Darkness and coldness are the eternal, unchanging themes of the universe.
Traversing the starry sky and treading the Supreme Ancient Path, what Ye Chen felt was desolation.
Advancing along the way, he had passed through no less than ten Trial Ancient Cities. Nine of them were desolate, uninhabited dead cities. The only remaining one had but a handful of living beings, far from comparable to the Trial Ancient City where the Supreme Ancient Tower existed.
This Supreme Ancient Path was far more desolate than imagined.
But hadn't Emperor Sons and Daughters from various ancient universes been walking this Supreme Ancient Path in this era? Why did it appear so desolate and cold?
Slightly puzzled, Ye Chen finally understood the reasons when he inquired with the surviving elder in the only Trial Ancient City that had living beings.
The Supreme Ancient Path was also divided into numerous branch paths. The path Ye Chen was treading was one of the lesser-known branches. Emperor Sons and Daughters generally advanced along the main path, so the other branch paths were far more desolate, often consisting of one uninhabited ancient city after another.
Ye Chen understood. He hadn't expected this exclusive Supreme Ancient Path for Emperor Sons and Daughters to be divided into so many branches. With so few people, it left him somewhat speechless.
As for the Supreme Trial in this Trial Ancient City, led by the elder, Ye Chen actively participated.
It was a trial secret realm, left behind by some great emperor from an ancient universe. Within it, a Chaos Primordial Giant was manifested—one of the Chaos Saint Spirits. In the trial, it was set to be born after sufficient gestation and perfectly grown into a perfect Saint Spirit. Its combat power was formidable enough to rival the Strongest Young Supreme, battling within a manifested Chaos Ancient Realm.
This battle was intense. The Chaos Primordial Giant was born with a perfect divine body, formed from Chaos Heaven Stone nurtured by chaos for billions of years—a perfect Chaos Saint Spirit comparable to the Strongest Young Supreme at the level of Emperor Sons and Daughters. Naturally, it was on the same level as Ye Chen. Their fierce confrontation was exceptionally intense.
This battle lasted a full day and night.
During the fight, Ye Chen completely abandoned his past Dao and techniques, focusing solely on colliding with it using Chaos Dao techniques. His Chaos Saint Body was peerless, hailed as the strongest physique. In close-quarters combat with the Chaos Primordial Giant, every movement was filled with surging ancient Chaos Qi, spreading across all directions, stirring the Chaos Sea, and shattering the myriad Chaos stars within, constantly annihilating them.
He became increasingly proficient in Chaos Dao techniques. Moreover, in his confrontation with the Chaos Primordial Giant, he could also glean insights into its Dao and techniques.
This Chaos Primordial Giant was also born from chaos. Although not as pure in chaos mastery as Ye Chen's Chaos Saint Body, it could still grasp certain Chaos Dao principles and unleash them. Being at the Strongest Young Supreme level, its execution also gave Ye Chen some enlightenment.
In the confrontation, both were at the Strongest Young Supreme level, equivalent to facing an Emperor Son. No matter how powerful Ye Chen was, he couldn't avoid shedding blood or having his body shattered, his Chaos blood splattering across the Chaos Sea.
Of course, the Chaos Primordial Giant also had its Heaven Stone divine body shattered by Ye Chen's fists. Its chaos-like blood flowed out, somewhat resembling Chaos blood. However, that was the flesh and blood essence of a Chaos Saint Spirit, possessing heaven-defying effects, countless times more effective than the Golden Saint Liquid obtained from the Golden Giant in the Fiftieth Pass.
Unfortunately, this was merely manifested by the Supreme Trial, not real.
Two days later, Ye Chen stepped out of the trial secret realm, covered in blood, many parts of his body mangled and flesh blurred, bones visible, scarred all over.
After all, it was just a being manifested in the Supreme Trial. Even if its level rivaled the Strongest Young Supreme, it was somewhat inferior to actual Emperor Sons and Daughters.
Because Emperor Sons and Daughters or other Strongest Young Supremes not only possessed astonishing cultivation and heaven-defying combat power but also had numerous terrifying fortuitous encounters, obtained some heaven-defying secret treasures, and even forbidden secret treasures bestowed by elders, making them more fearsome than the Supreme Trial by a margin.
Yet even so, it made Ye Chen pay a bloody price. His Chaos Saint Body was shattered once, and his Chaos Saint Soul infant was torn apart, experiencing a true bloody battle.
This was the terrifying aspect of the Supreme Trial. If such Supreme Trial-manifested Strongest Young Supreme beings like Emperor Sons and Daughters possessed heaven-defying secret treasures, Ye Chen might have faced life-threatening danger.
After simply repairing his injuries and adjusting his state to a peak, Ye Chen entered this Supreme Trial secret realm again, challenging the Chaos Primordial Giant once more.
Ten entries and ten exits!
Ye Chen challenged the Chaos Primordial Giant time and again, each time paying a tremendous bloody price. But undoubtedly, this was also an extremely precious training opportunity.
After all, even Emperor Sons and Daughters didn't always have Strongest Young Supreme-level experts to fight and train with.
Such repeated Supreme-level confrontations at the same level were exceptionally precious for a Strongest Young Supreme like Ye Chen. Each confrontation might allow comprehension of something new, making one's own Dao stronger.
Ye Chen cherished such Supreme Trial opportunities. Each time, he employed different attack methods and delved into his own Chaos Great Dao, imperceptibly gradually enhancing his combat power.
Unfortunately, he couldn't take this trial secret realm with him; otherwise, it would be an excellent trial secret treasure.
Three months later, Ye Chen left this Trial Ancient City, embarking on the journey on the Supreme Ancient Path once more.
During this time, he directly threw Abenu, Mo Haishen, and Luo Guyun into the Supreme Ancient Tower, keeping them inside, continuously undergoing Supreme Trials, and constantly providing various elixirs, secret treasures, ancient texts, etc.
He possessed numerous Emperor Treasury treasures from several Emperor Treasury small worlds of the Nine Colors Emperor Clan, truly wealthy and powerful. Now determined, he fully cultivated the three.
Especially Abenu, who was utterly loyal. He was determined to have her reach the young supreme level, even breaking through the Nine Heavens shackles in past major realms, re-cultivating to the great perfection realm, directly chasing after the Strongest Young Supreme.
The group of Heavenly Kings and Great Powers he had enslaved in the past also began receiving cultivation guidance. When the two young supremes or Abenu had time from their training, they would instruct, cultivating another force for himself.
These people continuously grew stronger within the Supreme Ancient Tower. The Supreme Ancient Tower was a flawed product of the Human Emperor Tower, more extraordinary than some Monarch Immortal Weapons, naturally containing a great world within, though not one with billions of living beings like the Ancient Orchid Great World.
Leaving Abenu and these enslaved experts to grow stronger within the Supreme Ancient Tower's inner world, Ye Chen was once again alone, stepping into the starry sky.
In the cold ancient universe, the starry sky boundless, darkness eternal, he always walked the path desolately, traversing one starfield after another, heading towards Trial Ancient Passes.
The universe was vast, the starry sky immense, the Supreme Ancient Path long. Not every Trial Ancient City had Supreme Trials left by great emperors. More ancient cities were merely waystations, starry sky waystations guiding those Emperor Sons and Daughters embarking on the Supreme Ancient Path, nothing more.
And this was just a small branch path on the Supreme Ancient Path, forgotten for countless years. Many Trial Ancient Cities left from ancient times were long empty, even some Trial Ancient Cities had crumbled, having suffered terrifying external enemy attacks, forever becoming ruins.
Unknowingly, Ye Chen had been treading the Supreme Ancient Path for eighteen years.
Over these eighteen years, he continuously advanced, experiencing only the Supreme Ancient Tower and the trial secret realm's two Supreme Trials. After that, he began losing his way on this branch path.
Some ancient cities had become ruins, unable to truly guide the forward direction, lacking corresponding cosmic coordinates. Even Ye Chen didn't know, having to rely on feeling alone in the starry sky to search for the true direction, advancing alone.
He didn't know the current situation on the Ultimate Ancient Path. He didn't know how fiercely the Nine Overlords in the Eight Desolates Realm were. He had been lost for over a decade.
This pitch-black starry sky seemed to hold only boundless darkness and coldness, accompanying him.
Ye Chen advanced alone. During these eighteen years, his cultivation remained at Great Power Fifth Heaven, but no longer at the early stage—he had entered the mid-stage.
Upon reaching the Great Power realm, even for a Strongest Young Supreme like Ye Chen, advancing wasn't something that could be done at will. But over the years, traversing the starry sky, he hadn't been idle. In his heart, he deduced, calculated various Dao and techniques, also verifying them against the Chaos Dao techniques he had comprehended.
Although he never gained great enlightenment, bit by bit, accumulated over time, it was formidable, allowing his cultivation to rise a small level.
After eighteen desolate years, Ye Chen once again became profound and restrained, appearing ordinary yet unfathomable, mastering his cultivation increasingly skillfully.
Occasionally, his gaze swept across the cold cosmic starry sky, wisps of dark aura emerging from his body, yet quickly restrained, vanishing in an instant.
During this time, Ye Chen wasn't completely desolate. He had also encountered fearsome living beings from the Supreme Ancient Path.
Any being capable of surviving on the Supreme Ancient Path, though few in number, was without exception extremely powerful.
Ye Chen had confronted Devouring Beasts hidden in black holes, faced Primordial Beings born of heaven and earth hidden in cosmic secret realms, fiercely battled Peerless Great Powers slumbering in Chaos Ancient Lands. Each battle had made him shed blood, paying a price.
Even some dangers nearly made Ye Chen pay a heavy price, almost perishing. The depths of the starry sky hid great terror, forcing him to narrowly escape death to emerge, covered in blood, each step leaving a bloody footprint.
Afterwards, he recuperated for three full months before recovering.
Other unknown battles were even more numerous.
Of course, over these eighteen years, his gains were undoubtedly immense, not only in cultivation but also from some gains originating from the Supreme Ancient Path.
The Supreme Ancient Path was the strongest trial ancient path where Chaos Sea Emperors provided training for their descendants. Not only did they leave Supreme Trials and Emperor Trace treasures in some Trial Ancient Cities, they also intentionally left other Emperor Traces in the starry sky. Occasionally, a mysterious dawn light would streak across the cosmic starry sky.
That was left by Emperors or Supreme Immortals—either containing fragments of insight on attaining the Emperor Dao, or such Supreme beings releasing a strand of Spiritual Sense imprint demonstrating one of their own Emperor techniques, or a special Emperor Dao Spiritual Sense tempering.
On this desolate Supreme Ancient Path, over eighteen years, Ye Chen was fortunate to encounter five Supreme Dawn Lights.
Naturally, these Supreme Dawn Lights weren't something one could capture just by encountering them. Despite Ye Chen expending countless methods, he only successfully captured three. Two were Spiritual Sense imprints of Emperors or Supreme Immortals demonstrating Emperor techniques; one was an Emperor Dao Spiritual Sense tempering.
The first two were fine; after all, Ye Chen also mastered many Emperor and Sovereign divine abilities and secret techniques. But the Emperor Dao Spiritual Sense tempering was especially precious. The dawn light merely carried a wisp of that Supreme Great Emperor's Emperor Dao Spiritual Sense. Yet just that wisp made Ye Chen's Chaos Saint Soul infant, while undergoing tempering, covered in countless cracks like porcelain, under unparalleled pressure, nearly shattering and exploding.
However, Ye Chen operated the Chaos Chapter, recited the Three Thousand Sacred Scriptures, forcibly enduring.
Half a month later, the wisp of Emperor Spiritual Sense within the Supreme Dawn Light finally dissipated. The Emperor Dao Spiritual Sense tempering truly ended. Ye Chen's Chaos Saint Soul infant was much weaker; even his strong Chaos Young Supreme Saint Soul struggled to endure the suppression of an Emperor's wisp of Spiritual Sense.
But after half a month of Emperor Dao Spiritual Sense tempering, Ye Chen's Chaos Saint Soul infant became more condensed, its entire body shining with a special Chaos Glazed Dawn Light, stronger, gaining greatly.
On the road ahead, he also saw a shattered starfield—a battlefield from a century ago, with blood spilled, staining broken star fragments.
A century later, supreme blood qi fluctuations and terrifying Dao principles still lingered.
This was once an Emperor Son-level battlefield where two Emperor Son/Daughter-level experts fought, both shedding blood, leaving behind a broken starfield, though no one perished.
Ye Chen sighed: when Emperor Sons and Daughters meet, they must fiercely battle, a hundred boats contending, wanting to seize the title of the strongest?
With numerous Emperor Sons and Daughters ahead, Ye Chen sincerely felt great pressure. Here, he gazed into the distance at his many world enemies on the Supreme Ancient Path!
Eighteen years later, after who knows how many Trial Ancient Cities, Ye Chen finally sensed another Trial Ancient City with living being auras. Moreover, within his Spiritual Sense, this Trial Ancient City was densely packed with living being auras, astonishing him, somewhat unbelievable.
He even sensed several exceptionally powerful auras, even some terrifying beings not much weaker than himself there.
Ultimately, skilled and bold, Ye Chen descended from the sky, arriving in this Trial Ancient City.
But shortly after arriving, his expression changed drastically.
Because within the Trial Ancient City, indeed, countless living beings were gathered. However, these beings weren't like the various races in the Trial Ancient City where the Supreme Ancient Tower was located. They were all the same kind of being—and a notoriously evil race:
The God-Devouring Race!