In a short span of time, a dozen Ancient Kingdoms possessing powerful ancestral figures were swept through and conquered, inevitably startling the ruler who commanded this vast ancient domain.
That was the Heavenly Emperor Hall of this domain, representing the Heavenly Emperor in guarding this expansive ancient territory. Rumors even spoke of the existence of a Sovereign-level being from the Primordial Era, incomparably powerful—the Hall Master, also the Domain Lord.
Naturally, the Sovereign Domain Lord would not personally take action. Under his command, other powerful experts from the Heavenly Emperor Hall set out, and even the City Lord of a nearby metropolis rushed to the scene.
Upon arrival, they were somewhat astonished to find that those who had conquered these first-rate Ancient Kingdom forces were a group of unfamiliar young Heaven's Pride talents. However, sensing their cultivation levels, which actually included Half-Step Divine King level experts, they were quite formidable.
They immediately understood: these were either peerless Heaven's Pride talents who had emerged in this era or supreme Heaven's Pride talents from outside the realm. Their goal was, nine times out of ten, to become the chief disciple under the peerless Heavenly Emperor.
For this type of person, even the Divine Kings of the Heavenly Emperor Hall dared not act too excessively, because it was highly likely that a disciple of the Heavenly Emperor would emerge from among these very individuals. That level of status demanded respect even from a Sovereign like the Hall Master.
"Young friends, why have you taken action to conquer these Ancient Kingdoms? It can easily cause instability," the Divine King from the Heavenly Emperor Hall spoke up, frowning slightly. They could not allow excessive fluctuations within the vast ancient domain, otherwise it would affect the Heavenly Emperor's rule and even the people's faith in the Heavenly Emperor.
Mo Haishen, following the words taught by Ye Chen, said, "Senior, you worry too much. We all desire to become disciples of the Heavenly Emperor. Only the most outstanding individuals are qualified, and we naturally refuse to fall behind. Moreover, we wish to elevate the Heavenly Emperor's status in the hearts of the people by conquering numerous Ancient Kingdoms, making more people believe in the Heavenly Emperor and gathering purer, more powerful Faith Power."
Hearing this, the Heavenly Emperor Hall Divine King breathed a sigh of relief. They were indeed Heaven's Pride talents participating in the competition for the Heavenly Emperor's disciple. Fortunately, he had not taken action, otherwise offending them would be a tremendous trouble in the future.
As for the actions of Mo Haishen and the others, this Divine King no longer intervened. As long as it did not overly affect the faith in the Heavenly Emperor, and was even beneficial, they naturally would not interfere. On the contrary, they were quite pleased.
Soon, they departed, merely instructing that even while conquering numerous Ancient Kingdoms, they must not act too radically and must not shake the people's faith in the Heavenly Emperor.
Ye Chen secretly conveyed a command: temporarily cease sealing the Faith Power of the various temples. Instead, they were to expand their entire force until it was sufficiently powerful, then simultaneously seal and directly strip away all Faith Power, greatly weakening it.
Mo Haishen and the others obeyed the order. Moreover, they were not truly of the human race to begin with, merely followers of Ye Chen. Even if investigated, their human identity could not be traced.
Three months later, countless forces across a full half of the great domain had successively fallen under the control of Mo Haishen and his group. Furthermore, the masters of these numerous forces and their high-level experts were directly enslaved via their divine souls.
During this period, Ye Chen even personally took action, nearly attempting to enslave the divine soul of a metropolis City Lord, but ultimately acted cautiously and did not proceed.
Because a Divine King was considered an absolute high-level expert within the Heavenly Emperor Hall. It was unclear if they possessed some form of divine soul protection. Otherwise, if the enslavement failed, the only option would be to kill them, causing the entire plan to ultimately fail, potentially even leading to the same fate as Divine Emperor's Son and Chu Shenjun.
As a fallback, he targeted a Half-Step Divine King level Deputy City Lord of a metropolis, also a powerful expert belonging to the Heavenly Emperor Hall. With a raise of his hand, he suppressed him, tore apart his physical body, and searched out his divine soul.
However, the result was astonishing. He discovered that this Deputy City Lord's divine soul emitted a sinister, pitch-black aura, containing intense Curse Power, deeply rooted like the Divine King level malevolent soul slain by the Angel race Divine King back then.
"Such terrifying Curse Power. Could it be that all the powerful experts of the Heavenly Emperor Hall have this Curse Power rooted in their divine souls?" Ye Chen murmured to himself, connecting many thoughts. Faced with this Curse Power, he also felt some apprehension. An ordinary Divine King would not dare to touch it, as they could easily become contaminated.
However, as the possessor of the Chaos Supreme Body, the Chaos Divine Soul Little Person formed a seal and struck out an enslavement divine seal, carrying Primordial Chaos Qi, directly entered the Half-Step Divine King's body.
*Chi chi chi—*
The Half-Step Divine King's Divine Soul Little Person erupted with pitch-black demonic mist all over its body, churning tumultuously as it charged towards this enslavement divine seal, attempting to resist.
But Chaos was the origin of all Daos. Even Curse Power, in the end, was merely one special Great Dao law among them. It could not completely block it. The enslavement divine seal entered the body, and after a brief struggle, it was directly enslaved.
A moment later, the old Half-Step Divine King City Lord spoke, the struggle in his eyes gone, replaced by a deep-seated reverence from the heart. Looking at Ye Chen, he bowed humbly and said, "Your servant Zuo Tu pays respects to the Lord!"
Ye Chen nodded. "Since when did this Curse Power emerge in your divine soul?"
The Half-Step Divine King's eyes showed a look of confusion. He shook his head. "In reply, Lord, your servant does not know."
Ye Chen frowned. A Half-Step Divine King, yet unaware of when this Curse Power appeared. He suspected the Curse Power was related to the Heavenly Emperor Hall, but now it seemed there was no direct connection.
Could it be contracted while absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy for cultivation, or while cultivating spirit veins?
But how many spirit veins tainted with curses would one need to absorb to reach this level of Curse Power within the Divine Soul Little Person? It was inconceivable.
A moment later, the Half-Step Divine King seemed to remember something. "In reply, Lord, regarding the Curse Power, your servant is unclear. But every infant, upon birth, visits the temples of the Heavenly Emperor Hall located everywhere. There is a Sacred Spring. By drinking from this Sacred Spring, one can expel the sins within the heart, purify all illnesses and demons, even resolve hundreds of ailments, strengthen the body, and also cultivate more effectively."
"Sacred Spring?" Ye Chen recalled. When he entered Zhaoxia City, he had indeed seen a divine spring before the divine statue, and other temples had them too, though he hadn't paid much attention.
Now thinking about it, perhaps there truly was a tremendous connection.
Ye Chen asked, "Where is the Heaven-Fall Mausoleum?"
It was said the Heaven-Fall Mausoleum was located in the deepest part of the Heavenly Emperor Realm, but the Heavenly Emperor Realm was too vast, and its exact domain was unknown.
The Heaven-Fall Mausoleum was related to whether Ye Chen could successfully step into the Divine King realm. He had to be concerned.
"The Heaven-Fall Mausoleum is at—" Just as the Half-Step Divine King Zuo Tu was about to speak, suddenly, his Divine Soul Little Person violently erupted with an extremely terrifying fluctuation. An evil, pitch-black radiance surged up, carrying an extreme sinister aura, which then transformed into a fiery radiance.
The radiance surged magnificently, striking towards the heavens, illuminating tens of millions of miles.
*Hong long long—*
Within this fiery radiance, a divine form as tall as the heavens appeared, directly manifesting between heaven and earth. Mountains and rivers for ten thousand li trembled, attracting the attention of countless people.