Imperial God Emperor (Web Novel)

A layer of mist that resembled drifting clouds floated out from Ye Chen and swirled around his body mistily, like white clouds in the sky, as though it was protecting his body. This caused his figure to become blurrier because this cloud mist swirled about unpredictably and it was very elusive.

"Hmm? The [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds]?" Ye Qingyu was surprised.

According to legend, the [Drifting Cloud Emperor], who was part of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, had gained enlightenment on his personal martial way after catching the drifting clouds in the sky. It was also said that this Emperor was the most adept at transformation and strange changes, and had the ability to change into anything, like an elusive drifting cloud. His martial way was the most profound among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and could be described as "a formless drifting cloud". Did that mean that the armor called the [[Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds]] that Ye Chen had just summoned was an Emperor weapon that had belonged to the [Drifting Cloud Emperor]?

Ye Qingyu exerted his [Eyes of the Void] technique and closely examined the armor.

He was immediately surprised to find that he was not able to track Ye Chen's movements at all after his figure was shrouded by the misty clouds. Although he could clearly see Ye Chen in front of him, he was not able to track his movements through his divine sense, nor was he able to peek at the martial technique aura or the techniques that Ye Chen would be using.

"Hahahaha…" Ye Chen laughed maliciously. "Those who truly have a rich history are those who possess countless Emperor weapons. Hahaha, Ye Qingyu, you're just a loach that has crawled out from a poor village. Did you really think that you were a dragon?"

As soon as he spoke—

The drifting cloud mist moved and he immediately appeared beside Ye Qingyu and punched out, heedless of Ye Qingyu's protective force field and defensive power of laws.

"Hmm?" Ye Qingyu was stunned.

He was astonished to find that his divine sense and martial way foundation did not show any reaction when faced with this visible attack. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this, as though there was no way to defend against this attack.

Boom!

He was sent flying.

This punch that was nothing fancy landed squarely on his body.

"Interesting. Is this the mystery of the [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds]?" Ye Qingyu exclaimed in shock. This armor was only made up of a layer of drifting cloud mist, but it contained terrifying power and it was impossible to defend against.

"Hmm?" Ye Chen also exclaimed in surprise.

His punch earlier was packed with the power of drifting clouds, even a Quasi-emperor would have vomited blood from the impact of that attack earlier. However, Ye Qingyu had only been sent flying and was otherwise unharmed, but his own arm was numb after he sent out the punch. It was like he had punched a wall made of divine gold or Immortal steel.

His body had been refined to the stage that it was now a supreme body.

Had Ye Qingyu's body refinement skills reached such an incredibly powerful stage?

"Hehehe, if I can't defeat you in one punch, then I'll send out one thousand or even ten thousand more punches. It doesn't matter that your physical body is so incredibly strong. I'm sure that even if you're made of divine steel, I'll still be able to hit you till you break." Ye Chen laughed as he attacked again.

Ye Qingyu learned from his earlier experience and immediately exerted the [Eyes of the Void] to catch traces of his opponent's attacks, then launched a counterattack of his own.

Boom!

He dodged Ye Chen's attack and sent out a punch that hit Ye Chen's chest.

Ye Qingyu had a wealth of battle experience and had barely escaped from the jaws of death on several occasions. On the other hand, Ye Chen merely relied on his strength, martial arts techniques, and Emperor weapons, and was sorely lacking in battle experience, so it was no surprise that Ye Qingyu's attack managed to hit him squarely.

Ye Chen's lips curved into a mocking smile the moment he was hit.

Ye Qingyu immediately noticed that something was wrong.

The force from his punch had phased through Ye Chen's body as though he had been punching at air, so Ye Chen did not feel the impact of his punch at all. It was extremely odd.

He then seized this chance to counter and hit Ye Qingyu.

In that instant, countless punches rained down on his body.

This was a technique that contained the power of drifting clouds and was strong enough to destroy the heavens and earth. Ye Qingyu gradually found it more difficult to defend against these attacks. Regardless of how he tried to counterattack, his attacks were like clay oxen entering the sea—he could not harm his opponent at all.

"Hahahaha. Die!" Ye Chen laughed coldly.

His punches continued to rain down on Ye Qingyu as though he was a sandbag. Ye Qingyu could not even land on the ground and could only bear the impact of these punches, so he looked like he was in a terrible state.

"Master, you're the best!"

"Our master is invincible."

The elderly servant raised his hand and cheered and the golden-armored army also followed suit.

Spokesperson Li and the others all watched with their hearts in their throats and longed to be able to do something to help him, but they were trapped within the icy formation. Furthermore, they were well-aware that they would immediately perish if they attempted to interfere in this battle of highly skilled experts, so they were completely ineffective in battle.

"Formless drifting clouds… Is this the mystery of the [Drifting Cloud Emperor's] martial way?"

Despite what it looked like, Ye Qingyu was not in such bad shape.

His body had been refined to become so powerful that he could be considered to be peerless among the humans, so he had not sustained any serious injuries at all. Instead, he had taken this opportunity to comprehend the mysteries of this [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds]. He had managed to gain some insights but was not able to grasp the true mysteries of this armor because he had not seen the legacy of the [Drifting Cloud Emperor].

However, Ye Chen grew more alarmed as he continued to punch Ye Qingyu.

He discovered that Ye Qingyu was like a monster who could not be killed. If he had punched an Emperor weapon this many times, it would have cracked by this point, but Ye Qingyu was still not even bleeding. Instead, his own arms were going numb after exerting so much strength and his blood qi circulation was no longer that smooth.

"Enough," Ye Qingyu growled.

His figure flashed and the power of laws surged. Then, several phantom shadows appeared in the void as though he had shifted to different locations. Ye Chen felt his vision go blurry, then he lost track of Ye Qingyu.

The next moment, Ye Qingyu re-appeared outside the battlefield.

"Suppress!" he shouted as he formed a handprint once more and exerted a mysterious technique using the one hundred eight ancient characters.

The character "suppress" formed in the void and a strange authoritative force permeated the surroundings. As the power of laws surged, the invisible walls of space started to close in from all directions and trap Ye Chen within it.

The one hundred eight ancient characters' mysterious technique was extremely mysterious and it was also the greatest mystery of the [Cloud Top Cauldron]. Ye Qingyu had not been powerful enough in the past to exert the power of laws, and thus, could not exert the [Cloud Top Cauldron] to its fullest potential, but now that he was a Quasi-emperor, he could exert the power of laws at will. His handprint was infused with the mysterious technique and instantly confined Ye Chen to a tiny space.

The clouds might be formless, but they could not escape from the confines of the universe.

Ye Qingyu decided not to battle Ye Chen head-on, but instead activated his magical abilities.

"Hahaha, you're too naïve if you think this will be enough to trap me. The clouds are formless so how could you… Hmm? What's going on?" Ye Chen, who had been chuckling heartily earlier, suddenly let out a piercing cry. He had exerted the [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds] and transformed into a silver mist in an attempt to force the void to scatter then shift positions, but after several attempts, he discovered that he could not escape at all.

Ye Qingyu smirked coldly as he said, "Did you think that you were the only person who had the mysterious techniques of Martial Emperors?"

He exerted the [Limitless Divine Way] and activated his ancient characters' mysterious technique as he tried to thoroughly trap Ye Chen within that small space.

He had to discover the secret behind the lost clan of Ye for himself.

"Master…" the elderly servant cried out in astonishment when he noticed what had happened and immediately wanted to command the golden-armored army to attack Ye Qingyu and rescue his master.

"Get lost. I forbid you from interfering," Ye Chen growled.

He had proclaimed that he would kill Ye Qingyu, so if he had to rely on others to achieve that feat, it would be incredibly embarrassing for him and he would not be able to live with that shame. More importantly, he still had other tactics that he had yet to employ in the battle.

"Ye Qingyu, you've forced my hand... [Heaven Killing Blade], come out!" Ye Chen growled angrily and terrifying blood-colored lines spread all across his face.

A broken black saber slowly emerged from behind him.

Instantly, a frightening evil qi and death qi spread across the area.

Ye Qingyu's face immediately changed.

This was a saber that was meant for cold-blooded massacres. And was that black color from an Emperor's blood?

This was a saber that had once killed Martial Emperors.

How could Ye Chen be in possession of such an artifact?

"Ye Qingyu, I didn't plan on drawing this knife. This is the [Heaven Killing Blade], and once I use it, blood will definitely flow but it will also affect my mind… This saber once killed fiendgods…" Ye Chen's face twisted sinisterly and his entire body had turned blood-colored.

The [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds] did not seem compatible with the demon saber and it automatically detached from his body to transform into wisps of silver shifting cloud mist as it rejected Ye Chen after he held the demon saber.

"Destroy!" Ye Chen cried as he swung his demon saber.

The sealing force from the "suppress" character formation was immediately destroyed and the space walls shattered like broken glass with a crashing sound. Then, he freed himself.

At the moment, the unthinkable happened.

The [Cloud Top Cauldron] suddenly shuddered.

The mist from the [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds] suddenly flew toward the [Cloud Top Cauldron] like a swallow returning to its nest and vanished into the cauldron with a swish.

"Ah... why?" Ye Chen howled in astonishment.

Ye Qingyu was also extremely shocked, but he did not reveal his surprise as he said, "Since you're morally corrupt, the artifacts of Martial Emperors will naturally abandon you... You need to reflect upon your actions."

He repeated the explanation he gave earlier.

Ye Chen could not find another plausible explanation. He was so enraged that he trembled all over.

"Hmph, after I've killed you, all these artifacts will be returned to me anyway. That includes your stupid cauldron as well..." he said as he swung his demon saber. Then, his figure flashed as he charged toward Ye Qingyu.

Ye Qingyu's expression was grave and he breathed out, "Defend!"

This was another character from the one hundred eight ancient characters' mysterious technique.

Layers of phantom figures immediately appeared in front of him and it looked as though there was an imperial army of fiendgods protecting him. The shrill military commands of divine kings and fiendgods could faintly be heard in the void.

However, all his magical abilities were destroyed by that demon saber.

The imperial fiendgod army was split in two.

They could not ward off the saber attack at all.

Ye Qingyu felt an extremely sharp saber qi rushing toward him, and despite his strong physical body, he still felt his limbs grow cold as though they were about to be torn away from his body. He knew that he would not be able to handle this blow. The [Cloud Top Cauldron] had already moved to protect him and instantly enveloped him.

Clink!

There was a soft sound of metal clinking against each other.

Ye Qingyu blacked out.

A terrifying force caused his body to shudder violently and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

He was finally injured.

Was this Ye Chen's ultimate trump card?

If the Emperor weapons that Ye Chen had summoned earlier did not seem as strong as they were rumored to be, then this broken blade was so incredibly strong that it was terrifying... so much so that for the first time, Ye Qingyu felt the threat of death.