After returning to the Emperor World, Sun Sovereign summoned Tongtian Sovereign and Jian Tian Sovereign, and also sent a message to Ye Chen.
Not long after, within the Imperial Hall, the four most powerful figures of the human race currently appeared here to discuss important matters.
Sun Sovereign recounted everything that had happened not long ago, saying, "What are your thoughts?"
Jian Tian Sovereign and Tongtian Sovereign were both hesitant. After all, the Saint Monarch Ruler Body was the human race's greatest trump card against those below the Ancient Monarchs, capable of sweeping away everything on its own.
If they were to lose the Saint Monarch Ruler Body, the situation facing the human race would become much more severe.
However, Ye Chen stroked his chin, pondered slightly, then slowly raised his head and said, "Agreed!"
The three Ancient Monarchs all looked at Ye Chen. Sun Sovereign asked, "What are your thoughts?"
"To be frank with you three Seniors, among the experts of the All Heavens Forces I suppressed, aside from a very small portion, all the others have been enslaved by me, including many Ancient Monarchs. Therefore, as long as the Ancient Monarchs do not intervene, we still have nothing to fear."
Ye Chen's words startled the three Ancient Monarchs. They hadn't expected that in such a short time, he had actually enslaved all the suppressed experts of the All Heavens Forces.
However, considering the assistance of the Great Emperor reincarnation, it wasn't impossible.
Hearing this, they were quite pleased. Since these experts of the All Heavens Forces had become Ye Chen's slaves, it was equivalent to adding a great force of assistance to the human race.
Ye Chen continued, "Unfortunately, Yan Shen Sovereign has always resisted strongly, unwilling to be enslaved. So, I plan to completely obliterate his true spirit and refine him into an Ancient Monarch-level puppet. Even after returning to the Sealed Universe in the future, it would still be a great asset."
"Refine Yan Shen Sovereign into a puppet?!"
The three Ancient Monarchs were all astonished, undoubtedly shocked by Ye Chen's words, but they also frowned. "Little friend, you know that refining a puppet results in a creation far inferior to the original, not even one or two-tenths of its former strength. It's difficult to achieve even half its power. Such refinement would likely be a waste of an Ancient Monarch-level body."
Ye Chen smiled but didn't speak. Instead, he waved his hand, and three Giant Divine Soldiers appeared.
The emergence of the three Giant Divine Soldiers naturally alerted the three Ancient Monarchs to something amiss. Although they all emitted Quasi-Monarch level pressure, they were clearly not true Quasi-Monarchs, as their gazes were stiff, lacking the agility that other Quasi-Monarchs should possess.
"Huh? Are these all puppets?"
The three Ancient Monarchs finally realized, sensing the extraordinary nature of the Giant Divine Soldiers.
They had been secretly observing everything on the battlefield, curious as to why three unknown Quasi-Monarchs had suddenly appeared on the human side. They had noticed their movements were somewhat stiff, always a bit different compared to true Quasi-Monarchs, though they hadn't immediately discerned anything else amiss.
They never expected that these three Quasi-Monarchs were actually Ye Chen's puppets. No wonder they obeyed Ye Chen's commands so obediently. So that was it.
Thinking to this level, and recalling how the three Giant Divine Soldiers could truly fight against Quasi-Monarchs on the battlefield—even if they couldn't defeat them, they could sustain a prolonged battle for a long time—it was truly astonishing. This was something no ordinary puppet could achieve.
Connecting this with Ye Chen's intention to refine Yan Shen Sovereign into an Ancient Monarch puppet, they immediately thought of many possibilities. Jian Tian Sovereign exclaimed in surprise, "Little friend, do you perhaps master a method of refining puppets?"
"Correct."
Ye Chen nodded in acknowledgment. "Back on the old Primordial Path, the Wushi Ancient Ancestor suppressed the various Emperor Clans and Immortal Clans. As an exchange condition, I obtained parts of their Emperor Scriptures and Immortal Scriptures, including those of the Corpse Immortal Clan."
"The Corpse Immortal Clan is the most renowned puppet-refining clan in the Chaos Sea. Even their Corpse Immortal true form is a puppet, an ultimate puppet."
"I obtained the Divine King chapter from the Corpse Immortal Clan's Immortal Scripture and also refined the three Quasi-Monarchs of the alien races who were suppressed back then into puppets. I call them Giant Divine Soldiers."
"The Corpse Immortal Clan, so that's it." Sun Sovereign nodded. "The puppet arts of this Immortal Clan are indeed among the very top across the entire Chaos Sea, even across countless epochal eras. At the very least, they rank among the upper three of the nine streams, and there are even super-first-rate or ultimate-level puppets."
Ye Chen said, "Refining an Ancient Monarch-level puppet allows no room for error. This junior hopes to refine this Yan Shen Sovereign into a super-first-rate level, not inferior to a true Ancient Monarch. Therefore, many materials are required. Among these materials, quite a few are precisely what this junior currently lacks. If the All Heavens Forces are willing, we can negotiate an exchange with them. We must strike while the iron is hot, make them pay a price, take advantage of their predicament, and make them feel the sting. Only then will this Great Emperor reincarnation cease to act."
Hearing this, the three Ancient Monarchs all nodded.
"Little friend, what materials do you need?" Sun Sovereign asked.
"The heartwood of a million-year-old Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree, Black Hole Radiance, Primordial Immortal Light, Space-Time Agate, Water of Flowing Light and Passing Years, Solar Core..."
Ye Chen listed the names of numerous materials in one breath. Some materials not only he, but even the three Ancient Monarchs were startled by them.
For each one was a truly rare treasure of the world. Some were only heard of in legends; even they had never truly seen them.
In the end, including various items like Divine Spiritual Sources, blessed lands and paradises, various divine materials, spiritual herbs, and so on, there were over three thousand types in total—enough to empty the treasury of an Emperor Clan or Immortal Clan.
"Will they really agree?" Jian Tian Sovereign also smiled bitterly.
Sun Sovereign laughed heartily. "Right, that's exactly how it should be. If they want our human race not to use the Great Emperor reincarnation body, they must pay the corresponding price. Not taking advantage of this situation would truly be a disservice to ourselves."
Three days later, the figure of an Ancient Monarch appeared in the Canglan Divine Sea, directly informing the All Heavens Forces of all the demands. As one precious material after another, each notoriously scarce in the world, was continuously listed, the expressions of all the Ancient Monarchs of the All Heavens Forces changed slightly.
"Sun Sovereign, your human race is going too far," Heng Gu Sovereign couldn't help but shout.
Sun Sovereign swept a cold glance at him. "If you don't accept it, you can refuse. But the Saint Monarch Ruler Body will still take action."
"We'll give you three days to consider carefully. If you're unwilling, then we'll fight. The rule of Ancient Monarchs not intervening below their level still stands."
After saying this, Sun Sovereign turned and left, leaving behind the projections of the All Heavens Forces' Ancient Monarchs with ugly expressions.
"What should we do?" One Ancient Monarch broke the silence first.
"What can we do? This time, the human race is unexpectedly forceful. There's no way around it." The Ancient Monarch of the Changsheng Emperor Clan also sighed. Faced with such an extremely forceful human race, unless they were willing to unleash the most terrifying Emperor Weapon war—the consequences of which would be unimaginable—the suppressed experts of the All Heavens Forces were doomed to be annihilated.
"Let's pool these treasures together. Divided among our various major forces, it's only a few dozen types each, which we can bear." The Sovereign of the Shen Di Clan said. "We must remember that once we obtain the Yun Tian Tomb, the benefits will be many times greater."
"Alright, at this point, we can only do this!"
It didn't take three days; merely half a day later, envoys from the All Heavens Forces delivered a letter.
Sun Sovereign received it, opened it, and revealed a faint smile. "Indeed, faced with the two choices of either the Great Emperor reincarnation taking action or not, they chose the latter. Even though the latter requires a great price."
Half a month later, the All Heavens Forces gathered all the materials—over three thousand types in total—and sent a Divine King to deliver them, requesting the human race to inspect and accept them.
Qin Wu personally took the spatial artifact containing countless treasures and handed it to Sun Sovereign.
The three Ancient Monarchs solemnly scanned it repeatedly, confirmed everything was correct, nodded, and sent a Divine King out to convey the message: from now on, the Saint Monarch Ruler Body would no longer take action.
The Divine King envoy from the All Heavens Forces was overjoyed and immediately relayed the news to the Ancient Monarchs of the All Heavens.
The Ancient Monarchs of the All Heavens naturally all breathed a sigh of relief. The human race was finally willing to relent.
Soon, the Ancient Monarchs of the All Heavens inquired again: when would the imprisoned and suppressed experts of the All Heavens Forces be released?
The human envoy responded with a light, casual sentence: "We won't release them unless you continue to meet our human race's conditions."
"What?!"
One Ancient Monarch was furious, feeling as if he had been played by the human race. His Sovereign Dharma Form propped up heaven and earth, incomparably massive, as if about to descend upon the Qin Clan's Emperor World.
The other Ancient Monarchs were also shocked and angered. The human race was too shameless. They had already paid over three thousand precious treasures, yet the humans weren't hurrying to release the prisoners.
"Human race, what is the meaning of this? Why aren't you releasing them immediately?"
The Divine King envoys sent by the All Heavens Forces were all enraged.
The human envoy simply replied, "Because the previous transaction only concerned the Saint Monarch Ruler Body ceasing to act. Releasing the experts of the All Heavens Forces is a separate matter entirely, requiring the fulfillment of other conditions from our human race."
"The human race is despicable! Shameless!"
Heng Gu Sovereign roared. Among the captives was his most beloved son, Heng Yang Quasi-Monarch. He was deeply worried something might happen to him.
He directly descended into the Canglan Divine Sea, wantonly unleashing his Sovereign Heavenly Might, turning the Canglan Divine Sea region for millions of miles around into a dead zone. Countless living beings inhabiting the divine sea were instantly annihilated by the pressure, their corpses floating across millions of miles, resulting in heavy casualties.
Fortunately, Cang Lan Quasi-Monarch had long since taken many of the more important beings of the divine sea and left, entering the Qin Clan's Emperor World. Otherwise, their fate would have been unknown.
Boom! Rumble—
Terrifying radiance of time, carrying rolling fragments of space-time, surged toward the Emperor World where the Qin Emperor Clan resided. Its might was boundless, capable of instantly killing a Divine King. This was the Heavenly Might of an Ancient Monarch.
The barriers of the Emperor World began to manifest.
Swish—
Finally, Sun Sovereign appeared, descending upon the Canglan Divine Sea. Looking at the endless divine sea region now filled with corpses, a trace of anger also surfaced on his face.
Boom—
A great sun rose, enveloping Sun Sovereign. His entire body erupted with billions of zhang of solar radiance, carrying the ultimate Yang solar essence fire that incinerated the heavens and instantly burned away all the incoming Great Dao laws and order divine chains, blocking them outside.
Sun Sovereign's might was infinite as he coldly stared at Heng Gu Sovereign opposite him, speaking icily, "Daring to slaughter the living beings of our human race's Canglan Divine Sea—do you wish to fight?"
Far in the distance, one Ancient Monarch after another appeared. Seeing Sun Sovereign's forceful stance, they all wanted to gauge his current cultivation level but did not truly approach.
On the Canglan Divine Sea, only Heng Gu Sovereign stood alone.
At this moment, his figure suddenly became many times more terrifying. His Sovereign Heavenly Might continued to climb, reaching an extreme level.
Brilliant radiance overflowed; every strand of his hair flowed with the power of time. Heng Gu Sovereign snorted coldly, carrying a dense killing intent. "Fine! Today, this Sovereign will see what capabilities you, the current number one Sovereign of the human race, possess."