Under the might of the Great Path, the Ancient Road was dead silent.
Countless gazes focused on Shen Yuan and the white-haired silhouette. The former was half-kneeling on the ground while the latter stood opposite him, looking indifferent. The situation now formed a strong contrast as compared to that of before.
Before the battle, Shen Yuan was arrogant. In comparison, Ye Futian had remained calm throughout.
However, right now, Shen Yuan's once-proud figure was kneeling on the ground.
A strike from Ye Futian's sword. Could Shen Yuan withstand a strike from his sword?
Shen Yuan, a monstrous figure of Shen Clan, did not manage to withstand a strike from Ye Futian's sword.
This outcome caused many people to reveal strange expressions. Was Ye Futian really as easy a pushover as they had thought?
Defeating a talented figure of Shen Clan with a strike; how many cultivators in the Nine Realms could do so?
Aside from those few monstrous figures at the peak of their respective Realms, there were definitely not many others who could do so.
Right now, Shen Yuan was as humiliated as he was arrogant prior to their battle.
The clothes on Shen Hao's body fluttered even though there was no wind. Faint aura emanated from his body. His gaze was staring straight ahead at the battlefield. Clearly, he had not anticipated such an ending to their battle.
Ye Futian was the last inheritor of Sky River Great Elder. Sky River Great Elder had sent him into God's relic.
It seemed that Shen Yuan had grossly underestimated the inheritor that Sky River Great Elder had found.
Ye Futian represented the Heavenly Mandate Realm. Prior to their battle, it seemed that no one had objected to him being the representative. That meant that Ye Futian had quite a reputation in the Heavenly Mandate Realm.
Xiao Muyu from Xiao Clan was staring intently over in their direction. Shen Yuan had lost?
Although she knew that Ye Futian was very strong, she had not expected him to be so powerful.
He had achieved this victory with a domineering strength.
"Deed of Thorough Comprehension," Jian Qingzhu from Tianshen Academy mumbled. As the inheritor of Sky River Great Elder, when challenged by Shen Yuan from the Shen Clan, Ye Futian must have intentionally revealed his Deed of Thorough Comprehension.
He must have done so to prove something.
However, the end result of this battle was also within expectations. After all, Ye Futian was the same as Jian Qingzhu. Both of them had opened the Door of the Relic.
Of course, Shen Yuan himself also understood why Ye Futian had released his Deed of Thorough Comprehension. This was to inform all that Shen Yuan, a monstrous figure of Shen Clan, had lost to the inheritor of Sky River Great Elder.
"Do you want to try my sword again?" Ye Futian asked as he looked at Shen Yuan, who was half-kneeling on the ground.
Ye Futian's voice caused many people to reveal bizarre expressions. This person was truly going too far; he had no intention of avoiding humiliating Shen Yuan.
However, this was also normal. Shen Yuan had challenged Ye Futian and had stood before him with an extremely haughty attitude. Now, why would Ye Futian spare him from any embarrassment?
When Shen Yuan heard what Ye Futian said, his heart twitched inside. He gradually stood up and looked at the silhouette opposite him.
Did he still want to try Ye Futian's sword again?
Should he try, or should he not try?
If he tried to face the sword, what would happen if the end result was the same?
If he did not try to face Ye Futian's sword, it would be such an embarrassment.
The divine light on his body shone. His eyes revealed a look of dissatisfaction. Frightening light shot out of those eyes.
Even if he took another hit from that sword, what could possibly happen to him?
He was not prepared when the sword came down just now. He would not repeat the same mistake.
"Shen Yuan." At this moment, a voice suddenly called out. Shen Yuan turned around and looked in the direction of Shen Clan. Shen Hao was speaking, saying, "Since you have been defeated, step down."
A look of discontentment flashed past in Shen Yuan's eyes. Nevertheless, he also knew that he had already failed. He still dragged his feet back to where Shen Clan stood. From behind, his silhouette looked kind of bleak.
Ye Futian looked towards the Shen Clan and saw that Shen Hao's gaze was directed at him. This time, Sky River Great Elder had found an impressive inheritor. Was Ye Futian the hope of Sky River Great Elder's twilight years?
It still could not change anything.
Ye Futian naturally understood the meaning behind Shen Hao's gaze. Ye Futian smiled. The proud Shen Clan that stood at the peak of the Three Thousand Realms of the Great Path had many powerful cultivators in their clan. They had many more monstrous figures aside from Shen Yuan and the others. This was only the strength of the younger generation of the clan. The backbone of the Shen Clan was built on the Renhuangs that were already at the peak.
How could Ye Futian, who was still at the Saint Plane, compare to these Renhuangs? Back in the day, Sky River Great Elder and his three thousand disciples were eradicated with just a word by the Shen Clan. In the Shen Clan's search for divine items, they even eradicated an entire Realm.
What could Ye Futian amount to?
Even if his talent was extraordinary, that was all there was to him. Why would Shen Clan be concerned about him? Especially Shen Hao, who was a candidate for the successor of the Shen Clan.
Once he became the person at the helm of Shen Clan, he would be a truly major existence in the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path. With a mere thought, he could control the lives and deaths of countless people.
Ye Futian walked out of the Ancient Road and returned to his position. After witnessing this battle, those who wanted his spot would most likely need to think it over. Defeating Shen Yuan would have saved him a lot of trouble.
As expected, no one else came out seeking Ye Futian. Instead, they challenged another person, Qin Lin, who was from the top force of the Myriad Realm, Slaughtering World.
However, a few challengers lost consecutively at the hands of Qin Lin. His Slaughtering Divine Heart was extremely frightening. It directly activated the Slaughtering Way to the limits. The Divine Slaughtering Matrix was terrifying. There was a person who was even directly executed by Qin Lin on the spot.
This made many people realize that the remaining nine representatives were all tough targets. Qin Lin from Slaughtering World could be the next outstanding personage of the Myriad Realm. His combat ability was exceptional, on par with that of those top figures of the Imperial Realm.
There were other people who challenged Di Wu of Solar Divine Palace as well Chang Xi of Youyue Divine Palace and similarly lost.
These two personages of the top forces of the Solar Realm and Shadow Realm had abilities that lived up to the crowd's expectation. They were extremely powerful.
After a round of battles, aside from Shen Hao and Nan Luoshen at the very start, no one actually managed to seize another spot.
It seemed that it would be very difficult to want a spot now.
In the end, after one last battle, no one else made a move.
It was still the same nine representatives.
When Jian Qingzhu saw this, he said, "We chose nine representatives so that we could crack these Ancient Road statues in one go. No one knows what will happen after this yet. Let's stop our exchanges here. After all, no one knows when the doors of God's relic will close shut. We do not necessarily have a lot of time."
The crowd did not say anymore. They seemed to have acknowledged his words that it was too difficult to seize a spot and that they might as well sit back and wait and see how the nine representatives cracked the statues.
If the nine representatives succeeded, there was indeed no one who knew what would happen after.
Seeing that no one objected, Jian Qingzhu's gaze swept across the crowd as he said, "If that is the case, let us begin."
As he said this, he walked forwards. The other eight representatives also advanced, heading towards the Ancient Road.
Very soon, nine silhouettes appeared at the same time on the Ancient Road. They looked majestic.
Shen Hao from Shen Clan replaced the Seventh Slayer of Clan of the Seven Slayers while Nan Luoshen of Nantian Divine Kingdom seized the spot of Lian Jiuyou from Clan of the God of Ghost. Apart from that, the cultivators in the line-up remained the same.
"Each person will take on a statue. We must succeed," Jian Qingzhu said. After he finished giving the order, he took the lead and walked towards one of the statues in the middle.
At the Ancient Road, the might from the Heavenly Palace enveloped the nine representatives. All of them advanced towards their targets with resolved looks in their eyes.
These nine people were the most powerful cultivators among those from the Nine Realms who were currently in God's relic. If they couldn't crack the statues, the others would have even slimmer chances of doing so.
Ye Futian moved forward along the Ancient Road.
Unbeknownst whether it was coincidental or intentional, Shen Hao ended up right beside him.
Neither of them spared a glance at each other. Step by step, they strode forward. The might of the Great Path emanated from the Heavenly Palace became stronger. The statues were located at different spots; hence, some of them had arrived at a statue while some of them were still moving towards their targets.
Nobody knew the strength of these nine statues, so it was meaningless for them to be picky.
When Ye Futian approached a statue near him, a terrifying will swept out towards him. The Great Path fulminated and flooded the space.
In an instant, he was drowned in the illusions of the Great Path.
Ye Futian was not alone; the other eight representatives encountered the same situation as well. The nine representatives came face-to-face with the nine statues. All of them were surrounded by an alarming aura of the Great Path. Moreover, the illusions that they experienced were different.
The space that Ye Futian was in seemed to be a primeval battlefield. He was no longer standing in front of the statue; instead, he found himself in the middle of the primeval battlefield.
His gazes turned extremely sharp. He intended to see through the illusions. However, he was still trapped in this space, unable to decipher anything.
Clearly, it was impossible to decipher the secret of the statue with this method.
Such a strong will.
Ye Futian exclaimed internally. Everything before his eyes was so real. It was as though he had arrived in another domain.
On the battlefield, many armored soldiers who guarded the Heavenly Palace appeared. They wore dazzling silver armors and emanated an intense murderous aura. They dashed towards Ye Futian.
Ye Futian was very aware of what he was up against. The master of the statues might have fallen eons ago, but there were still remnants of his will lingering here. The remnants of his will felt so real.
No matter how high Ye Futian's Plane was, he was still affected by it.
Rumble. Frightening light burst forth from Ye Futian's body. The will of the Great Path howled.
The shadows of armored soldiers directly passed through his body. They were not real existences. However, even though they were the ethereal power of will, they still made Ye Futian feel as though there was an ancient suffocating pressure acting on him.
Many people had tried before, but they could not withstand the pressure and ended up collapsing.
In this place, success was unrelated to one's Plane.
Of course, it was also possible that cultivators at the Renhuang Plane had stronger wills.
Ye Futian's expression changed slightly. Another shadow of an armored soldier charged towards him. A very real murderous fighting will oozed forth. It invaded his body, as though it wanted to kill him off.
He attempted to release some aura to block the attack, but his efforts were in vain. The murderous intent still penetrated through him.
Ye Futian had never felt this way before. He looked ahead. He felt as though the statue was alive. He could actually sense that the statue was moving, and a pair of eyes were staring at him.
With a glance from the pair of eyes, the majestic might of the army troops enveloped his body.
At the same time, war drums sounded. The beating of the drums reverberated in the space.
Dong!
With a loud thud, Ye Futian felt his spiritual soul tremble suddenly. His heart was beating fast while his breathing came to a halt. He felt terribly sick.
He raised his head; his gaze was piercing. No wonder everyone before this had failed the mission. Prior to them, there were many monstrous figures who had attempted this task, yet they had all failed. Hence, Jian Qingzhu had come up with the idea of having the nine strongest representatives attacking simultaneously.
Right now, beside them, countless cultivators of the Nine Realms were spectating the battle. They saw illusions everywhere. The nine top figures were situated in nine different environments, but they were all experiencing tremendous pressure. Even those at the pinnacle, like Jian Qingzhu, Shen Hao, and Nan Luoshen were not excluded.
...