The supreme Emperor's Shadow of the Ancient Nether Emperor manifested between heaven and earth. His figure was unimaginably majestic, soaring into the firmament, so lofty and supreme that ordinary people could not perceive his true grandeur, for he had already entered the depths of the shattered outer starry sky.
The dim, broken starlight could not illuminate the everlasting, towering form of the Ancient Nether Emperor's immortal Emperor Body; only the vast, pitch-black imperial torso could be seen.
That supreme Emperor's Shadow looked down upon everything from on high. He saw all within this oasis of life, taking it all in, and also saw the extremely illusory, near-total collapse of his descendant, Imperial Maiden Gu Lan's Divine Soul Little Person. He sighed softly, "Have you finally been forced to this step?"
Hearing this, Imperial Maiden Gu Lan did not immediately request her father to deal with Ye Chen. Instead, she was filled with thick self-blame and dejection.
She could sense a trace of disappointment from her Emperor Father, which was the greatest blow to her, even more immense than the blow of nearing death.
Her father had always been the person she admired most, without equal. She had always strived to live up to his expectations. Although she possessed the innate advantage of the imperial bloodline, she had also put in immense effort, constantly surpassing her peers, slaying her way through an era until no one among the younger generation could last ten moves against her.
She never imagined that the once supreme and peerless Imperial Maiden Gu Lan of the younger generation would now be reduced to such a sorry state, nearly exterminated and requiring the aid of her father's illusory shadow.
"I'm sorry, Father."
Imperial Maiden Gu Lan lowered her head, offering no rebuttal.
The Ancient Nether Emperor said, "You are, after all, a daughter, not your elder brother."
Hearing this, Imperial Maiden Gu Lan's expression changed. She remembered that elder brother.
Within an imperial clan, an ancient Great Emperor or supreme immortal naturally had more than one descendant; otherwise, the entire vast imperial clan could not have been propagated. They were all formed from the descendants of one Emperor Son or Imperial Daughter or Immortal Dao Descendant, while other Emperor Sons, Imperial Daughters, or Immortal Dao Descendants were sealed in slumber.
Generally, the Emperor Sons, Imperial Daughters, or Immortal Dao Descendants chosen to be sealed were among those with relatively outstanding talent.
Naturally, some imperial clans or immortal clans sealed more than one Emperor Son, Imperial Daughter, or Immortal Dao Descendant—some sealed two. Wasn't the Tai Sheng Imperial Clan exactly like that?
The Ancient Nether Emperor Clan was also not as simple as sealing just one Emperor Dao descendant; they sealed two. One was Imperial Maiden Gu Lan, the other was her elder brother.
Mentioning her elder brother caused Imperial Maiden Gu Lan to fall into silence, for her elder brother was indeed a figure of transcendent talent. Even among Emperor Sons, Imperial Daughters, and Immortal Dao Descendants, he could be considered a standout, superior to herself, possessing exceptionally supreme and powerful strength, ranked on the Heavenly Rankings, comparable to Di Wentian and Mo Shitian.
"Since you are this Emperor's descendant, naturally, I cannot let you die. Hmm, there is a familiar power there—Life Essence. To think this former battlefield of emperors has also nurtured Life Essence. Is it because of the nurturing by the endless gods and demons?" The Ancient Nether Emperor's illusory shadow looked towards the highest point of the sky where the Life Essence resided, naturally seeing its existence.
"Good. Since Life Essence exists, it saves this Emperor some effort, allowing for better recovery of your divine soul and reconstruction of your fleshly body."
For an ancient Great Emperor, reconstructing a fleshly body and restoring it to peak condition was not difficult, but the divine soul was a different matter. Moreover, he was merely an Emperor's thought, far from comparable to his true original self.
However, with the existence of such a heaven-defying immortal treasure as Life Essence, everything was different.
With a thought from the Emperor's thought, the boundless life aura permeating heaven and earth immediately surged over, submerging Imperial Maiden Gu Lan's Divine Soul Little Person. The soul, weakened to the extreme, became noticeably more solid.
Of course, this was merely the residual life aura diffused from the Life Essence into the world, utterly incapable of restoring Imperial Maiden Gu Lan's Divine Soul Little Person to its peak state.
Moreover, Ye Chen's Chaos Cauldron trembled violently. The cauldron lid involuntarily flew open, and a dense blood mist shot into the sky, rapidly reassembling in the void into an exquisitely beautiful, jade-like body—the fleshly body of Imperial Maiden Gu Lan, completely restored, clad in a robe of laws that concealed the exposed parts.
Imperial Maiden Gu Lan's Divine Soul Little Person entered the fleshly body and immediately awakened, though her aura remained quite feeble.
Boom—
The Ancient Nether Emperor directly extended a colossal giant hand, reaching towards the Life Essence.
Boom, boom, boom—
The Emperor's giant hand blotted out the sky and covered the earth, boundless and limitless, enveloping the entire firmament, reaching directly to grab the Life Essence, which was less than ten zhang in diameter.
The myriad gods and demons guarding the Life Essence naturally would not allow the Ancient Nether Emperor's illusory shadow to grab it. They immediately launched numerous terrifying attacks, especially the eight rotting creatures, who unleashed fearsome attacks imbued with curses, all capable of slaying Divine Kings.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—
Countless attacks struck the giant hand, immediately causing the Ancient Nether Emperor's illusory giant hand to tremble repeatedly. After all, it was not the true Emperor Body of an ancient Great Emperor. Yet, even such attacks could not truly harm the Emperor's Shadow; it merely became slightly more illusory. The illusory giant hand still successfully reached in, grasping towards the Life Essence.
The many experts from the alien imperial clans were overjoyed. If the Ancient Nether Emperor's shadow seized the Life Essence, it would be equivalent to the alien races obtaining it—an opportunity of heaven-defying magnitude.
The experts from other imperial clans, immortal clans, and empires were naturally unwilling, yet there was nothing they could do, for the illusory shadow of an ancient Great Emperor was not something they could contend against.
That boundless giant hand, seemingly capable of truly blotting out the sky and covering the sun, then grabbed towards the Life Essence, as if to seize it completely within its palm.
"Hmph, a mere illusory shadow dares to reach out."
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body within the Life Essence awoke. Its eyes suddenly shot out strands of terrifying sharpness, as if capable of shaking the myriad heavens, tearing through the long sky.
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body directly extended a tender, small hand, then fiercely grabbed towards the Ancient Nether Emperor's illusory shadow outside the Life Essence. A majestic, peerless Emperor-level physical power boiled up, ferociously rushing forth.
Boom—
The Ancient Nether Emperor's giant hand suffered a terrifying impact. No one could have known that such supremely majestic, peerless power existed within the Life Essence. That giant hand of the Emperor's illusory shadow was smashed to pieces.
"Hmm?"
The Ancient Nether Emperor's illusory shadow looked towards the Life Essence with a trace of astonishment in its eyes, as if capable of piercing through everything. It said, "There are true living beings within the Life Essence?"
The Ancient Nether Emperor's voice echoed between heaven and earth, causing countless people's expressions to change drastically as they stared in shock at the Life Essence. There were actually living beings hidden within it!?
Within the Life Essence, the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body looked at the Emperor's thought illusory shadow of the Ancient Nether Emperor. A trace of greed flickered within its seemingly clear eyes. "An Emperor's thought has appeared? Perhaps it can be captured. Although this Great Emperor Reincarnation Body possesses part of the Emperor-level physical power, it lacks the corresponding Emperor Dao laws. If I can obtain them from him, grasp the Emperor Dao laws, even if only a little, it would greatly increase the strength of this Great Emperor Reincarnation Body!"