Naturally, none of the three immortal emperors would answer Ye Chen’s questions. Even if they did, it would not be an honest answer.
Ye Chen also knew this, so he didn’t bother asking again. Instead, he waved his hand. To the surprise of the three immortal emperors and Lunar Giant War Formations, nine Ten Thousand Sword War Formations appeared. Now, it was one sword emperor and nine war formations against three immortal emperors and six war formations.
“You knew this was an ambush?” the Ripple Emperor couldn’t help but question.
“You must have stored those people inside a realm artifact. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to escape our senses,” the Starfall Emperor said. There was no hiding the envy in his voice.
Realm artifacts were incredibly rare in the Numinous Realm, even rarer than in the Huang Realm. Even the Numinous Sword Sect didn’t have as many realm artifacts as the Buzhou Immortal Sect did. It was also one reason why they wanted to attack the other so much.
“Of course,” Ye Chen said. “I have to admit that I didn’t expect you guys to have realized I was an emperor. No wonder you brought out so many people to deal with me.”
“So what if you brought them all out? No amount of half-emperor level war formations can change that you’re still only one emperor against three,” the Redmoon Emperor said.
Ye Chen gave a confident smile. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
He brandished his sword, ready to initiate the battle, but was stopped by one of the Ten Thousand Sword War Formations. “Let me deal with the Starfall Emperor.”
The Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor recognized the voice. “Hmpf, aside from Solesword, the top assassination targets are present. Not only will the Numinous Sword Sect lose a sword emperor today, but they will lose a junior emperor, too!”
Meng Tingfeng ignored the words and waited for Ye Chen’s answer.
Ye Chen shrugged. He knew that Meng Tingfeng wanted to fight the Starfall Emperor because he saw a chance to enter the Extremity Immortal Realm. After all, both of them comprehended the Law of Stars. And Ye Chen was very happy to see it happen. After becoming an immortal emperor, he felt himself slacken a bit because of the reduction of pressure. If Meng Tingfeng could pressure him, then it would be for the best.
“Alright enough talking, let’s end this karma here!” Ye Chen said as he pointed his sword at the three emperors.
Next to him, the Ten Thousand Sword War Formation, controlled by Meng Tingfeng, also changed. The layers of spinning sword light congregated and formed a giant composed entirely of sword light a hundred meters tall. It flew alongside Ye Chen toward the Starfall Emperor.
The Starfall Emperor snorted. “You hold the Kunlun Sword Emperor back. I’ll join you after I deal with this junior.”
The Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor nodded. They didn’t have the confidence to defeat or kill Ye Chen, but they could hold him back and prevent him from saving Meng Tingfeng at the critical time. As for the six Lunar Giant War Formations, it was up to themselves to hold back the eight other Ten Thousand Sword War Formations.
The Ten Thousand Sword War Formation controlled by Meng Tingfeng held the Seven Star Sword in its hand and slashed toward the Starfall Emperor. As if affected by the divine artifact, the war formation’s body also had countless stars shimmering in its body. When it attacked, the Seven Star Sword seemed to have transformed into shooting stars. Each strike left behind a dazzling trail.
The Starfall Emperor dodged his attack. His body burned like a star and several incarnations split from the body. Each one exuded an exact aura to the Starfall Emperor, making it impossible to detect which one was the true body and which ones were the incarnations.
He raised his hand above his head and brought it down. Following the motion of his hand, the stars in the sky rained down again, but Meng Tingfeng was not defenseless. The Seven Star Sword dimmed slightly, but the number of attacks increased. Most of the shooting stars dealt with the falling stars, while the remaining ones attacked the Starfall Emperor.
“How?!” the Redmoon bit out. “I can clearly sense that the divine artifact in front of me is real. How can you also have another one? Did you forge two swords from the broken Kunlun Mirror?!”
Ye Chen didn’t answer. Instead, he only attacked faster, hoping to kill the Redmoon Emperor. However, the Ripple Emperor appeared and dragged the Redmoon Emperor away, saving him from a fatal blow.
“Maybe,” Ye Chen finally answered. Both of his selves turned toward the two emperors. In reality, the Kunlun Mirror was only enough to forge the Kunlun Sword. If it was really refined into two swords, it would have lost its essence and become a sovereign artifact. Only a fool would choose two sovereign artifacts over a divine artifact.
His second was not an avatar or clone. Avatars could only be created below the Immortal Realm, and when a cultivator became an immortal, they must unite all their avatars to their source before undergoing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. It was also not a clone. Although clones originated from the same source, a clone was ultimately a distinct, albeit connected, life form. It was impossible for a clone to be perfectly similar to the original.
It was impossible for it to be an incarnation, too. Even if Ye Chen could use some methods to replicate his peak streak as an incarnation, he could replicate the divine artifact. To put it simply, this was Ye Chen from the future.
Relying on his mastering of time, Ye Chen summoned his future self to fight alongside him. Of course, even if it was his so-called future self, it was only at most a second into the future. And it wasn’t just one future, but all the possibilities.
However, this also had a downside. As long as one of his bodies was injured, it would reflect on the other body.
Just as the Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor were considering how to flee, a small ripple appeared next to Ye Chen. An immaculate and perfect hand reached out and grabbed the Kunlun Sword.
Before Ye Chen could even sneer, a powerful force broke the bones in his arm. A pull later, Ye Chen lost his entire forearm and hand. This naturally included the Kunlun Sword. With this action, his future also lost part of his arm and the Kunlun Sword.
“Don’t think you’ve gotten away with it!” Ye Chen roared. Time flowed backward on him. The injuries on his arms healed, but the Kunlun Sword was still missing.
“Ripple Emperor, now what do you have to say for yourself?”
The Ripple Emperor made a bitter expression. Although the methods seem to be of similar origins, the perpetrator really wasn’t from the Void Ripple Sect. “If we had such an emperor, do you think he would have waited until now to take action?”
Although he was still suspicious, the Redmoon Emperor didn’t say anymore. Right now, he wanted to flee. The appearance of a third party gave him an ominous premonition. “You—”
Just as he wanted to say retreat to the Ripple Emperor, the Ripple Emperor suddenly disappeared. Soon, anger appeared on the Redmoon Emperor’s face. “You coward! You escaped by yourself!”
After a moment of hesitation, the Redmoon Emperor flew away from Ye Chen, who was still shocked at the theft of his Kunlun Sword. The six Lunar Giant War Formations also fled. Their bodies turned into moonlight. Although they weren’t powerful, their escaping ability was top-notch since they could flee at near the speed of light.
The Starfall Emperor also saw this. He was shocked, but the situation didn’t allow him to think too much. All of his starlight incarnations fled in different directions, leaving only the nine Ten Thousand Sword War Formations and Ye Chen alone.
Ye Chen and Meng Tingfeng had grim faces. Although they succeeded in foiling the two alliance’s plan, they did not kill anyone. More importantly, Ye Chen lost his divine artifact!
Just as they were planning to discuss what to do next, whether to chase or return to the sect, a distortion appeared in the air. It twisted space and color, warping the sky and all those near it. Before the two could do anything about it, it erupted and shrouded everything in a ripple.
“Ripple Emperor!” Ye Chen shouted in anger as he did his best to defend himself. He knew that only someone with great mastery over space or time could prevent him from distorting time and recalling the Kunlun Sword, so the Ripple Emperor became his biggest suspect. And now, the explosion of space further cemented his suspicion.