One of the nine great prefectures at the center of the Myriad Domains, Dragon Phoenix Prefecture.
The Dark Night Ancient City was the foremost ancient city within the Plunder Heaven Plains, and also among the most renowned ancient cities. Legend had it that this was the nirvana site of the Dark Night Sovereign, imbued with a heavy sense of legend.
It was also a crucial stronghold where the twenty-four great bandits of the Plunder Heaven Plains were entrenched, as well as the site of the Dark Night Siege Battle competition back then, and the place to enter the Ancient Emperor Realm.
After experiencing the Dark Night Siege Battle that occurred once every hundred thousand years, the bandits of the Plunder Heaven Plains also suffered a great calamity, with heavy losses. Many among the twenty-four great bandits had fallen, with only the First Great Bandit enduring eternally, for he was a Heavenly King of his generation.
The Dark Night Ancient Hall had always been the First Great Bandit's place of seclusion and meditation, heavily guarded. Even at ordinary times, the other great bandits dared not rashly intrude upon this place; they needed to announce themselves and gain permission before entering.
On this day, as the First Great Bandit was sitting cross-legged in quiet cultivation within the hall, he suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Who is it?"
His eyes focused, gazing towards the deepest part of the Dark Night Ancient Hall. There, an aura was emerging. Initially not very powerful, it suddenly surged greatly in the next moment, stepping into the realm of Heavenly Kings. This shocked him and also made his heart heavy.
When had a Heavenly King appeared in the Dark Night Ancient City? Why had he not known of it? If such a one were to emerge for an assassination, it would be disastrous.
Just as he was shocked by this, a hearty laugh abruptly sounded, echoing within the dim ancient hall. A youthful and vigorous figure suddenly stepped out from the void, appearing before the First Great Bandit, and said with a light laugh, "First Great Bandit, have you forgotten this junior?"
Hearing this, the First Great Bandit was initially somewhat suspicious and surprised. When had he come to know such a Heavenly King? But when he truly saw clearly, even with his normally unflappable temperament, he couldn't help but be greatly astonished.
Because the figure before him was none other than one of those monstrous geniuses who had participated in the Dark Night Siege Battle and successfully fought their way into the Ancient Emperor Realm.
He knew this person's name—the Battle Saint King, the first Supreme Heavenly Pride since the Mythical Era to step into the domain of the Tenth Heaven of myth.
He hadn't expected him to appear, to emerge alive from the Ancient Emperor Realm. He didn't find this strange, as he was a Supreme Heavenly Pride of his generation; it would be odd if he didn't possess considerable ability.
But what shocked him the most wasn't this. It was that this young junior, who had been merely a Demi-Saint back then, had now stepped into the Heavenly King realm.
Only a few short decades had passed, yet this Battle Saint King had leaped across several great realms, going from a Demi-Saint to stepping into the domain of Heavenly Kings in one go. This cultivation speed was truly astonishing to the world, unprecedented and hard to believe.
The First Great Bandit stared dumbfounded at Ye Chen before him, feeling disbelief. Too fast, too monstrous. How was this possible?
Moreover, he clearly sensed that the Heavenly King aura emanating from Ye Chen was even stronger than his own. This was not the aura of one who had just newly stepped into the Heavenly King realm; it was extremely powerful, giving him a sense of unfathomable depth.
Ye Chen gave a light smile, neither confirming nor denying this. He approached the First Great Bandit, causing the latter to wear a bitter smile. "Truly worthy of being the first Supreme Heavenly Pride since the Mythical Era to set foot in the Tenth Heaven. Indeed, a great monster."
If this Battle Saint King truly wanted to kill him, he feared he would have only one path—death.
Ye Chen smiled. "Senior flatters me. This junior merely broke through by a stroke of luck."
Was it really just luck? The First Great Bandit would not believe such nonsense. But from this, one could also infer the other's monstrous degree, terrifying beyond imagination.
To become a Heavenly King of his generation at such a young age, and a high-level powerhouse among Heavenly Kings at that. In the future, he truly had the potential to become a peerless Human Sovereign, completely dominating the myriad realms, and might even step into the domain of Mythical Emperors.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt a sense of shock. He truly found it difficult to imagine what great achievements this Battle Saint King would attain in the future.
"Senior, this junior's appearance this time is not only to return to the center of the Myriad Domains via the passageway, but also because there are some matters I need to understand," Ye Chen got straight to the point.
"Fellow Daoist, please speak freely," the First Great Bandit dared not put on airs, treating Ye Chen as an equal.
Ye Chen said, "Senior, it is said that both the Dark Night Ancient City and the Dark Night Ancient Hall were left behind by the Dark Night Sovereign. There are rumors that he is not dead, but in nirvana. Could this place be the Dark Night Sovereign's nirvana site?"
Ye Chen had always had doubts. Both the Dark Night Sovereign and the Sun Sovereign had been taken by the Great Saint Emperor into the Land of Creation and Profound Mystery, said to be revived there. But there were also rumors that the Dark Night Ancient City was the Dark Night Sovereign's nirvana site. He hoped to investigate.
The First Great Bandit said, "There are indeed such rumors. But you have entered the Ancient Emperor Realm; you should know that on the Ancient Emperor Continent, there is a legacy left by the Dark Night Sovereign. That is the true Dark Night Ancient Hall. Even if the Dark Night Sovereign were to undergo nirvana and revive, it should be within the Ancient Emperor Realm."
Ye Chen sighed. However, with the First Great Bandit's permission, he also took a walk through the Dark Night Ancient Hall, carefully observing the stone statue of the Dark Night Sovereign once more. Even at his current level of cultivation, he still felt an immortal, mountain-like solidity, as if the real Dark Night Sovereign eternally existed in the world.
But Ye Chen had not come simply for this reason. He also held the Ancient Ring left by Old Yan, which glowed here and also within the Ancient Emperor Realm. But where the real Old Yan had gone, he did not know.
Who exactly was that one suspected to be Elder Yan? It wasn't Old Yan, yet they looked exactly the same, and their auras were very similar.
Sometimes he even suspected whether Old Yan, like the Primordial Sovereign and Emperor Nameless, had split his divine soul in two—one half being Old Yan, the other half being the one suspected to be Elder Yan.
Why had Old Yan suddenly disappeared? This remained a mystery, and everything was unknown.
However, Ye Chen felt that perhaps by returning to that mysterious starry land beyond the Immortal Heavenly Pass, he might find clues. After all, a special passageway had appeared there at that time, which had also stirred something within Ye Chen.
Ye Chen wanted to find those stone murals he had seen back then. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen, and there were no other clues here either.
"Hmm?"
Just as he was about to leave, Ye Chen suddenly turned around, his gaze blazing, illuminating the entire Dark Night Ancient Hall.
Because just a moment ago, he had heard a voice, ethereal and distant, carrying longing, hope, and respect, uttering two words—"Teacher!"
However, no matter how Ye Chen observed the Dark Night Ancient Hall, he found nothing. That ethereal voice did not appear again, vanishing just like that.
This was eerie!
But he did not notice that at the instant that ethereal voice sounded, the Ancient Ring of Old Yan on his finger flowed with a unique radiance, flashing into existence so swiftly that even Ye Chen, who was scanning the entire Dark Night Ancient Hall, failed to detect it.