After leaving the barbarian tribe, Ye Chen's true self returned to the imperial city, while his Supreme Dao Body began journeying far across this Ancient Emperor Continent on his behalf, seeking more ruins and gathering more information.
The Ancient Emperor Continent was too vast. Even the human race, demon race, and beast race had not completely controlled every inch of its territory. Some places existed like Forbidden Zones of Life.
Just like when he first entered the Ancient Emperor Continent, he had encountered forbidden lands where ancient Great Sages had once battled. Any living being entering them would perish.
Even the demon race and beast race would abandon such regions, staying ten thousand li away, unwilling to make contact.
Regarding these Forbidden Zones of Life, Ye Chen suspected there were more secrets to be uncovered.
Ye Chen had ventured into them one after another. Even someone as powerful as him had encountered danger, though only to that extent. His current self was far too formidable, having reached the pinnacle of two lifetimes. He could sweep through and suppress even Heavenly Kings—what couldn't he do?
Moreover, this time his Supreme Dao Body had brought Tian Huang along, delving deep into these so-called Forbidden Zones of Life.
During this period, he discovered many ruins from the era of the gods. He even found that some Divine Spirits had not perished during the destruction of that era and had survived, but ultimately decayed with the passage of time, leaving behind only skeletons.
One skull harbored a flicker of ghostly flame—an undispersed obsession—emitting faint divine sense fluctuations that Ye Chen captured: "Burying a glorious Great Era, the fall of myriad Divine Spirits, the blood sacrifice of billions of living beings—all for that future? Those people will return one day..."
These were startling words. Who were 'those people'? The Primordial Times Demon Gods? The Primordial Times Barbarian Gods? Or did they refer to others?
He did not know. Perhaps there were even more fearsome beings already on the path of return, scheming for this era.
Even after consulting the ancient ruins of the world's major powers and interacting with ancient powerhouses to learn much, Ye Chen's understanding remained too shallow. There were many things he did not know.
He thought of the Primordial Times Barbarian God. Perhaps he knew everything. But it was unknowable now. The Primordial Times Barbarian God was still slowly reviving, but his consciousness remained in slumber. Ye Chen dared not rashly awaken him, lest it stimulate the half world-heart to shatter, making it even harder to truly seal this peerless overlord.
Everything could only rely on himself.
Ye Chen silently buried that skeleton. Not long after, he began investigating the three supreme powers: the Tai Sheng Shang Palace, the Sun God Dynasty, and the Dark Night Hall. He also sought to learn the location of Tai Sheng Huang's legacy.
On another front, the Insect Race Mother Queen within his body had yet to awaken, which he found regrettable.
Otherwise, it would undoubtedly be a great aid. However, he could sense that the Insect Race Mother Queen's body harbored unparalleled potential currently in the process of awakening. Once it emerged, it would undoubtedly be an existence at the Heavenly King realm.
And a top-tier one among Heavenly Kings at that.
Having traversed almost the entire Ancient Emperor Continent, Ye Chen finally ascended beyond the domain, charging toward the nine heavens and swiftly shuttling through the Starry Land.
He was truly searching for ruins from the era of the gods and also wanted the precise location of the Divine Realm. He believed the Divine Realm was within the Ancient Emperor Realm, located within the infinite Starry Land.
However, the Starry Land of the Ancient Emperor Realm was simply too vast. He had delved into it for a full month. Yet, with his astonishing speed, even if the Ancient Emperor Realm was immense, its Starry Land, no matter how expansive, could not compare to the myriad realms. It was enough for him to cross once.
Unfortunately, in the end, he found nothing. He could not locate the Divine Realm's position. He had even invited the Peacock King to search using spatial means, but to no avail.
There were only two possible outcomes: either the Divine Realm was simply not within the Starry Land, or its hiding place was too profound, beyond even the capabilities of a spatial supreme expert like the Peacock King.
However, the Starry Land of the Ancient Emperor Realm he had actually explored was only half. The other half was isolated by the Chaotic Sea. Chaotic storms even surged into the Starry Land, cutting it off. Otherwise, the powerhouses of the Ancient God Continent would not have been unable to cross over since time immemorial, with only one ancient Great Sage having ever made the crossing.
He gave up, because he sensed that the Divine Realm would completely reveal itself before long.
Time quietly flowed by. In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen had reigned supreme over the Ancient Emperor Continent for a full seven years, ruling the world with no rival to be found.
His majesty grew ever more profound, related both to his invincibility and to his status as the master of the Ancient Orchid Great World.
The initially estimated one-year timeframe for completely merging the Ancient Orchid Great World and Tian Du Continent later proved mistaken.
Because for these two heavens and earths, the closer they got to the later stages, the slower the fusion speed became, seemingly slowing down or even stagnating, reaching a historical low point.
There, in the outer domains of the two heavens and earths, an incarnation Ye Chen had left behind long ago remained stationed, observing the entire fusion process, with countless insights flashing through his mind.
As time passed, Ye Chen's accumulation grew increasingly profound. Seated upon the Central Heavenly Palace, even without intentionally releasing his pressure, a terrifyingly formidable aura naturally emanated from him, capable of shattering heaven and earth, unstoppable.
Even the nine Heavenly Kings of the great imperial dynasties felt trembling fear when facing Ye Chen.
Clearly, he had not yet achieved the Heavenly King realm, but the pressure emanating from him surpassed theirs, and it was a force the nine of them felt they could not withstand.
Ye Chen had reached a critical point. Even if the Ancient Orchid Great World and Tian Du Continent did not completely merge, he could step into the Heavenly King realm, and not as an ordinary Heavenly King.
But he did not do so. Instead, using the Human Sovereign Pagoda, he suppressed his own Dao, as if slowing time itself, achieving a state of stillness and eternity. Motionless, he sat within the Central Heavenly Palace day after day.
He needed to wait for the complete fusion of the two heavens and earths, then break through the tribulation. This way, his achievements would be even greater, terrifying beyond imagination.
The Goddess, Chen'er, Yi Wu—the Three Immortal Maidens—had all entered seclusion. They were accumulating, and often sat with Ye Chen to discuss the Dao, exchanging insights on the Great Dao, allowing each other's Dao to progress.
Ye Chen understood that the Three Immortal Maidens were all at the Samsara realm, and each belonged to the level of an Immortal Death True King, far stronger than ordinary Samsara-level supreme experts.
They were all walking the path of the Supreme Law, though somewhat unorthodox. Only the Goddess was one who had reincarnated and been reborn; Chen'er and Yi Wu were not, yet their achievements were equally high.
Ye Chen unreservedly explained the Dao and Law of his achievement of the Tenth Heaven to the Three Immortal Maidens, and demonstrated his own Chaos Dao, containing the most fundamental mysteries of the Primordial Chapter, as well as Chaos True Blood, World Creation, Chaos Secret Techniques, and more.
He was the pioneer of this Dao. Throughout history, aside from Tai Sheng Huang, he likely had the highest achievements in this aspect of the Dao.
The Three Immortal Maidens naturally benefited immensely, receiving great help. They were equally astonished by Ye Chen's comprehension of the Great Dao, which surpassed imagination.