"I didn't expect you to be able to perceive my presence." The pair of enormous eyes spoke, their voice as indifferent and emotionless as their gaze. "I originally intended to monitor you for a while longer, but since you've discovered me, I shall seize your fleshly body and imprison your divine soul!"
Boom—
Suddenly, an intangible force descended from the heavens within the Deep and Dark Ancient Path, coalescing into numerous chains of the Great Dao that shot toward Ye Chen like lightning.
"Scram!"
Ye Chen roared, swinging his fist to strike at the heavens. A tremendous explosion echoed as all darkness scattered, replaced by boundless light that surged forth, inundating the multitude of pitch-black chains.
To Ye Chen's surprise, however, his punch merely caused the numerous pitch-black chains to tremble slightly before they shot toward him at an even more thunderous speed.
Moreover, one of the pitch-black chains penetrated Ye Chen's body. The Emperor-level flesh of his Great Emperor Reincarnation Body offered no resistance whatsoever. Instantly, Ye Chen felt a sharp pain and numbness in his Chaos Saint Soul Little Person. His insubstantial divine soul seemed to stiffen, becoming unusable.
"Hmm?"
Ye Chen's expression changed. He hadn't anticipated this outcome. He clearly sensed that these pitch-black chains were peculiar—not materialized entities but rather something formed from an illusory power.
Divine soul power?
Ye Chen suddenly recalled the Soul-Binding Chains of the Forbidden Soul Hall. They were very similar, though the Soul-Binding Chains before him appeared far more powerful, causing his Chaos Saint Soul Little Person to feel suffocated.
A single chain was enough to paralyze him. If he were bound by so many other pitch-black chains, wouldn't his Great Emperor Reincarnation Body be left completely at the mercy of others?
Boom—
The Chaos Saint Soul Little Person suddenly blazed with light, erupting with blazing chaos radiance. Chaos Source Fire surged upward, transforming into fiery flames that incinerated that single pitch-black chain to nothingness.
Simultaneously, Ye Chen dared not be negligent in the slightest. Although it wasn't his Chaos Saint Body, with the Chaos Saint Soul Little Person present, he could still unleash the same divine abilities. Immediately, he executed the Heaven Suppressing Seal, manifesting the thirty-three layered form of the Human Sovereign Tower.
This tower was the supreme Emperor weapon of the Myriad Domains Human Emperor, capable of suppressing both form and spirit. It was specially created by the Battle Saint Ancestor to compensate for the invincible fleshly body's deficiency in the aspect of the divine soul.
The Heaven Suppressing Tower was not used to suppress these soul-binding chains but to defend his own body, preventing the numerous pitch-black chains from truly getting close.
Clang! Clang! Clang!—
The multitude of pitch-black chains struck the Heaven Suppressing Tower, possessing an extremely potent effect of attacking the divine soul. The Heaven Suppressing Tower shook violently, the clanging sounds incessant, like the clashing of metal.
Ye Chen's hand seals changed. The Heaven Suppressing Tower bloomed with brilliant chaos light, accompanied by blazing chaos ancient qi, instantly stabilizing many times over and preventing the numerous pitch-black chains from truly getting close.
At the same time, Ye Chen took the offensive as his defense. Manipulating the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body, he shot skyward, scattering numerous pitch-black chains. Aiming at the enormous eyes in the heavens, he delivered a fierce punch. His fist even harbored a wisp of the Emperor Dao's fundamental supreme power, knowing that ordinary physical strength would be ineffective.
Boom—
The heavens collapsed, all darkness receded. A trace of surprise seemed to flash within those enormous eyes, yet there was no fear whatsoever. Instead, an indescribable, heaven-like majestic power gathered, actually coalescing in the heavens into a War Halberd.
It was pitch-black like ink, similar to those chains, yet it circulated an absolute might that made Ye Chen's Chaos Saint Soul Little Person feel on the verge of shattering—far more intense than those pitch-black chains by an unknown degree.
This pitch-black War Halberd descended from the heavens, stretching a hundred thousand li, and stabbed fiercely toward Ye Chen's Great Emperor Reincarnation Body below, colliding with it.
Boom—
After a single tremendous explosion, the entire Deep and Dark Ancient Path trembled fiercely, the heavens shaking and the earth quaking. The pair of enormous eyes also seemed to change color in that instant, trembling along with the quake.
The hundred-thousand-li-long pitch-black War Halberd trembled violently, directly sent flying back into the heavens.
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body's figure rapidly retreated. Ye Chen's Chaos Saint Soul Little Person felt unparalleled, piercing pain, as if countless soul-destroying needles were stabbing into it, causing waves of insubstantiality.
This was only because the Emperor Dao's fundamental power had neutralized most of the impact, and the Heaven Suppressing Tower's protection played a role. Otherwise, under this collision, even his tempered Chaos Saint Soul Little Person would have been completely shattered and annihilated.
However, the retreat soon stopped. Sensing the fearsome nature of that pair of enormous eyes—likely possessing a shocking origin—Ye Chen hesitated not in the slightest. With a shake, he transformed into a massive ancient heavenly stele, inscribed with countless Emperor characters and stained with brilliant, fresh red blood, resembling the most ancient Heavenly Emperor's Heaven-Burying Stele. Defying the heavens, it rose and fiercely slammed into the enormous eyes.
Boom—
The pair of enormous eyes shook violently, emitting a terrifying roar filled with pain. The enormous eyes were shattered, a large amount of emerald-green blood raining down. It harbored a unique emerald-green radiance that illuminated heaven and earth, casting the entire Deep and Dark Ancient Path in a strange emerald-green hue.
High above in the heavens, the emerald-green eyes that had been constantly monitoring were rapidly closing. At the same time, a surge of shock and anger emerged, also harboring world-shaking might. Two emerald-jade-like pillars descended from the heavens, smashing fiercely toward Ye Chen below.
Caught off guard, Ye Chen's Great Emperor Reincarnation Body was directly blasted down from the sky, shaking the entire Deep and Dark Ancient Path violently.
Yet this was not the end. In the heavens, the eyes actually transformed, giving birth to two massive ancient arrays that covered the entire Deep and Dark Ancient Path. Countless array patterns intertwined, generating a majestic, terrifying power brimming with slaughter, which crashed down heavily.
Boom—
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body suffered another extremely severe blow. The life-slaughtering ancient arrays born from the eyes could be said to possess terrifying power sufficient to heavily injure or even kill ordinary Ancient Sovereigns. Boundless array patterns intertwined, slaughter power surged turbulently, filling this stretch of heaven and earth, causing the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body to develop several wounds from which blood flowed freely.
"This is a Sovereign-level grand array, and its might surpasses that of ordinary Sovereign-level grand arrays." Ye Chen could sense the terrifying power of such an ancient array; otherwise, ordinary Sovereign-level ancient arrays would absolutely find it difficult to injure the Emperor-level flesh of the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body.
Roar—
Ye Chen opened his mouth and roared, shaking the Deep and Dark Ancient Path, forcefully causing the two terrifying ancient arrays born from the eyes to scatter. Then, his entire figure moved like a roc soaring ninety thousand li. His left hand resembled a heavenly stele, his right hand like an Emperor tower. The tower and stele merged as one, once again striking at the eyes, grinding away numerous array patterns, causing emerald-green blood to flow across the sky as a shrill cry resounded.
Just as Ye Chen was about to press his advantage, that pair of enormous eyes rapidly vanished into the profound darkness, disappearing without a trace. Only a voice lingered, unfading: "You wait. I won't let you off."