"Whether I can make it through or not, I must try!"
Ye Chen looked at Yan Ling'er, saying so with a light smile.
Yan Ling'er's words, of course, wouldn't scare Ye Chen.
Just because others failed, it didn't mean Ye Chen would fail the challenge too!
Even in defeat, he must fight!
Engaging with various masters, grasping combat skills through battles, and enhancing his actual combat abilities were things Ye Chen had always been doing.
The great opportunity of the Ancient God Tower was not only about the chance of accelerated time flow but also the chance to spar with the guardians of each level of the tower.
The strongest level guardian of this eighteenth floor, the first place champion of the True Qi Realm from the Minor Spirit Realm, Yan Ling'er, was here, and Ye Chen wouldn't miss the opportunity to spar with her.
Moreover, Ye Chen was not without a chance of victory!
Since stepping onto the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Ye Chen's achievements had already far surpassed countless True Qi Realm cultivators.
To date, no one had heard of anyone who could, in just over a year, rise from a weakling of the first layer of the True Qi Realm, subjected to being bullied by others, to a strength that could rival a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!
Nor had anyone seen someone like Ye Chen, cultivating so many powerful methods!
More than a year's harsh training in the Ancient God Tower, accumulating day by day, Ye Chen had indeed reaped a great harvest and transformed tremendously!
Although Ye Chen was not born as noble as Yan Ling'er, he relied on his hard work and relentless cultivation, seizing every opportunity to turn all chances into his strength.
Of course, he dared to challenge Yan Ling'er in battle!
"Good, as I said, if you challenge me, I won't refuse!"
"Make your move, and if you can get within a thirty-foot range of me, I will stand up and fight you!"
"So far, out of the ninety-nine Ancient God Towers and challenges over three thousand years, only two people have managed to do so!"
Seated on the Green Leaf Law Platform, dressed in a white robe, holy and celestial-like Yan Ling'er spoke to Ye Chen.
In the challenges of over three thousand years across the ninety-nine Ancient God Towers, only two people could force Yan Ling'er to stand up for a battle?
Others couldn't even get close to her?
Yan Ling'er was this powerful!
Ye Chen felt his fighting spirit surge. He too wanted to see just how formidable Yan Ling'er was!
"Then I shall learn from Princess Yan Ling'er!"
As Ye Chen spoke, the Gang Yuan True Qi inside his body surged forth, and the Wind-Thunder Wings immediately appeared on his back.
With a flap of his wings, Ye Chen prepared to fly towards Yan Ling'er.
The distance between Ye Chen and Yan Ling'er was only about a dozen yards, and with the speed of the Wind-Thunder Wings, he could break into Yan Ling'er's thirty-foot range in just the blink of an eye, forcing her to stand and confront him.
But since Yan Ling'er indicated that most people couldn't even get close to her, it probably wouldn't be that easy to fly over there.
Ye Chen also grew wary in his heart.
"Swoosh," just as Ye Chen unfurled his wings and started to take off, countless vines suddenly broke through the soil on the large grassland where he stood, and in an instant, transformed into giant vines, dozens of meters long, dancing wildly in the sky, entwining towards Ye Chen.
The giant vines were astonishingly fast. Before Ye Chen could even move, the vines had already wrapped in front of him.
Instantly, Ye Chen realized, this was Yan Ling'er's move!
No wonder she said it was hard for someone to get close to her. She could remotely control the dancing vines to obstruct her opponent's advance.
Ye Chen had been on guard for Yan Ling'er's move. As the vines wrapped in front of him, countless Sword of True Qi materialized around Ye Chen.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
No sooner had these Sword of True Qi formed than they sliced towards the dancing vines.
These Sword of True Qi, formed by the powerful Sword Intent of Thunder, could easily shred a mountain!
However, when these Thunder Swords slashed at the dancing vines, they only left shallow sword marks on them, unable to sever the vines at all!
Ye Chen's face changed dramatically.
He hadn't anticipated that the dancing vines controlled by Yan Ling'er would be so tough.
In the meantime, the vines had wrapped around the Protective True Qi outside Ye Chen's body.
Just as Ye Chen was about to unleash an even more powerful Slaughter Sword Intent, the vines didn't pierce through his Protective True Qi. Instead, with a fierce coiling and a toss, they flung Ye Chen dozens of yards away!
These vines, incredibly fast and unbelievably tough, even their strength was astonishing!
Ye Chen, flung away by the vines, stabilized himself from falling to the ground by fluttering his Wind-Thunder Wings in mid-air and halted to hover in the void.
"What kind of technique is this?!"
Ye Chen looked at the giant dancing vines, each dozens of meters long in the area where he had been standing, and couldn't help but exclaim.
This was the first time Ye Chen had been flung directly since he entered the Ancient God Tower!
The eighteenth floor guardian, Princess Yan Ling'er, indeed exhibited astonishing strength as soon as she made her move!
With the Wind-Thunder Wings unfurled behind him, Ye Chen once again shot toward Princess Yan Ling'er, while at the same time, countless Swords of True Qi emanating an endless aura of slaughter hovered around his body.
These were the Swords of True Qi controlled by the Slaughter Sword Intent. Facing the incredibly hard and massive vines, Ye Chen prepared to employ his strongest Sword Intent to cut down these tendrils.
Just as Ye Chen shot forward, endless vines burst forth beneath him, sweeping toward him to entwine and bind from all directions.
This time, Ye Chen wielded the Swords of True Qi controlled by the Slaughter Sword Intent, with the lights of the "Wind, Rain, Thunder and Lightning" four Sword Intents swirling around them, suddenly exploding with boundless killing intent.
The Sword of Slaughter directly struck at the massive vines entwining from all around.
As expected of the Slaughter Sword Intent, which was more powerful than any of the four Sword Intents Ye Chen possessed. Whereas the Sword Intent of Thunder only managed to leave small sword marks on the massive vines, the Sword of Slaughter actually cut them in half.
However, before Ye Chen could even feel a sense of joy, something astonishing happened: where the vines had been cut, new ones sprouted instantly, reforming into a sky full of tendrils that wrapped toward him again!
Ye Chen relentlessly sliced through the vines with the Sword of Slaughter, but the growth rate of these tendrils did not slow down compared to the speed at which he was cutting them; in fact, it eventually turned into an endless, scorched battle.
If this went on, Ye Chen feared that he would run out of True Qi before he could even reach Princess Yan Ling'er, let alone cut down all the vines.
"This 'Earth Elemental Vine' is my Innate Secret Skill, the power of the earth, endlessly regenerating!"
"In over three thousand years, only two people have broken through the deadly trap of the 'Earth Elemental Vine'. Ye Chen, if you can't resist, just admit defeat!"
Wrapped in the enveloping vine tendrils, Ye Chen heard Princess Yan Ling'er's faint voice.
Having just fought, how could Ye Chen admit defeat?
If others had passed through the deadly trap of these vines, it meant there must be a way to break through!
"The speed of cutting must surpass the rate of the vines' growth!"
"To increase the power of killing, my Slaughter Sword Intent has just clashed with this 'Earth Elemental Vine', I must further suppress these vines with stronger attacks!"
As this thought flashed through Ye Chen's mind, a point of crimson light burst forth suddenly from the center of his forehead.
This burst of crimson light transformed into a fiery-red sword beam, which happened to be Ye Chen's Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire" kept within the Sword Palace Acupoint.
"On the seventeenth floor, you've already withdrawn this flying sword."
"With your True Qi Realm, the flying sword you nurtured cannot sever my 'Earth Elemental Vine', unless you ignite the life-bound sacrifice, or even cause the flying sword to self-destruct!"
"Ye Chen, this is just a test of the Ancient God Tower; do you truly wish to damage your sword palace by risking the life-bound sacrifice or the self-destruction of your flying sword?"
Princess Yan Ling'er, seeing Ye Chen control his Life-bound Flying Sword to shoot forth, still had no ripples in her voice.
At this moment, as the "Crimson Fire" flying sword that shot out turned into a fiery-red sword beam, an endless gleam of firelight suddenly erupted from the sword, and the entire flying sword seemed to instantly elevate to a shocking quality!
"Who said that the flying sword nurtured by my True Qi Realm must require a life-bound sacrifice or self-destruction to sever the 'Earth Elemental Vine'?"
"On the seventeenth floor, I only displayed the flying sword for that guardian to see; I never used the full power of the flying sword!"
"Now, let's see if this 'Earth Elemental Vine' can withstand the burn of my 'Crimson Fire'!"
In the midst of Ye Chen's words, the "Crimson Fire" flying sword, radiating endless firelight, directly flew toward the sky full of massive vines entwining him. When the flying sword struck the vines, its fire actually set the massive tendrils alight.
The speed of the flying sword was incomparably fast. In an instant, while darting through the sky, all the vines were ignited!
The sky full of vines burned fiercely!
"How is this possible?"
Princess Yan Ling'er, seated in meditation and seeing her massive vines set ablaze by the fire of the flying sword, showed an incredulous expression on her usually calm face and even stood up abruptly.
And at this moment, with the flying sword's fire igniting the sky full of vines, they could no longer stop Ye Chen. With a flutter of the Wind-Thunder Wings, he directly reached Princess Yan Ling'er.
Ye Chen had become the third person to force Princess Yan Ling'er to stand up!
What Princess Yan Ling'er did not know was that Ye Chen's Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire" was no ordinary flying sword; it was a remarkable treasure won from the Sea God Palace in the Sea of Chaos at the Heavenly Saint Realm sword fighting championship held by Heavenly Saints Qian Ji and Lian Yue!
A stupendous flying sword of Saint-tier quality!
Although Ye Chen had not yet fully nurtured it to wield the power of a sacred weapon, after more than a year of nurturing, the "Crimson Fire" flying sword had already changed from its past self.
It now possessed a tremendous combat strength!
This combat strength, which released the flying sword's fire, was no ordinary flame but a True Fire of high quality inherent in the sword's power. It easily pierced through Princess Yan Ling'er's "Earth Elemental Vine" formation!
The true might of the Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire"!
The killer move that Ye Chen had never used in the previous seventeen floors of the Ancient God Tower was finally unleashed on this last level!