The Azure Light Emperor had paid a price.
However, it didn't seem too severe.
Of course, this was relative. After all, the Azure Light Emperor was a peerless Great Emperor. For anyone else, even an Ancient Monarch or an Emperor, it would likely have been a path to demise.
Suddenly, Ye Chen's heart stirred, yet he also hesitated. He looked at the Azure Light Emperor, wanting to speak.
The Azure Light Emperor was wise, always able to see through Ye Chen's heart. He then sighed softly, "You want me to intervene, to reverse time and space, to rescue the Artifact Spirit Soul of the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd for you, is that it?"
Ye Chen fell silent. Undoubtedly, he hoped for this. But this was ultimately a Great Emperor, another person, not himself. He could not force it, nor was he capable of forcing it. The other had already done far too much for him.
The Azure Light Emperor's gaze was wise, piercing through the epochs' decline, traversing the vast river of time. "Your Great Emperor reincarnation is merely a shell without a truly autonomous soul. The Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd is a peerless weapon comparable to a Supreme Emperor Weapon. The cost required is different. Do you understand?"
Although he had long known the outcome, hearing these words truly made Ye Chen's heart sink completely.
The Azure Light Emperor would not intervene, nor could he intervene, because the cost required was too great.
After all, the Great Emperor reincarnation was just a shell he controlled. Though powerful, it wasn't a truly living supreme being. It only required paying a partial price, performing a Heaven-Deceiving Great Method, to substitute it, allowing the shell condensed from his Emperor Blood to take its place.
However, the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd was comparable to a Supreme War Weapon. When fully revived, it could unleash Emperor-level supreme combat power. Moreover, it had a living Artifact Spirit Soul. To retrieve it from the River of Time, the difficulty was several times greater than the cost of forging a new Supreme Emperor Weapon. It might even be difficult to deceive the heavens. The causal force that would descend would be immense beyond imagination.
Precisely because of this, even the Azure Light Emperor was absolutely unwilling to intervene lightly.
The Azure Light Emperor looked at Ye Chen again. "However, you need not be overly sorrowful. The deity has not completely perished. I can sense there is still a glimmer of light sinking within it."
Hearing this, Ye Chen was overjoyed. He hurriedly probed the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd with his Spiritual Sense. However, his Chaos Spiritual Sense power, which was considered overwhelmingly powerful in the mortal world, swept through repeatedly, yet he could not find it.
But on the seventh comprehensive search, he finally discovered a glimmer of light within a section of the halberd's body. This glimmer was extremely faint and ethereal. Even with Spiritual Sense power as supremely powerful as Ye Chen's, it took that many attempts to find it, showing just how weak it had become.
Yet Ye Chen could distinctly sense the aura of the Primordial Battle Body deity from this minuscule, weak Spiritual Sense power. He couldn't help but feel his eyes redden.
The Azure Light Emperor pointed out a strand of Emperor Dao azure light, which entered the halberd, penetrating the damaged body and enveloping that weak remnant soul light point. Instantly, it brightened considerably, allowing one to truly sense the existence of this remnant soul light point.
"I have consolidated the remnant soul light point. But wanting to revive the deity like this is nearly impossible," the Azure Light Emperor stated thus.
Yet Ye Chen clearly heard another layer of meaning.
Nearly impossible—the emphasis was on "nearly"!
That meant there was still hope.
"I beseech the Great Emperor to inform this junior. Senior Primordial Battle Body is this junior's benefactor. To save this junior, he did not hesitate to perish. Such great kindness and virtue, this junior dares not forget. No matter the cost, I am willing to revive Senior Primordial Battle Body!" Ye Chen's words were resolute, sparing no expense.
The Azure Light Emperor's gaze shifted, then he sighed softly. "Reviving the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd's deity is not entirely impossible. It requires meeting two conditions."
"First, you must possess Emperor-level cultivation. Moreover, you must master the Great Dao of Time and Space, to collect the fragments of his Artifact Spirit Soul from the past ages."
"Second, and this is the most difficult: to reshape his Artifact Spirit Soul and restore it, you need a Great Emperor Origin Source, at least fifty percent or more. Only with this quantity of Great Emperor Origin Source as a medium, strengthening his remnant soul light point, can it withstand the Artifact Spirit Soul fragments collected from the River of Time without causing this remnant soul light point to collapse during the reshaping of the Artifact Spirit Soul."
Were the conditions difficult? Extremely so!
Difficult to an unbelievable degree.
First, one must possess Emperor-level cultivation. This alone had stumped countless geniuses throughout the ages.
One must know how difficult it is to Prove the Dao and Become Emperor. Even among the many Emperor Sons and Emperor Daughters, or even the Nine Ancient Path Overlords of the Ultimate Ancient Path, probably none dared claim they would definitely Prove the Dao and Become Emperor.
Without reaching that step, one could not imagine how difficult it was to take that step.
But only with Emperor-level cultivation could one truly set foot on the River of Time to collect the scattered Artifact Spirit Soul fragments from the ages.
However, compared to the second point, the first seemed much simpler.
Because the second point was the Great Emperor Origin Source, and over fifty percent at that.
What was the method to obtain a Great Emperor Origin Source?
Basically, there was only one: hunt a Great Emperor!
Just hearing it already seemed incredibly impossible.
Those who could Prove the Dao and Become Emperor—which one was not a figure who shook the ancient and modern eras? They stood at the very pinnacle of the Chaos Ancient Universe, even the Chaos Sea. Throughout the ages, there had never been too many.
How many could hunt a Great Emperor? They could be counted on one hand—figures like the Heavenly Emperor, the Primordial Ancestor, the Battle Saint Ancestor, that class of strongest Emperors.
But how difficult was it to become the strongest Emperor?
Yet the Azure Light Emperor did not see the slightest hesitation or doubt in Ye Chen's eyes. The latter directly agreed.
Such straightforwardness and directness actually earned Ye Chen a bit more appreciation from the Azure Light Emperor. He was indeed the Key Person chosen by the various Emperors of the Sealed Realm Universe.
The Azure Light Emperor said, "You are the Key Person. Moreover, you have cultivated the Chaos Great Dao and received the Chaos insights bestowed by the Supreme Saint Emperor. Wanting to revive him in the future is not entirely impossible; there is a certain hope."
His words naturally contained some praise.
Yet Ye Chen himself understood that there was still a path to walk before he could truly Prove the Dao and Become Emperor.
But he did not lose confidence. He was originally walking the path of reversing the blood-stained future. Reviving the Primordial Battle Body Great Halberd's deity was just along the way. He firmly believed he could reach that step in the future.
"In the future, do not lightly set foot on the River of Time. For the Sealed Realm Universe, you are the Key Person, too important. You are the first Tenfold Heaven Supreme genius after the Mythical Era, a Chaos Young Supreme, the Key Person. Too many from the alien races want to kill you; Emperors are not lacking either. They cannot allow someone who might disrupt their grand plans in the future to grow up."
Boom—
The heavens and earth shook, the River of Time churned violently. The Azure Light Emperor's figure was blurring.
In his final moments, he gazed up at the firmament, looked down upon the River of Time. In his eyes, in the past, present, and future, terrifying Supreme Emperor shadows or immortal shadows appeared. There were scenes from various ancient universes, and also great, terrifying wars erupting.
"The causality I have repaid. The path ahead, you must walk alone. I hope you can become an Emperor, and even transcend the Emperor, achieving the sole eternity."
"Perhaps on the day we meet again, you and I will be enemies!"