"Senior Brother." Ye Chen respectfully performed a grand salute to this human race's Ancient Sovereign.
"Junior Brother, there's no need to be so formal."
The Sun Sovereign received Ye Chen. In his daily life, he seemed like an ordinary middle-aged man, very approachable, without the fierce intensity like an infinite blazing sun when confronting the Dark Sun Sovereign.
Ye Chen complied.
Both took their seats. The Sun Sovereign didn't call for servants but personally prepared refreshments, poured tea, and handed him a cup.
"Thank you." Ye Chen expressed his gratitude, took a sip. It wasn't precious Dao tea, just ordinary mortal tea. Yet, with just a gentle sip, it brought a profound sense of tranquility to his heart.
This tea was like the Sun Sovereign's way of being—simple and peaceful.
The Sun Sovereign chuckled softly, "Junior Brother, your visit seems to carry some doubts. Feel free to speak them."
Ye Chen hesitated for a moment, then spoke, "Senior Brother, I do indeed have some questions I'd like to ask you. In the past, before I entered the Ancient Emperor Realm—oh, that is, the Tai Sheng Huang Realm—I saw some murals in an ancient hall within the Dark Night Ancient City. They were related to Senior Brother Dark Night, recording how his flourishing divine kingdom was destroyed by the alien race, with endless bones strewn across the land."
"Among them were several pictures depicting Senior Brother Dark Night's fall. At that time, there was also a scene of you and Senior Brother Dark Night uniting as sun and moon, yet ultimately falling."
"I very much want to know what exactly you and Senior Brother Dark Night, the Twin Sovereigns who were said to be invincible when united, encountered back then. It seemed like you faced some great terror. Could it be that an alien Emperor took action against you? I feel that even if an alien Emperor did strike, you shouldn't have been so terrified."
He clearly remembered the murals from the Dark Night Ancient City back then. Unfortunately, the most crucial few murals had been damaged, making it impossible to see the true reason. Now, meeting the Sun Sovereign, a party involved, Ye Chen could voice all the doubts in his heart.
Back then, the Twin Sovereigns united, claiming to be invincible under heaven, at the very least unmatched beneath the Emperor rank. It was said that even the Sovereign of Formlessness would find it difficult to defeat the Twin Sovereigns when sun and moon were united.
From viewing the murals, the Twin Sovereigns of that time had already united sun and moon, capable of fighting the Sovereign of Formlessness to a standstill. In theory, even facing an Emperor, they should have had the power to fight. So how did they ultimately fall?
This was what puzzled Ye Chen.
Hearing this, the Sun Sovereign also seemed to recall the events of that time. His gaze grew somewhat distant, tinged with sighing. Mentioning this memory, he still felt somewhat helpless. "Actually, this question isn't that difficult. A single ancient Great Emperor—Senior Brother Dark Night and I joining forces naturally had no fear. Even if we couldn't win, with Yin and Yang united, we could still retreat unscathed. But what if, that time, the alien race dispatched more than one Emperor?"
"More than one Emperor!?" Ye Chen was startled.
"That's right. To deal with Senior Brother Dark Night and me, the alien race went to great pains, dispatching a full three Emperors. It was hard for us not to die."
"Three Emperors!"
Ye Chen was shocked, his heart surging with towering waves.
To deal with the Twin Sovereigns, the alien race had actually dispatched three ancient Great Emperors, an even greater deployment than against the Sovereign of Formlessness.
Against the Sovereign of Formlessness, the alien race had only dispatched two Emperor Lords and seven peerless Sovereigns using array methods to besiege him, with an ancient Great Emperor-level figure only appearing at the final moment.
Could it be that the alien race considered the Twin Sovereigns a greater threat than the Sovereign of Formlessness?
The Sun Sovereign smiled bitterly, "Naturally, to deal with the two of us, the alien race wouldn't truly have three ancient Great Emperors fully focused on us. One Emperor took the lead, while the other two ancient Great Emperors, while confronting other Emperors from our sealed universe, were also near the battlefield, striking at us from across the endless starry sky."
"The world says that when the Twin Sovereigns unite, sun and moon combine, they become invincible under heaven. But this so-called invincibility only applies beneath the Emperor rank. A single alien Emperor is enough to force our two brothers to retreat, utterly unbeatable, let alone with two other alien Emperors striking from afar. We were simply no match. Our invincible state of sun and moon united was broken, and we fell directly."
When mentioning this past event, the Sun Sovereign spoke with a somewhat light and breezy demeanor, but Ye Chen could hear that it must have concealed many unknown dangers.
With one alien Emperor assisting and two alien Emperors aiding, the Twin Sovereigns fell, leading to the final situation where Tai Sheng Huang appeared.
"Senior Tai Sheng Huang—" Mentioning Tai Sheng Huang, Ye Chen still addressed him as senior, as he wasn't his true master. "On the final mural, I saw Senior Tai Sheng Huang using the sun and moon to carry you and Senior Brother Dark Night Sovereign, who had fallen at the time, into a mysterious ancient gate. I also faintly heard him say: 'Myths shatter. Death is not the end of everything, merely the beginning of another. Everything lies within the gate!'"
"Senior Brother, I want to know if you emerged from the Origin Land."
Back then, when the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord sacrificed himself to save the Tenth Imperial Pass and block the invasion of the alien enemy, at the moment of his fall, he had also mentioned a similar phrase: "Who says death must be the end? Perhaps it will be a brand new starting point, a brand new journey."
Ye Chen suspected these two shared a commonality.
Although he later learned that the "gate" Tai Sheng Huang mentioned seemed to refer to the Primordial Immortal Realm.
Back in the Alchemy Emperor Clan, he had learned related information. According to records left in some ancient relics by the Alchemy Emperor, within the Chaos Sea existed a most ancient source—the Origin Land.
The Origin Land nurtured everything. Whether the Chaos Sea or the various Chaos Ancient Universes, all initially emerged from the Origin Land.
All the most powerful existences in the world might not have truly fallen in the absolute sense. For them, death was not the final destination. They would be reborn in the Origin Land, living out a new beginning.
One point of this theory was that within the Primordial Immortal Realm, the place that buries immortals, buries Emperors, buries everything, held a path leading to the Origin Land.
Tai Sheng Huang had entered the place that buries immortals, buries Emperors, buries everything.
Ye Chen suspected that when the Twin Sovereigns fell back then, Tai Sheng Huang had taken them into the Origin Land.
Since the Sun Sovereign had been resurrected, seemingly revived and emerged from the Origin Land, he also wondered if the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord might one day reappear in the mortal world.
To Ye Chen, the Heavenly Gate's Gate Lord was an elder who was both teacher and friend. He naturally hoped to see him appear one day.
Hearing this, the Sun Sovereign's pupils slightly contracted. "So you also know of the existence of the Origin Land."
"I've learned a bit about it."
"However, regarding this point, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, Junior Brother."
"Hmm?" Ye Chen uttered a sound of surprise and doubt.
"I have never entered the Origin Land."