"Battle Saint King, you are about to set off."
Although the Guardian felt some regret, he did not stop Ye Chen, for once Ye Chen erupted with power, he was even stronger than the Guardian himself, possessing sufficient self-preservation ability.
However, he repeatedly warned Ye Chen to be extremely careful, because during this period, the Guardians of the Ultimate Ancient Path and the Soul-Restraining Hall had been constantly at war, even engaging in duels at the level of Ancient Monarchs. If he encountered such peerless existences, he must flee immediately no matter what.
Ye Chen naturally understood this. Ancient Monarchs were ultimately invincible beings on another level entirely; he was far from capable of contending with such existences at present.
He ascended the spatial gate of the Second Pass. Here, there was a domain gate specifically leading to the Third Checkpoint, which normally would not open for Ancient Path Trial-Takers, but Ye Chen was an exception.
Watching Ye Chen's back as he ascended the spatial gate, many Ancient Path Trial-Takers were filled with fervor and admiration. This was the true overlord of the Ultimate Ancient Path, one who could battle ancient Great Sages and fear nothing, someone they needed to look up to.
He radiated a truly invincible brilliance, like a rising, majestic sun. In comparison, even the strongest prodigies were but flickering flames trying to compete with the bright moon, utterly dimmed and overshadowed.
Only such a supreme genius was their true goal, something to pursue for a lifetime.
Figures like the Eight Riders of Blood Desolation, the Blood-Robed Tower Master, the Ancient King Banshi, and the Nine Swords King watched Ye Chen's departing figure in silence. They knew the Battle Saint King had truly risen, opening a vast distance between them—a gap so large it was impossible to catch up. They could only watch Ye Chen's heroic back, their hearts for the Dao somewhat dimmed.
Boom— Ye Chen set off!
Not long after, he left the spatial passage and appeared in the Third Checkpoint.
Although Ye Chen had long understood the terror of the Soul-Restraining Hall's full-scale assault on the Ultimate Ancient Path, seeing the scene before him still made him involuntarily draw a sharp, cold breath.
What lay before him was not a majestic starry city, but only endless, scattered ruins strewn across the Star Sky—broken city gates, shattered palaces and towers, accompanied by blood, severed limbs, and the corpses of numerous beings, devoid of any vitality.
Only the character "Three" on a half-split plaque proved this was once the Third Checkpoint of the Ultimate Ancient Path.
One could imagine that the Third Checkpoint was not as fortunate as the Second Pass. After all, the Soul-Restraining Hall forces heading to the Second Pass had not initially attacked the trial checkpoint but went to the trial secret realm instead, only to fall short in the end. Otherwise, it too would have been difficult to escape the disaster of annihilation.
In the Star Sky, many Ancient Path experts and Trial-Takers had died with grievances unavenged, allowing one to imagine how tragic that battle must have been.
Ye Chen stood silently for a long time. Among the ruins, he found fragments of Great Power-level ancient weapons, devoid of divinity and stained with Great Power blood. The Guardian Great Ability had also fallen, body dead and Dao extinguished.
He collected some fragments but could not find anything complete. Some parts were either completely annihilated or had flown deep into the Star Sky, difficult to locate.
Ye Chen buried the collected ancient weapon fragments in the Star Sky, as if giving the Third Checkpoint's Guardian Great Ability a somewhat dignified burial.
Not long after, Ye Chen set off again, stepping onto his cauldron and charging deep into the Star Sky. Following the coordinates given by the Guardian Great Ability, he rushed toward the trial checkpoints further along the path.
It must be said that the war between the Ultimate Ancient Path and the Soul-Restraining Hall had far-reaching effects. As Ye Chen journeyed forward, passing one trial checkpoint after another, he found most had collapsed. The Star Sky was stained with blood, countless severed limbs littered the scene, the ancient gates were in ruins, and the losses were severe.
Along the way, he passed by the Fifth Trial Continent where he had once fought. However, this trial continent had also failed to escape calamity, completely shattered and lost in the Star Sky.
Ye Chen stood on a relatively large fragment of the continent, looking down upon the broken ancient continent scattered across the Star Sky, also accompanied by countless severed limbs and copious amounts of blood. He couldn't help but recall the events of a century ago.
He had fought here, entered the Undying Divine Island, obtained the Undying Immortal Spring, witnessed the Emperor Blood Imprint of the Battle Saint Ancestor, acquired the forbidden chapter, encountered the mysterious ancient beast, confronted the strongest prodigies from various ancient universes, slain young supremes of the alien races, defeated the Imperial Son Dark Prison, and faced off against other young supremes and Imperial Sons. He had carved out a resounding reputation, shaking the entire Ultimate Ancient Path back then.
Yet all of this was utterly destroyed. Even the Guardian Great Ability of the Fifth Trial Continent had fallen, blood staining the Star Sky. The Commander who had once protected many human cultivators met the same fate, tragically killed in a surprise attack launched by the Soul-Restraining Hall.
No one was spared.
Ye Chen eventually found this Commander's corpse, but unfortunately, it was not intact—death without a whole body, a desolate sight that saddened Ye Chen's heart. He buried it in the Star Sky and silently bowed in respect.
A long time later, Ye Chen finally left, continuing his journey, heading toward the rear sections of the Ultimate Ancient Path.
The Star Sky was vast and boundless; even someone as powerful as Ye Chen could not traverse it instantly and was easily lost within it. Those slightly weaker might become permanently trapped in the Star Sky, never to return.
Because many trial checkpoints had been shattered, their coordinates were useless. In the end, Ye Chen could only rely on his own intuition to search, seeking the Ultimate Ancient Path trial checkpoints further along.
Journeying onward, Ye Chen witnessed far too much.
On this path, he ventured deep into various parts of this ancient universe's Star Sky. Even someone as powerful as him encountered crises time and again. He ran into experts from the Soul-Restraining Hall, encountered mysterious ferocious beasts in the Star Sky, braved cosmic secret realms, became trapped in terrifying killing formations left behind from ancient divine wars, confronted Great Power-level starry evil spirits that devoured the heavens, and even encountered terrifying existences just a hair's breadth away from breaking into the Sovereign realm, nearly ending up in the belly of a Star Sky ancient beast...
He narrowly escaped death multiple times, experiencing much in the vast Star Sky. This journey lasted a full twenty years, longer than imagined.
More importantly, experts from the Soul-Restraining Hall, having learned of Ye Chen's identity as a chaos cultivator, dispatched supreme Great Powers deep into the Star Sky to hunt him down on several occasions.
Fortunately, Ye Chen was a chaos cultivator; chaos annihilated everything, and celestial secrets remained hidden. Even the Soul-Restraining Hall found it difficult to track Ye Chen's traces, but the pursuit never ceased over the years.
The most dangerous moment was when he was truly encountered. The other side had three ancient Great Sages, one of whom was a supreme Great Power not inferior to the Void Realm Great Power. They caught up to Ye Chen in the Star Sky and attempted to capture and kill him.
That battle was fierce. In the end, Ye Chen was forced to utilize the power of the chaos origin light cluster at a critical moment, fully restoring his peak cultivation to contend with them. They fought across several star domains, leaving behind many shattered and pulverized stars. In the end, Ye Chen even directly and forcefully blasted apart a Soul-Restraining Hall Great Power, bathing in blood and raging, soaring into the heavens and departing, leaving only a diffusion of ancient chaos qi that obliterated his traces.
But this battle also left him with severe injuries, and the chaos origin light cluster could not be fully suppressed. Surging killing intent left Ye Chen grievously wounded and on the brink of death. He embedded himself in a star domain, devouring the power of the heavenly stars and drawing upon the magma forces within the stars. It took a full year for him to recover.
Thus, Ye Chen had been on the road for twenty years!