"Never expected it to be so formidable, even causing this Emperor to somewhat misjudge."
Ancient Nether Emperor sighed lightly. The opponent's strength exceeded expectations. However, a sphere of Life Essence, half a zhang in diameter, appeared before him. It then flashed into Imperial Maiden Gu Lan's body, causing her entire form to radiate with brilliant light. Her originally extremely weak divine soul infant rapidly recovered under the nourishment of the Life Essence, reaching peak condition once more.
Simultaneously with this recovery, all her injuries were completely healed. More importantly, under the nourishment of the Life Essence, the shackles of Imperial Maiden Gu Lan's original cultivation realm began to loosen due to the powerful life force.
At this moment, Imperial Maiden Gu Lan knew this was only possible because of her Imperial Father. Not daring to disappoint her father's expectations, she immediately sat cross-legged, swiftly charging through the barrier, striving to break through the shackles of the ninth heaven.
Ye Chen paid little attention to all this. The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body, meanwhile, looked at the Emperor's thought illusion of Ancient Nether Emperor. The attack from the Emperor's scepter, which condensed crystals of the laws of all heavens, had consumed a significant amount of power, causing the Emperor's thought illusion to become considerably more ethereal.
At this moment, the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body suddenly shot out from the Life Essence, transforming into a dazzling stream of light. No one could clearly see its true appearance, as its entire form was enveloped by Emperor Dao power; even a Divine King could not discern its true visage.
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body then transformed, becoming a vast and magnificent Heaven-Earth Cauldron, unimaginably large, covering the entire sky.
The mouth of the cauldron resembled an incomparably massive Black Hole, capable of devouring all heavens. It flashed and directly devoured this stretch of heaven and earth, even enveloping and forcibly swallowing Ancient Nether Emperor's Emperor's thought illusion.
This scene was utterly soul-stirring. Ancient Nether Emperor's Emperor's thought illusion manifested between heaven and earth, possessing Sovereign-level power surpassing the Divine King realm, invincible in the world. Yet, in an instant, it was devoured before their very eyes, as if it had no power to resist whatsoever.
That Heaven-Earth Cauldron was incomparably massive, with Supreme One-level power swirling around it. The sheer majesty and supremacy of that power would make even a Divine King tremble with fear.
Countless powerhouses understood that this power must have surpassed the Divine King realm, belonging to the level of an Ancient Sovereign. Otherwise, it would not have been able to withstand the strike from Ancient Nether Emperor's Emperor's thought illusion condensed with law crystals, let alone devour it entirely.
Was this the power of the invincible existence that was supposed to reside within the Life Essence?
Countless people trembled at the thought.
Old Divine King Tongtian's cultivation was profound and unfathomable. Since his breakthrough in mental state, he had become even more transcendent, increasingly touching upon that realm of Universe Overlord that few throughout history had ever broken into. His perception had naturally become even more acute and astonishing.
His eyes, filled with wisdom, looked at the Heaven-Earth Cauldron floating between heaven and earth, wantonly radiating incomparable pressure. He seemed somewhat puzzled as he said, "Strange. This existence that transformed into the Heaven-Earth Cauldron doesn't seem to be a true Ancient Sovereign. I don't sense that level of Great Dao power from the Sovereign domain. However, I do sense a power that surpasses the Sovereign domain. It doesn't seem like Emperor Dao power—it lacks something—more like a physical brute force comparable to a Sovereign."
Ye Chen beside him was greatly surprised upon hearing this. He had to admit that the current Old Divine King Tongtian had become even more extraordinary and transcendent, to the point of discerning even these details. It was truly astonishing.
Simultaneously, the eight decaying divine demons all wore gloomy expressions as they looked at the terrifying Heaven-Earth Cauldron that had swallowed the heavens. Yet, they could do nothing, for they all clearly understood it was not the existence residing within the burial coffin in the Life Essence, but rather an intruder.
The Heaven-Earth Cauldron floated above the firmament, its entire body permeated with an incomparable Great Dao pressure. An incomparable Great Dao power was wantonly surging forth, refining the illusion of Ancient Nether Emperor within the cauldron.
Boom—
The power emanating from within the Heaven-Earth Cauldron was enough to annihilate heaven and earth. It easily tore open massive spatial chasms hundreds of thousands of li long in the previously stable void of this world, spreading in all directions and annihilating countless warriors from both sides.
Within the Heaven-Earth Cauldron, Ancient Nether Emperor's Emperor's thought illusion snorted coldly. His eyes could pierce through everything, surveying the cauldron enveloping him. He said, "Never expected it to be an Emperor's fleshly body. That is somewhat beyond this Emperor's expectations. However, it seems to be only a small portion of an Emperor-level body. Although its power surpasses many Sovereigns, thinking it can suppress and refine this Emperor's thought body so easily is rather laughable."
"A mere pseudo-Emperor-level fleshly body that doesn't even qualify as an Imperial Monarch, let this Emperor make you understand how truly supreme and peerless real Emperor Dao power is—"
"Ancient Nether Buries the Epoch!"
An ancient voice, as if originating from several epochs ago, slowly spilled from Ancient Nether Emperor's mouth. As this ancient voice emerged, an unimaginably terrifying might began to permeate the surroundings.
Ye Chen was startled. He sensed from Ancient Nether Emperor's Emperor's thought illusion a terrifying fluctuation that even the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body felt palpitations from.
Immediately, with a thought, he controlled the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body. It transformed into a sky-blotting Emperor Flame—the most terrifying flame power, appearing incomparably resplendent, radiating myriad colors—and charged toward the Emperor's thought illusion of Ancient Nether Emperor, who was about to unleash his most fearsome Emperor technique.
However, the Ancient Nether Emperor's thought merely sneered. Ripples of invisible fluctuations continuously spread out in waves, enveloping the Emperor's thought illusion body. Even that Emperor Flame, for a time, could do nothing to the illusion.
Boom—
Suddenly, it seemed as if the entire Heaven-Earth Cauldron trembled violently. Within it appeared an immensely deep, massive Black Hole. His majestic Emperor's figure vanished into the Black Hole. Yet, within that profound Black Hole, it was as if an ancient epoch had truly been buried. There were endless corpses, shattered cosmic stars, and countless collapsing fragments of great worlds, piling up into a terrifying graveyard.
It was the graveyard of an ancient epoch.
Ancient Nether Emperor's supreme Emperor's figure stood within the Epoch Graveyard. How peerlessly majestic he was, immeasurable as all heavens, as if with a raise of his hand he could annihilate past and present spacetime. His figure had become much more solid than before, and the Emperor's Might emanating from his body also seemed increasingly terrifying, releasing wisps of genuine Emperor's Might.
Within, Ancient Nether Emperor seemed as if his true self had crossed spacetime to arrive. His Emperor's Might was vast and shook the world, capable of trembling and cracking all heavens and myriad domains. The Emperor's scepter in his hand also manifested immeasurable waves of destructive divine might.
Ancient Nether Emperor's thought looked at his increasingly clear and solid self, feeling some emotion. He sighed lightly, "Never expected I would need to use such a method to briefly project my true self here."
"But it is enough. Within this Emperor's battlefield, there is something my Ancient Universe needs. My descent here can also be considered a form of karma."