Both the incomplete Emperor Body and the Emperor Origin had vanished, with not a trace to be found throughout the Six-Layered Reincarnation Coffin.
All that remained within the coffin was this exquisitely carved yet terrifyingly imposing little boy.
Ye Chen's expression turned pale.
He knew that both the Emperor Origin and the incomplete Emperor Body had been obtained through life-and-death risks and immense hardship. Now that they had disappeared, it was as if all his previous efforts had come to nothing. No matter how calm and unperturbed his state of mind usually was, facing this scene, Ye Chen felt an urge to go mad.
These were among his trump cards for impacting the Emperor Dao realm in the future!
Had they all been taken by this little boy?
Ye Chen's gaze quickly shifted back to the little boy. Although the heavenly might emanating from him was vast and oppressive, enough to make even an Ancient Monarch change color, the boy remained in deep slumber, showing no signs of awakening. This was strange.
Moreover, one crucial point was that although the little boy's physical body was supreme and invincible, Ye Chen could not sense the slightest fluctuation of a divine soul from him.
Wait... no divine soul?
As if realizing something, Ye Chen gritted his teeth. With one hand gripping the Heaven-Supporting Azure Ox Halberd, a radiant glow blossomed between his eyebrows as a Soul Divine Imprint shot out, carrying with it several strands of the halberd's Emperor might, and plunged into the Mud Pill Palace between the little boy's eyebrows.
Through the Soul Divine Imprint, he could see that the little boy's Mud Pill Palace was boundless, like a universe, yet there was not the slightest fluctuation of a divine soul to be felt. It was as if the divine soul had completely withered and vanished.
Buzz—
The little boy could not be violated. Vast heavenly might surged within the Mud Pill Palace, crushing Ye Chen's strand of Soul Divine Imprint to dust.
Cough—
With the Soul Divine Imprint shattered, Ye Chen was also wounded, a trickle of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth. However, he now understood everything.
It was likely that the appearance of this mysterious little boy was not out of thin air. Instead, it was a being born within the Six-Layered Reincarnation Coffin from one-seventh of the Emperor Body, one-seventh of the Emperor Dao foundation, and one-seventh of the Emperor Origin.
Because each was only one-seventh of a Great Perfection Emperor, when combined, they could not form a complete, flawless Emperor Body. Instead, it was only one-seventh of the original size, equivalent to a child of three or four years old.
Moreover, there was no Emperor soul, so the little boy was merely a physical body, not a truly flawless living being.
In an instant, Ye Chen pieced everything together.
And most importantly, this particular Six-Layered Reincarnation Coffin was no ordinary one. Back then, the strongest Emperor of his generation, the Fighting Saint Ancestor, had arranged some special methods within this coffin in hopes of reviving his most beloved eldest disciple, the Sovereign of Formlessness. This provided sufficient conditions to induce the Emperor Body and Emperor Origin to combine and give birth to the little boy.
Yet precisely because of this, Ye Chen's gaze instantly grew many times more fervent.
Great Emperor Reincarnation Body!
That's right! The little boy before him was equivalent to a Great Emperor Reincarnation Body!
So-called Great Emperor Reincarnation Body referred to a Supreme Emperor or Peerless Immortal who had shed their remnant body and undergone a rebirth into a second-life body. However, it was not a Great Perfection Emperor Body but a second-life body that needed to grow anew.
The little boy before him was equivalent to an incomplete Emperor Body with growth potential. Apart from lacking an Emperor soul, it possessed one-seventh of a Great Perfection Emperor Body and could continue to grow.
Such a physique was essentially no different from a Great Emperor Reincarnation Body, lacking only the most crucial Emperor soul.
Ye Chen was overjoyed. Back then, several Ancient Monarchs and countless powerhouses from across half the Ancient Universe had painstakingly organized the Eternal Assembly, entered the Fiftieth Pass, suffered heavy casualties with even two Sovereigns perishing, and the Primordial Emperor Clan was annihilated—all for the sake of obtaining a Great Emperor Reincarnation Body, didn't they?
Although it ultimately did not appear, and instead a Great Perfection Immortal Emperor Body emerged, triggering fierce contention among the many powers and heavy casualties, Ye Chen had only obtained one-seventh of an incomplete Emperor Body after narrowly escaping death.
Yet who would have thought that combining it with one-seventh of the Emperor Origin could actually give birth to a genuine Great Emperor Reincarnation Body.
Although this Great Emperor Reincarnation Body had not yet fully grown, it possessed unprecedented, boundless potential. If a divine soul were to take possession of it in the future, even if it could not truly become an Emperor, the physical body could at least grow to the Emperor level, equivalent to an Immortal Emperor Body.
If the divine soul were also cultivated to the Monarch level, combined with the Immortal Emperor Body, it would be a Half-Step Emperor.
At that level, it would likely be comparable to the Sovereign of Formlessness of yesteryear.
One must know that the Sovereign of Formlessness's peerless invincibility was not only because he was a Monarch-level existence just a step away from attaining the Dao and becoming an Emperor, but also because, according to legend, his battle physique was not inferior to an Emperor Body. Thus, he possessed the invincible capital to battle a Supreme Emperor.
This Great Emperor Reincarnation Body had every qualification to grow to that level. Precisely because of this, Ye Chen was filled with intense desire.
Moreover, currently, the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body had no divine soul to control it, making it easiest to take possession of.
If news of the appearance of such a Great Emperor Reincarnation Body were to spread, it would cause a sensation throughout the entire Ancient Universe, even rousing the deepest-slumbering old undying beings to awaken and fight for it.
"Truly, when you intentionally plant flowers, they may not bloom; yet with an unintentional willow branch, shade is formed. Obtained without the slightest effort."
Facing this scene, even Ye Chen felt a sense of lamentation, yet also excitement.
As long as he was willing to abandon his Chaos Saint Body and take possession of the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body, he could obtain unparalleled power. This was an invincible battle physique capable of facing an Ancient Monarch head-on!
Even against the nine Ancient Path Overlords of the Ultimate Ancient Path, he would possess the true capital to contend for supremacy.
However, Ye Chen soon gave up the idea and did not actively attempt to take possession with his divine soul.
Although this Great Emperor Reincarnation Body had infinite potential, Ye Chen could not possibly abandon his own Chaos Saint Body. Moreover, he understood better than anyone else the immense potential of his Chaos Saint Body.
If the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body could at least achieve an Immortal Emperor Body, then his Chaos Saint Body held the hope of transcending the Emperor realm and attaining eternity.
The blood-stained future would ultimately stir awake the peerless figures slumbering across one epoch after another, involving vast implications. Merely relying on Emperor-level power would be insufficient to reverse it; not even the strongest Emperor level could do so. Only eternal power surpassing the Emperor realm could bring about change.
Even if the hope of reaching that ethereal realm of eternity was incredibly slim, he could not give up.
Naturally, to simply abandon such a growth-type Great Emperor Reincarnation Body would be an excessive waste of a treasure—one that would drive even Ancient Monarchs to madness.
Ye Chen sat cross-legged in the starry void, motionless, with brilliant light circulating between his eyebrows.
He was pondering a feasible method—one that would allow him to continue cultivating with his Chaos Saint Body while not abandoning the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body, hoping to achieve the best of both worlds.