there were nine of these bygone heavenly rulers, all of them in motion.
“Crack!”
One figure with hair black as a waterfall, eyes flashing with cold light, descended from high above like a god, one fist falling down with overwhelming force, nearly shattering Emperor Tian’s form and spirit both.
Too terrifying — an emperor unrivaled in his generation, dominating an entire era, with none under heaven or on earth able to match him.
Emperor Tian’s shoulder was pierced through, blood gushing freely, his entire body sent flying, drenched in blood from head to toe, nearly killed outright, struck dead right there.
Fighting one person in fierce combat was manageable, but with another suddenly joining to strike him down, Emperor Tian was immediately dealt a severe blow!
“It’s… the Azure Emperor!”
“Heavens, that person… it’s actually the Azure Emperor!”
Daoist Baijie and an ancient demon both changed expression at once, recognizing that peerless figure who had descended from the sky, nearly blasting Emperor Tian apart with a single punch.
“Reincarnated through the Three Realms, life after life, my name is carved into fate!” Emperor Tian roared, his hair disheveled, covered in blood, bursting forth with boundless divine light, repairing his wounded body.
Then, he charged back, rushing toward the Azure Emperor, determined to fight him.
“Demon God Fist!”
Just then, the Great Demon God arrived as well, raising his fist to strike down, clashing with one of the young Great Emperors, blood surging to the heavens — this was the manifestation born from the slaughter of countless living beings.
At the same time, several more distinctive figures appeared in the starry sky — some suspected these might be the arrival of the younger generation’s supreme beings, all together at once.
“Immortal Qingshi has arrived, it seems she’s joining the fray too!” people cried out in shock.
Everyone was stunned — was a legendary era about to unfold? All the supreme beings vying for supremacy, each one exceptionally gifted, all powerful to the extreme, daring to measure themselves against the ancient Great Emperors in their youth.
“All the supreme beings gathered together, contending for supremacy among mortals — the sacred body truly defies the heavens, to have such a Tribulation. This is like the legendary era returning — will the legendary Chaos Bodies appear one by one as well?”
People trembled, murmuring amongst themselves, both anticipating and dreading this great era.