Chapter 460: The Power of the Half-Step Void Realm

In fact, Li Jianyin wasn't wrong.

The Peach Blossom Banquet had been proceeding perfectly fine. If Shi Chongwei hadn't insisted on attacking Ye Chen, things wouldn't have escalated to this point.

'Does that guy have any respect for his father at all?'

His father was the host of the Peach Blossom Banquet, yet he had brazenly interrupted the event right in front of him.

That arrogant, superior attitude had long since ignited killing intent in Li Jianyin's heart!

While he was in a standoff with Shi Chongwei, the battle between Ye Chen and Teng Youxuan had already reached a fever pitch.

Across the ravaged, ruined landscape, blinding rays of light swirled continuously. A terrifying, destructive aura ran rampant. At a glance, it looked as if the very heavens and earth were changing color and the void itself was cracking apart—a truly horrifying sight!

As time went on, Teng Youxuan couldn't help but grow secretly anxious.

'With my power, I've been fighting this kid for so long, and I still can't take him down?'

Feeling indignant, he put even more force into his hands, fully unleashing his cultivation at the Half-Step Void Realm. A vast divine power suffused his twin hammers, and every swing seemed powerful enough to make the void collapse.

Ye Chen's expression was indifferent, his face a placid mask. Relying solely on his physical body, he clashed head-on with Teng Youxuan's twin hammers.

With every hammer blow he blocked, Ye Chen felt a violent shock run up his arm, the web of his hand nearly tearing open!

Bolstered by this divine power, Teng Youxuan's might had undoubtedly intensified, and Ye Chen could now feel the pressure as he parried the attacks!

"Hmph!"

He grunted coldly, and a black sword appeared in his hand.

The Cangming Sword!

It was rumored to be the personal sword of an Ancient Demon God. Unfortunately, with Ye Chen's current ability, he could only unleash power equivalent to that of a Top-grade Spiritual Soldier.

Even so, it was far superior to an ordinary Top-grade Spiritual Soldier. Faintly, its power seemed to be approaching that of a Spiritual Treasure.

Even the lowest-grade Spiritual Treasure was far stronger than a Top-grade Spiritual Soldier.

To Cultivators, the two were weapons of entirely different classes.

"Finally willing to use your Spiritual Soldier?"

Teng Youxuan sneered. "I thought you were going to keep toughing it out!"

Ye Chen smiled back. "Now that the warm-up is over, it's time to get serious."

His calm words sent a slight chill through the hearts of countless Cultivators.

'In Ye Chen's eyes, that earth-shaking battle with Teng Youxuan was just a warm-up?'

"You're all talk."

Teng Youxuan's face was ice-cold. He spoke with disdain, and in the next instant, once again swung his heavy hammer, bringing it crashing down on Ye Chen.

On the giant hammer, every obscure, dark pattern seemed to light up at that moment.

A boundless power pulsed from the hammer, and a heart-stopping aura spread in all directions!

"When fully unleashed, my Mountain-Opening Hammer has power approaching that of a Spiritual Treasure!"

"Using a Spiritual Treasure will only make you lose faster!"

As Teng Youxuan's voice fell, the giant hammer, carrying the force of an avalanche, had already smashed down toward Ye Chen's head.

A vibrant purple light erupted from Ye Chen's body. He gripped the Cangming Sword tightly and flicked it upward.

A brilliant ray of Sword Qi, seeming to tear the void asunder, shot out and collided violently with the Mountain-Opening Hammer.

"BOOM!"

Amidst the deafening roar, the dust had barely settled before Teng Youxuan charged forward again.

The heavy Mountain-Opening Hammer moved like the wind in his hands. Each blow was powerful enough to shatter a mountain, and a dizzying number of afterimages swung toward Ye Chen.

Ye Chen's expression remained composed. He raised the Cangming Sword to parry, and every strike of his sword steadily blocked the Mountain-Opening Hammer's attacks.

The two clashed for another hundred rounds. Every exchange was so thrilling and perilous it made one's heart pound in their chest.

Even the Provincial Governor, Li Yu, was stunned by Ye Chen's strength.

As the official supreme ruler of the eastern part of the dynasty, his strength at the Ninth Layer of the Divine Might Realm was enough to look down on all the Cultivators in Dongxuan Province.

At least on the surface, he was among the top-tier existences in the Dongxuan Province Cultivation Realm.

Yet even he would be unable to fight an existence like Teng Youxuan.

This undoubtedly meant that Ye Chen's combat prowess had already surpassed his own!

This made Li Yu smile bitterly.

'I started the Peach Blossom Banquet merely to promote competition among the young Cultivators and motivate the younger generation to practice harder.'

'Who would have thought that among them would be a youth so young, whose strength had already reached the peak of all of Dongxuan Province?'

'To a youth like that, this so-called Peach Blossom Banquet must seem like child's play, right?'

'The cultivation strength of the eastern part of the dynasty has always been the weakest within the Great Hong Dynasty.'

'I was tired of being unable to hold my head high when facing the governors of the other three provinces at the Four Provinces Meeting. That's why I wanted to properly host the Peach Blossom Banquet and promote the cultivation of the younger generation.'

'I never imagined such a heaven-defying prodigy would appear! With Ye Chen here, the younger generation of our eastern province... Forget about dominating the territories of the other three provinces, they wouldn't be the slightest bit inferior even when compared to the chosen geniuses of the Central Province!'

Li Yu's heart raced, and his breathing grew ragged.

But as soon as he looked back at the battle between Teng Youxuan and Ye Chen, a headache set in.

The current situation was already beyond his control. Even as the Provincial Governor, for a moment he was at a complete loss, unsure of what to do.

'Has his comprehension of Sword Intent already reached the consummate stage?'

'Truly incredible.'

Li Jianyin's eyes lit up as he stared at the fierce battle in the sky.

Countless streams of Sword Qi shot toward Teng Youxuan like a sky full of feathers.

Teng Youxuan let out a furious roar, his Mountain-Opening Hammer wielding the power to shake mountains and rivers as he intercepted the sky full of Sword Qi.

"BREAK!!!"

He smashed the hammer down heavily toward Ye Chen. At the same time, with a thought, he actually utilized a portion of spatial power.

As an expert at the Half-Step Void Realm, his comprehension of spatial power was far beyond that of an ordinary Divine Might Realm expert. He could fully utilize it in battle as a surprising killing move.

In an instant, Ye Chen felt the space around him become like a swamp, making it impossible to move even an inch.

He wanted to continue using his Sword Skills to fight Teng Youxuan, but his arms were locked in place by the spatial force. He could only struggle weakly, unable to exert any strength.

This couldn't help but alarm Ye Chen inwardly.

'If it had been an ordinary expert at the Peak of Divine Power Realm, I would have suppressed them long ago.'

'Unfortunately, the power of the Half-Step Void Realm is even greater than I imagined.'

'Even just touching upon a sliver of the mysteries of the Void Realm makes one far more difficult to deal with than a Divine Might Realm expert.'

"Now you'll die for sure!"

Teng Youxuan burst out laughing as he brought the Mountain-Opening Hammer down on Ye Chen's head without hesitation.

If this blow landed, not only would Ye Chen's body be shattered, but even his Divine Soul would likely explode on the spot!

No one believed that Ye Chen, unable to move, could possibly survive this strike!