Chapter 1602: Bullying With Numbers

Ye Guan turned his head to look. Beneath a large tree several dozen meters to the right stood a middle-aged man. The man wore a white robe beneath a light green long coat. With his hands behind his back, he exuded an air of absolute control.

Ye Guan looked at the man and asked, "From the Central Gods Temple?"

The man smiled and replied, "Lord of the Martial Hero Hall, Hong Zong."

Martial Hero Hall!

Ye Guan frowned. "I don't recall the South Gods Temple having such a department."

Hong Zong slowly walked toward Ye Guan and said, "Of course not. The South Gods Temple has declined over the years. Its strength is a shadow of its former self, and many departments have already been dissolved. The Martial Hero Hall is a special division that oversees martial traditions across various domains... You could say that most of the strong cultivators in the Central Gods Temple were trained by us."

He chuckled. "That Guan Jian you killed earlier? He was also from the Martial Hero Hall, my teacher's nephew, in fact..."

Ye Guan laughed. "The Central Gods Temple really thinks highly of me."

Hong Zong replied, "We have no choice. If you can kill Guan Jian with a single strike, we can't afford

not

to take you seriously."

Ye Guan fell silent. It turned out that he was just too outstanding.

He looked at Hong Zong, seemingly deep in thought.

Hong Zong continued walking toward him, calm and composed. "At first, our target was the South Gods Temple. You were just a convenient excuse. But we didn't expect your strength to be so formidable... If you were a bit weaker, we could let you go. Since you're this monstrous, we can't allow you to live."

Ye Guan laughed. "What kind of bullshit is that? Had I been weaker, your people would have killed me already. What do you mean by let go?

When Hong Zong was about ten meters away, he stopped and smiled. "I've heard you possess a powerful sword... one that can even suppress time. Come, let me see it."

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He spread open his right hand and clenched it.

Boom!

The space surrounding Ye Guan and Hong Zong turned to ash. A pitch-black void replaced it.

A Main God Domain! A Main God Domain was a type of Divine Domain, and he unleashed it without relying on an official seal, proving that his strength was far beyond the Executive Main God, Chu Ling.

Ye Guan felt like he was sinking into an abyss. He felt suffocated and overwhelmed by despair.

With just one move, Ye Guan could tell the gap between this man and Guan Jian was massive; they weren't even on the same level.

The Central Gods Temple wasn't even giving him a chance to train, and it was proven by how they sent out this kind of powerhouse right away!

Ye Guan took a deep breath and spread his arms. Suddenly, two distinct sword intents surged from his palms, rushing skyward and crashing violently into the Main God Dmain.

Rumble...

In the darkened void of spacetime, the area around Ye Guan churned like boiling oil, waves of terrifying power surging forth. Opposite him, Hong Zong glanced at the dual sword intents and chuckled. "Two Sword Daos... interesting."

He took a step forward. With that single step, the spacetime surrounding Ye Guan burst into flames.

Ye Guan's pupils shrank. He felt as though a star field was collapsing on him, trying to crush him to dust.

This was the man's Dao! He was suppressing him through the power of the Great Dao!

Ye Guan responded instantly. From within him, a sword erupted skyward, cleaving through everything in its path.

The Qingxuan Sword!

Hong Zong laughed again and looked at the sword with interest. "So that's the sword?"

As soon as the Qingxuan Sword appeared, Hong Zong's domain shattered.

The sword's momentum was unstoppable, but Hong Zong showed no fear. He flipped his hand, and from the sky, a seal descended. In mid-air, it transformed into a massive glowing character that said, "Martial."

A Martial Official Seal!

This was an artifact recognized by the Temple of Gods, imbued with Divine Will. It was his strongest treasure. Paired with his Main God Domain, he was nearly unmatched among his peers.

Though confident, he took Ye Guan seriously and decided not to hold back.

The Martial Official Seal descended rapidly. Around them, the Main God Domain manifested once again. With both powers converging, Ye Guan could barely breathe, and his dual sword intents were forcibly suppressed.

Ye Guan squinted. With a single thought, the fabric of time and space blurred.

Time Freeze!

The Martial Official Seal froze mid-air above Ye Guan, and the martial will from the Martial Official Seal came to a halt.

The entire area became still, except for one thing—a flickering sword light.

It was Ye Guan's sword light.

When time stopped, the smile on Hong Zong's face froze. Though he had mentally prepared, he was still shocked that Ye Guan could suppress time. It was a rare divine technique.

Fortunately, he had come prepared. A brilliant golden light erupted from his chest, forming a protective barrier.

A Half-Step Divinity artifact—Armor of All Beings.

Forged from the collective faith of countless beings over tens of millions of years, this armor had merged with his Martial Official Seal, infused with Divine Will. It surpassed ordinary Artifacts, even rivaling Divinity Artifacts in defense.

When the armor appeared, a wave of collective power formed countless shields to block Ye Guan's sword. The next moment, Hong Zong's pupils contracted in shock. Ye Guan's Qingxuan Sword had sliced through the power of the masses as if it were paper!

The sword landed on the Armor of All Beings.

Crack!

The armor fractured, splintering with countless cracks.

Hong Zong panicked. Gone was his previous composure. He stomped to retreat only to realize that he hadn't moved at all!

The time and space around him were frozen. Now that he was experiencing it at close range, he realized just how terrifying it truly was...

Death was upon him.

In desperation, Hong Zong inwardly roared, "Help me, Fu Zun!"

Just then, a terrifying force burst in from the side like a raging flood, crashing into the frozen zone.

Crack!

The sealed space shattered like glass. The force sent Ye Guan flying tens of thousands of meters, blood spilling from his lips.

Ye Guan came to a stop, blood dripping from his mouth.

He turned and looked to the right.

There stood a middle-aged man in black robes, wearing a half-mask. His body flickered between solid and shadowy, ghostlike and eerie.

Fu Zun!

One of the seven great Main Gods of the Central Gods Temple, ranked second in power.

Two Main Gods had come after Ye Guan, and both wielded immense authority within the Central Gods Temple.

Ye Guan wiped the blood from his lips and looked at Hong Zong with a faint smile. "No wonder you were so arrogant, turns out you had backup."

Hong Zong's face darkened. He hadn't expected Ye Guan's sword to shatter his Armor of All Beings so easily.

That was a Half-step Divinity artifact!

And yet it crumbled like paper under Ye Guan's sword?

Hong Zong glared at Ye Guan. "You're just relying on a sharp sword! If you have the guts, let's fight barehanded. No weapons, no artifacts!"

Ye Guan replied, "Sure."

With that, he sheathed the Qingxuan Sword.

Seeing this, Hong Zong frowned.

That fast? Is this a trick?

He hesitated. After the earlier exchange, he no longer underestimated Ye Guan; he was wary of him now. That sword of his... was probably even stronger than a Divinity artifact.

And still, Hong Zong wondered. When had such a powerful blasphemer appear?

Ye Guan saw him hesitate and smirked. "What's wrong? Didn't you say you wanted a fair fight?"

Hong Zong snapped out of it. He clenched his right fist, martial energy building in his palm, then surged forward as a wave of martial might. Although he did not have the enhancement from the Martial Official Seal, his martial energy was still horrifying. It was like a mountain crashing down on Ye Guan.

From a distance, Ye Guan didn't retreat. He advanced. He stomped and shot forward like sword light.

Sword energy roared like a tsunami, clashing directly with Hong Zong's attack.

At the moment of impact, a terrifying shockwave exploded outward. Then, without warning, another force entered the battlefield, engulfing Ye Guan's domain.

Boom!

Countless sword lights shattered. Ye Guan was flung back again; this time, he flew over a hundred thousand meters away. When he finally stopped, his fleshly body was torn open, and blood sprayed out of him.

Ye Guan raised his head. The attacker was Fu Zun

Hong Zong frowned at the unexpected interference. He was about to speak when Fu Zun coldly said, "Why bother with a one-on-one against a blasphemer? Just bully him with numbers."

Just as he prepared to strike again...

Rumble!

The spacetime above them shattered, and a cold voice echoed.

"Bullying with numbers?"