Ye Chen directly made a request to the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord, hoping to obtain the divine souls of the three ancient Great Sages.
This raised suspicions. Could it be that Ye Chen was feeling merciful and unwilling to kill them?
But everyone shook their heads. This did not align with the forceful and domineering style of the Battle Saint lineage. One must know that the style of this lineage was forceful to an extreme degree, especially Ye Chen, who had demonstrated it most vividly. How could he not kill the divine souls of the three ancient Great Sages?
Where there is abnormality, there must be a scheme!
"Very well, they are yours."
The Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord nodded, placing unconditional trust in Ye Chen. He then unleashed a supreme divine ability to seal the divine souls of the three Great Sages, making them impossible to break free, before handing them over to Ye Chen with peace of mind, unafraid that their struggling souls might harm him.
Ye Chen expressed his deep gratitude, accepted the three divine souls, and directly tossed them into confinement within the Human Sovereign Pagoda. Inside the pagoda, a Chaos Cauldron Furnace materialized, with chaos laws evolving within it, and a special Emperor character shimmering into existence.
When the three ancient Great Sages witnessed this scene, the shock in their hearts was even greater than that of facing death.
Because the Chaos Cauldron Furnace before them was so familiar. It was more mature and refined than any Ye Chen had manifested before, imprinted with divine Great Dao traces and having undergone changes, yet it bore a striking resemblance to the Chaos Cauldron Furnace manifested by that future peerless Supreme One who had tread against the current of the River of Time.
At this moment, they finally understood who that peerless Supreme One, who had come from the future by treading upon the River of Time, was.
They were filled with terror, never imagining that it would be him who would attain the Dao and become an Emperor, achieving the status of the future's mightiest.
They deeply regretted why they had provoked such a person. They also wanted to transmit this crucial information to the outside world, to alert like-minded individuals to intercept and destroy Ye Chen early, to strangle him before he could attain the Dao and become an Emperor.
But all of this was impossible, because the Human Sovereign Pagoda sealed heaven and earth. Their divine souls were sealed and could not transmit anything.
Moreover, Ye Chen's icy voice penetrated into the Human Sovereign Pagoda, chillingly stating, "Rest assured, I won't kill you for now. You still have great use. You are important sacrifices for my future ascension to ancient Great Sage."
This voice filled the three with dread, yet they had no means to struggle, utterly imprisoned within the Chaos Cauldron Furnace.
Indeed, Ye Chen's primary goal was to utilize the essence of these three ancient Great Sages to achieve the rank of Chaos Great Sage.
Furthermore, Ye Chen still possessed a mass of essence from an alien race Great Sage, not yet refined, reserved for future use. With the essence of Great Sages from two great universes, he would aid his own ascension to Chaos Great Sage.
Naturally, by this point, Ye Chen understood that his path to becoming a Chaos Great Sage would be extremely difficult. The essence of at least one Great Sage from each race would not be sufficient. Because his power was peerless within the same realm, far surpassing his peers, the difficulty of becoming a Chaos Great Sage would be much greater. He needed to collect enough Great Sage essence to aid his growth.
The deaths of the three ancient Great Sages served as both a deterrent and an aftershock, soon forgotten by everyone.
Under normal circumstances, this would not be the case, but currently, the Tongxuan Realm was of paramount importance. All goals were focused on the Tongxuan Realm. Even the conclusion of the Emperor War could be temporarily set aside, which spoke volumes.
One by one, ancient Great Sages soared into the sky, rushing towards the Tongxuan Realm one after another, striving for the true opportunity of creation.
Ye Chen continued to sit cross-legged in meditation, completely refining the Sovereign's flesh and blood. After meditating for half an hour, everything returned to peak condition.
He looked at Yi Wu guarding by his side, then glanced at the Goddess, Chen'er, and other relevant powerhouses of the Holy Domain outside the Tongxuan Gate, all tense with concern for Ye Chen's condition.
Ye Chen nodded, signaling them not to worry. Using vast willpower to pave the way, he manifested a divine radiance channel, allowing his relatives, friends, and important figures of the Holy Domain to enter.
The River of Time was sinister; even ancient Great Sages would have their lifespan eroded if they stayed long-term, let alone others. Yi Wu and Ye Chen were exceptions, but Ye Chen, using willpower to open the path, could temporarily resist the erosion of time.
This was one of the wondrous uses of willpower.
Ye Chen was ambitious. Even when entering the Land of Creation, he would not go alone. He wanted those around him to benefit as well.
Ye Chen strode with the majesty of a dragon and tiger, advancing with great steps upon the River of Time, finally charging into the Land of Creation, followed by a group of people who vanished within.
The Land of Creation was mysterious, bordering on the immortal, and reputed to connect to heaven, connect to spirits, connect to immortals, connect to past and present, possessing unparalleled profundity. Throughout the ages, it had driven people to madness.
During the Mythical Era, the Great Saint Emperor had entered, bringing along his fallen disciples, the Sun Sovereign and the Night Sovereign, seemingly to resurrect them.
Not long ago, the alien race Sovereign from the Mythical Epoch had also entered, confirming that it could connect to past and present, truly arriving in this era from the Mythical Epoch.
Ye Chen led a group into it, but they immediately vanished. When he regained his senses, he found himself alone.
He reappeared on a mysterious path. The surroundings were void, with only a single road stretching before him.
Either advance forward or retreat backward. There was no third choice.
Ye Chen knew the others were safe, likely facing the same choice as he was.
What kind of path was this?
Ye Chen did not know, nor did he know how to leave. He stood silently until, after a very long time, he finally made his choice—
Backward!
Yes, backward. Because he knew what his path forward was: to become invincible in the world, to change the future.
This was his belief in invincibility, the goal of his lifetime, already established. Why go forward to confirm it again? Only by going backward could he seek to understand everything of the past.
He strode backward along the path. With each step, it was as if he was traversing the River of Time, but one belonging solely to an individual. He witnessed all the events of the past.
There was this life: everything after awakening from jumping into the river, seeing the parents of this life, experiencing a different kind of warmth.
He also saw the appearance of Old Yan, saw the appearance of his former life's old friend, the War King, in the interdimensional passage of the trial world. There was Wang Ming, the encounter with Yaya, the recognition at the Purple Mansion Sacred Land with the Goddess, becoming the master of the Ancient Orchid World, and all such events.
There was also his past life as Qian Yue, rising step by step from weakness, becoming a peerless genius of the Tenth Heaven, killing from the lower realms into the myriad realms, stirring up boundless storms.
He was reviewing all the events of the past, past and present lives. Everyone and everything he had ever encountered flowed by, continuously appearing as Ye Chen took each step.
Finally, Ye Chen had reviewed everything from his past and present lives. The path was broken, ahead lay a profound darkness.
Yet, Ye Chen had a strange feeling in his heart. The path was not broken; there was still a way forward.
Without hesitation, Ye Chen directly stepped forward, entering the darkness.