At that moment, the gazes of these three masters were all locked onto Ye Chen!
While inside the treasury, Ye Chen had long since changed out of his blood-stained clothes.
Now, his Demon God aura was retracted and hidden. Dressed in flowing white robes, he looked more like an immortal descended to the mortal world. His eyes, calm as still water, swept over the masters of the three factions before him.
"So, your purpose is to capture me?" Ye Chen smiled faintly, his expression tinged with disdain.
"Then why didn't you barge in sooner? Why let me do as I pleased inside?"
Yan Qiushi replied expressionlessly, "We only arrived a short while ago. Besides, you were inside the treasury, which contains many of the Cold Wind Sect's Restrictions. It would have been inconvenient for us to act."
"It's for the best that you chose this moment to emerge."
"Sir, why are you wasting your breath explaining things to him?"
Shen Yanyue's face was contorted with rage, all traces of her former elegance gone. "This little bastard has committed so many evils! Did he really think my Cold Wind Sect would just bow its head? Pah! Who the hell does he think he is? He must have no brains at all!"
If not for her desperate pleas and dissuasion, Yan Qiushi and the others might have truly disregarded the safety of the Cold Wind Sect's treasury and attacked Ye Chen by force.
"Just you wait! I'll make you spit back out every last resource you've used from my sect's treasury over these past few days!"
Shen Yanyue ground her teeth, her killing intent palpable.
That was the very foundation passed down through generations of their Cold Wind Sect.
No one knew how many resources Ye Chen had used inside, but anything of value was surely all but gone!
"So noisy."
Ye Chen frowned at Shen Yanyue. Now that she had backup, this beautiful woman had completely lost her respectful demeanor toward him, which he found irritating.
BOOM!
Ye Chen raised a hand and pointed. A bolt of Spiritual Power shot out, piercing straight through Shen Yanyue's shoulder.
"AHHHH!"
Shen Yanyue let out a miserable shriek. Blood stained the front of her robes, and the intense pain twisted her features.
"Brat, you dare harm someone in my presence?" Yan Qiushi took a step forward, his aura surging.
Ye Chen ignored him, simply looking at Shen Yanyue. "Do you know why I didn't kill you just now?"
Clutching her wound, Shen Yanyue spat venomously, "What are you trying to say?"
"I just want you to watch as the very support you've gathered is crushed to pieces in my hands."
"Imagine your despair then."
Ye Chen's expression was indifferent. After stepping into the peak of the Blood Coagulation Realm, his state of mind had grown closer to that of an Ancient Demon God—cold and apathetic.
"What do you mean?"
"Brat, you don't actually think you're walking out of the Cold Wind Sect alive today, do you?"
"No one from the Demon Dao can survive in my presence! And that includes you!"
The Thunder Sound War Buddha's voice boomed like rolling thunder, terrifyingly imposing.
"You're at death's door and don't even know it."
"Your arrogance is beyond cure." Yan Qiushi's voice was flat as he shook his head. In his heart, a trace of contempt for Ye Chen arose.
"Ye Chen, the feud for my son's murder is irreconcilable!"
"Today, only one of us will leave this place alive!"
Yang Yan's hair whipped about wildly, a vicious light glinting in his eyes. "After I slaughter you, I'll slaughter this old dog and let him know what true despair feels like!"
"Fine."
Ye Chen slowly raised his gaze to the sky.
"I've long known this battle was inevitable."
"Since it has come to this, allow me to show you the might of the peak realm!"
In an instant, a formidable aura erupted from within Ye Chen, shooting straight into the heavens!
It even blasted apart a large swath of clouds on the distant horizon, leaving the disciples and Elders of the Cold Wind Sect completely dumbfounded.
"Hm?"
'To have such ability without even having condensed a Spiritual Sea... his talent is truly exceptional.'
"It's a pity you've strayed onto the wrong path and fallen to the Demon Dao. You will not escape death today."
Yan Qiushi shook his head slightly. The thought of personally ending the life of a young prodigy filled him with a sense of regret.
"Shameless boasting!"
"Today, I'll start with you!"
Ye Chen's gaze fell upon Yan Qiushi. The *Demon God's World-Shaking Record* began to circulate without restraint, and his eyes instantly turned pitch-black, deep and terrifying.
'Is this really the power a Blood Coagulation Realm cultivator can unleash?'
Yan Qiushi was secretly alarmed. Daring not to be careless, he manifested a vast Spiritual Sea behind him.
"Is that the aura of the Seventh Layer of the Spirit Sea Realm?"
"I never expected Commander Yan to have already reached this level! In just a few more years, he'll probably catch up to the Grand Commander, won't he?"
A powerful fluctuation of Spiritual Power spread out from Yan Qiushi.
Everyone in the Cold Wind Sect was stunned, their eyes filled with adoration.
After all, their Sect Leader, Shen Yanyue, was only at the Third Layer of the Spirit Sea Realm.
This law enforcement commander from the state prefecture was a full four layers stronger than their own Sect Leader!
Ye Chen's expression remained unchanged, completely unfazed by Yan Qiushi's aura.
He raised his palm and brought it down. A phantom of a Demon God seemed to materialize behind him—towering, world-blotting, and heaven-propping. The descending palm strike nearly covered the entire gate of the Cold Wind Sect!
BOOM!
Yan Qiushi resisted with all his might, but was ultimately defeated. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he was slammed deep into the ground, cutting a pathetic figure.
"What?"
The scene before them defied everyone's expectations.
No one could have imagined that the mighty Yan Qiushi, a master at the Seventh Layer of the Spirit Sea Realm, would be utterly crushed in a single palm strike by Ye Chen, who had not even condensed a Spiritual Sea!
"How is that possible?!" Shen Yanyue cried out, her face a mask of disbelief.
"This brat's combat prowess is rather extraordinary!" the Thunder Sound War Buddha's expression shifted slightly.
"Is this the power that cultivating the Demon Dao has brought you? It is indeed intoxicating, but it is not the righteous path. Sooner or later, you will pay the price for it!"
He took a step forward, and the muscles all over his body suddenly swelled by several sizes!
A blinding golden light enveloped his physical form. He seemed to transform into a Vajra giant, his eyes wide with fury, his presence overwhelming!
"It's the Indestructible Vajra Body from Vajra Temple!"
"Legend says the Thunder Sound War Buddha is a powerful Body Cultivator who doesn't cultivate Spiritual Power, but instead seeks the Dao through his physical body! Now we finally get to see it with our own eyes!"
The crowd was thrilled, feeling as if their horizons had been broadened.
The Thunder Sound War Buddha's combat strength was in no way inferior to that of a Seventh-Layer Spirit Sea Realm Cultivator.
In fact, because he was a Body Cultivator, even someone like Yan Qiushi would likely not have an easy time fighting him.
"Sect Leader Yang, this brat is strange. It would be best for us to join forces, lest we repeat Commander Yan's mistake and suffer the same fate."
The Thunder Sound War Buddha's expression was grave. He may have been crude and reckless, but he was no fool.
After witnessing Ye Chen's terrifying strength, he no longer held any trace of contempt for him.
"Of course!" Yang Yan also stepped forward, an aura of flame erupting from his body, so intense it seemed about to incinerate the surrounding air.