Ye Chen’s eyes burst with infinite delight as he saw the dismembered arm of the Crimsonblood Dragon. His hand reached out to grab the still-warm limb, but before he could reach it, a blood mist shot toward him.

“A futile effort,” Ye Chen said with a snort. His sword flashed and an invisible wave counterattacked the red dragon’s blood breath.

Almost as if someone had pressed the pause button in reality, the blood breath halted midair. No, it didn’t halt, but its movement slowed to a crawl. Even a snail could move faster than it.

Ye Chen’s movement never stopped. Just as his fingers grazed the blood red scales, alarm bells rang in his head. Ye Chen’s instincts told him that if he did not move this instant, he would perish. Never one not to trust his instincts, he obeyed, but it still wasn’t fast enough.

An external force shattered his time deceleration on the Crimsonblood Dragon’s breath, causing it to engulf him and the dismembered limb. Ye Chen gritted his teeth in anger. So close, he was so close to accomplishing his goal. However, he did not have time to get angry, as his sense of crisis only increased.

He broke out of the blood breath, his skin red like a cooked lobster. His vitality wavered, obviously damaged, but the worst was yet to come. A black ray shot toward Ye Chen far faster than he could dodge. He only had enough time to swing his sword in defense, but his power completely paled in comparison to the black ray.

A sonorous snap echoed in the void. Ye Chen’s eyes widened to the point they almost bugged out. When the black ray struck, it snapped his sword in half. Then it traveled down the broken blade and attacked him. A powerful force disintegrated his fingers, but it wasn’t done. It started to disintegrate his hand, then his wrist, and traveled up his arm.

Ye Chen didn’t hesitate for long. He grabbed his right elbow with his free hand and tightened his grip. Another snap later, he had ripped his own arm off, stopping the spread of the disintegration.

“Damn, it’s you dragons again. First it was Canglong, now it’s you!” Ye Chen shouted, his eyes practically spouting fire.

When Ye Chen was still a transcending mortality saint, he had entered the Broken Primordial World. Back then, he had wanted to grab the Sovereign Nine Yang Flower, but Canglong happened to notice it, too. So the two fought. Although Canglong was suppressed by the Broken Primordial World, he was still a demon king, so Ye Chen had no choice but to take out the divine mirror artifact that accompanied him after a turning point in his teenage years.

As a result, it drew the attention of another cultivator. Not only did Ye Chen not grab the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus, but he also lost his divine artifact. After returning, Ye Chen’s progress almost halted to a stop, and he lost the genius title he possessed thanks to the divine artifact’s aid.

Ye Chen became despondent. His original bright future became bleak. Without the divine artifact, he had lost the confidence to undergo his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, and he lingered in the Transcending Mortality Realms for hundreds of years.

The Numinous Sword Sect, which once placed great importance on Ye Chen, gave up on him. Although the sect no longer considered him an immortal seed, it didn’t mean that Ye Chen lost everything. Before he joined the Numinous Sword Sect and discovered the divine mirror, his original fiance left him for greener pastures. After joining the Numinous Sword Sect, Ye Chen found another woman he wanted to become his dao companion.

Unfortunately for him, history repeated. He, who lost his genius title, became ordinary and no longer worthy of the woman.

Humiliated once more, Ye Chen rediscovered his unyielding will and descended the mountain to search for opportunities before attempting his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

Ye Chen discovered another opportunity. It wasn’t as good as a divine artifact, but it was a powerful martial cultivation method. As long as he absorbed the blood of a dragon, he could create a powerful martial body. Ye Chen, who followed the spiritual path, switched to the martial path. That didn’t mean he abandoned the spiritual path. No, he became a dual path cultivator.

He even met a hidden cultivation clan. The Longren Clan was also known as the Dragon-Blooded Clan, and they practiced an inferior version of the technique Ye Chen discovered. The Longren Clan wasn’t even a ranked force in the Numinous Realm, so when they learned of Ye Chen’s identity, they decided to take a gamble.

And so, Ye Chen performed the dao companion ceremony with the proud daughter of the Longren Clan. Later, he transcended his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and returned to the Numinous Sword Sect. Once he showed his combat prowess, the Numinous Sword Sect also focused their resources on him again.

Ye Chen didn’t disappoint. Although it was slower without the divine mirror, he mastered the Law of Time, becoming a revered immortal lord. However, Ye Chen wasn’t satisfied. With his ambition reignited, he wanted to master the Law of Space and merged it with the Law of Time to master the Law of Spacetime and use that to become an immortal monarch.

Until then, he would let that woman and her family who betrayed him enjoy the glory a little longer. Although he became an immortal lord, that woman had an immortal monarch ancestor.

That didn’t mean his strength stagnated. Ye Chen continued to hunt demons and beasts with dragon blood, hoping to improve his martial body, but most members of the Dragon Clan had secluded themselves in the Divine Beast Pseudo System. The chance of encountering a true dragon was incredibly low, but luck shone on Ye Chen as the Numinous Sword Sect and Immortal Court launched a war against the Demon Clan.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Ye Chen naturally signed up. As he expected, the Divine-Beast Human War was a paradise for him. He would kill true dragons when possible. If he could not, he would dismember their limbs and take it back to absorb. Although he hadn’t become an immortal monarch, the Demon Clan labeled him as a monarch-level threat.

When he heard Emperor Stonesword’s proposal to kidnap Demon Emperor Redraco’s granddaughter, Ye Chen supported the plan one hundred percent. He had researched dragons deeply because of the technique. Dragon bloodlines were divided into different grades, and the Crimsonblood Dragon’s bloodline was definitely among the peak bloodline.

He had a feeling that if he absorbed Honglin’s blood, his body would reach the monarch-level. Even if he was only a true immortal, he could be considered an elite monarch-level combatant.

Alas, his dreams were beautiful, but reality was cruel.

The black dragon king used his actions to show how naïve Ye Chen’s thoughts were. So what if he could rival monarchs? In a duel between emperors, he was just a bigger ant.

Ye Chen retreated as a gray light zoomed past him. It was Emperor Stonesword. His eyes were determined. Just like Ye Chen, Emperor Stonesword did not want to give up. As long as he had a chance, he could capture the Crimsonblood Dragon and use her to reverse the situation.

Emperor Stonesword’s had become an emperor less than three thousand years ago. He was only twenty thousand years old. For an emperor, that was incredibly young. Had it not been for Xi Mengfei and her son, he would have been the youngest cultivator to reach the Extremity Immortal Realm.

Had Xi Mengfei or Xi Tianyi been a few thousand years older, people would have compared the three on equal grounds. However, both Xi Mengfei and Xi Tianyi only lived a fraction of his age, and no one believed that Emperor Stonesword was more talented than them.

As a sword immortal, you must never falter. Emperor Stonesword wanted to prove with his actions that he was not inferior to Xi Mengfei or Xi Tianyi. It will be he who would become the newest divinity since the primordial era. Not Xi Mengfei, not Xi Tianyi, not even Bao Ling!

Still, he underestimated the new dragon king’s power.

It was a one-sided beat down. Emperor Stonesword’s attacks could only leave white marks on the dragon king. Even his most powerful attacks could only destroy a few scales and draw a little bit of blood. He recognized the dragon from its unique appearance and heard that his defenses were particularly tough while in the Demon King Realm, but this was ridiculous.

More than that, the dragon king deployed a field that would disintegrate and destroy their flesh. It also had a disruptive effect, so even immortal monarchs found it difficult to cast spells and could only rely on physical techniques. Luckily, all the monarchs and true immortals learned swordplay.

Emperor Stonesword cast one last unwilling glance at the Crimsonblood Dragon before ordering a retreat. However, how could the new dragon king let them go like this? He chased them and attacked them until the reinforcements arrived.

“Dragon, tell me your name!” Emperor Stonesword shouted as he clutched his wounded body.

“You can call me the East Sea Dragon King!” the new dragon king said as he retreated. Although he was powerful, he was near the human’s territory and he sensed two immortal emperors. Although it was a pity he couldn’t kill Emperor Stonesword, he at least killed six sword monarchs.

With the retreat of the East Sea Dragon King, Emperor Stonesword and the other immortals released a sigh of relief. The operation was a failure, and many immortals would need to recuperate before they can step on the battlefield again.

Ye Chen, along with many other true immortals, retreated to Shangri-La. The qi density was much higher than the middle-rank and low-rank realms they had conquered before. Plus, most of the supplies were located in the mobile fortress.

When Ye Chen entered his assigned cultivation chamber, he sat down immediately. A gloomy expression appeared on his face. If possible, he really didn’t want to return to Shangri-La.

After Ye Chen regained his glory, he started to search for the identity of the cultivator and dragon that attacked him and forced him to lose his divine artifact. He couldn’t find much about the dragon, but he learned about the cultivator a few hundred years later.

It was Xi Tianyi! The only son of Sovereign Xi and the youngest immortal emperor. More than that, he was the controller of the mobile fortress.

Ye Chen hated Xi Tianyi’s guts. He also wanted to avoid him, because he knew he would be in trouble if Xi Tianyi recognized him. Ye Chen never disclosed the fact that he had a divine artifact. If he jumped out and wanted justice from Xi Tianyi, neither the Numinous Sword Sect nor Immortal Court would do anything.

The two were still allies facing the Demon Clan at this time, so any disunity must be suppressed. And even if the Numinous Sword Sect wanted to retrieve the divine artifact, the Immortal Court would never comply. At most, some words would be exchanged.

Worse, even if they got the divine artifact, the Numinous Sword Sect would never return it to Ye Chen. The more likely result would be that they blamed him for losing the divine artifact to the Immortal Court. As such, Ye Chen evaded Xi Tianyi as much as possible, but how could he hide forever?

However, when Ye Chen did inevitably meet Xi Tianyi, the latter acted as if he had never seen him. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or infuriated. Had it not been for Xi Tianyi, how could he have reached the second lowest point of his life? Everything stemmed from that damn thief’s actions.

Should he spread rumors that Xi Tianyi was actually colluding with the demons?

Ye Chen shook his head. This enmity can be repaid later. The most important thing is to raise his strength. Once he grows strong enough, he will take revenge with his own hands. Especially once he starts mastering the Law of Spacetime, he will have an overwhelming advantage compared to immortals in the same realm.

Although he lost his primary arm, he still had his left arm. Ye Chen could still wield the sword, but it would just be slightly weaker. Still, he couldn’t accept his disfigurement, so Ye Chen took out a vial. Seal inside was the flesh and blood of dragons he collected throughout the war.

He pointed his fingers at it and the stopper popped off. Under Ye Chen’s control, a steady stream of blood flowed out and gathered around his stump. Bones grew out, then the flesh and finally scales. Yes, scales, not skin. When the forearm regenerated up to his wrist, Ye Chen’s eyes snapped open.

Ye Chen stared at the stump. He scrunched his brows and the qi exploded off of him, but no more flesh grew out. “Why can’t I regenerate the rest of my arm?!”