Boom—
Within a vast expanse of desolate forest, a terrifying fluctuation suddenly erupted. The surrounding mountains, which had stood firm for countless years, trembled and then exploded.
Here, two figures were moving through the sky at an astonishing speed, one in pursuit, the other fleeing.
Moreover, in their exchanges, every movement unleashed the great power of the Dao, enough to make even Divine Kings pale with fear—truly terrifying.
Crash—
With a tremendous roar, the earth split open, revealing a massive abyss ten thousand li wide and hundreds of thousands of li long, like a giant maw of the earth, ready to devour everything in the world.
During the battle, countless living beings were reduced to ashes.
The one fleeing and the one pursuing were naturally Ye Chen, who was being hunted, and one of the powerful Quasi-Monarchs from the various imperial clans and Immortal Clans leading the chase.
The pursuing Quasi-Monarch was sinister and eerie, seated upon a pitch-black Ancient Coffin. His figure was withered, as if a corpse had been revived, emanating overwhelming Corpse Evil Qi and a pervasive aura of deathly stillness.
On the other side, Ye Chen was like a blazing sun, his blood energy peerless, constantly clashing fiercely with the Corpse Evil Qi of the pursuing Quasi-Monarch behind him.
Each clash could easily tear apart heaven and earth, creating unimaginable fluctuations.
This chase spanned nearly half of the Eighth Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain, and countless towns, ancient kingdoms, and sects along the way suffered, caught in the crossfire between these two supreme powerhouses.
“Peerless Great Sun!”
Ye Chen let out a great shout. A blazing stream of chaotic blood energy shot out from the crown of his head, transforming directly into a chaotic heavenly sun. Vast and mighty, carrying boundless chaotic light and flames, it descended from the sky, shattering the firmament and heavily striking the corpse-like Quasi-Monarch seated upon the pitch-black Ancient Coffin.
The supreme and potent blood energy forced even that overwhelming Corpse Evil Qi to fade significantly.
“Corpse Demon Heavenly God Hand!”
The Quasi-Monarch on the coffin uttered a hoarse, unpleasant phrase. Immediately, the boundless pitch-black Corpse Evil Qi surged back, rushing up to the nine layers of the heavens. Vaguely, infinite Dao laws manifested, clashing head-on with the chaotic heavenly sun and exploding.
Whoosh—
Seizing this moment, Ye Chen abruptly tore through space and left, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
“Saint King of Battle!”
The Quasi-Monarch on the pitch-black Ancient Coffin let out a terrifying roar, urging the coffin forward like lightning. But chaotic ancient qi permeated the area, erasing all traces. Whether in the heavens or the earth, there was nowhere to find him.
In the end, he could only give up.
Similar situations had been occurring repeatedly over the past half month.
Although six Quasi-Monarchs had been suppressed by Qin Wu at the site of the former Canglan Divine Sea, the various imperial clans and Immortal Clans still had no shortage of Quasi-Monarchs.
Quasi-Monarchs from various clans roamed the Eighth Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain, continuously hunting Ye Chen.
Time and again, they found traces of him, only for him to slip away each time.
Regarding this outcome, it could be said that the Quasi-Monarchs of the various clans were quite vexed and helpless.
The Saint King of Battle’s escape techniques were truly first-rate in the world. Even with the Quasi-Monarchs of various clans searching, it was like finding a needle in a haystack—they couldn’t find the slightest trace of the Saint King of Battle.
Similarly, Ye Chen was also quite troubled.
Over the past half month, he had attempted several times to kill Quasi-Monarch Hongwei and Quasi-Monarch Huanghua, refining their origin world heavens and earth to advance further. Unfortunately, he had never succeeded.
Because Quasi-Monarchs from various paths always found his traces at critical moments.
The Eighth Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain was vast, yet also small.
For Quasi-Monarch powerhouses, they could locate Ye Chen’s hidden figure in a short time, leaving him no opportunity to focus on devouring the origin world heavens and earth of the two Quasi-Monarchs, which was rather irritating.
Boom—
On this day, while clashing with a mid-stage Quasi-Monarch powerhouse, Ye Chen directly fought his way out of the Eighth Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain and entered the Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain.
In the end, during an intense battle, Ye Chen paid a sufficient price. Despite suffering severe injuries from Monarch Rule Power, he cleaved that mid-stage Quasi-Monarch powerhouse in two.
But he didn’t have time to suppress him in the Chaos Great Cauldron, because two other Quasi-Monarchs were rapidly approaching.
Helpless, Ye Chen could only give up, turn, and leave, departing the Eighth Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain and disappearing into the vast Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain.
The Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain, along with the Eighth and Ninth, were known as the three great heavenly realm ancient domains among the Ten Heavenly Realm Ancient Domains.
The various imperial clans, Immortal Clans, and even the three thousand king clans were mostly concentrated within these three heavenly realm ancient domains.
Here existed countless nations and sect forces, densely packed—truly a land of a thousand kingdoms and ten thousand teachings. The number of forces was as endless as the grains of sand in the Ganges.
After this period of successive battles against Quasi-Monarchs, Ye Chen was truly weary and bore many injuries. However, he did not hide deep within the earth again, for what works once or twice may not work a third time.
After multiple instances, the pursuing Quasi-Monarchs had become targeted, immediately probing the depths of the earth.
This time, Ye Chen concealed himself among the billions of living beings in the Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain, blending in like a fish in water, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
He even ceased cultivation to avoid unnecessary divine energy fluctuations that might alert the pursuing Quasi-Monarchs.
Anxia City, a medium-sized ancient city in the Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain.
Though called a medium-sized city, this was only relative to the Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain. In reality, the city’s size and bustling prosperity could rival the royal capitals of powerful ancient kingdoms on par with king clans. It was a sky city.
With a population of over ten million, among the teeming masses, even if a Quasi-Monarch arrived in person, they couldn’t immediately detect his presence.
Moreover, Ye Chen employed the Heaven-Changing Earth-Transforming Secret Technique to alter his origin aura.
However, even with the Heaven-Changing Earth-Transforming Secret Technique, it wasn’t a long-term solution. Upon reaching the Quasi-Monarch level, who didn’t possess true means of detection? Otherwise, in past pursuits, how could Ye Chen have been found time and again?
Wasn’t the most troublesome one the Heaven-Observing Divine Master?
Unfortunately, Ye Chen had never been able to locate the Heaven-Observing Divine Master, otherwise things wouldn’t be so troublesome.
He could only hide temporarily.
He transformed into an ordinary-looking youth, found a courtyard residence in Anxia City, paid half a year’s rent in spirit stones upfront, and then silently began to regulate his breathing.
Half a day later, his face was pale, and blood involuntarily trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“Indeed, the injuries are somewhat severe. Even with the Sacred Body Regeneration Art, it will take some time to recover. However, activating the Sacred Body Regeneration Art would fully reveal the injuries, allowing them to be tracked down.”
Ye Chen frowned and muttered to himself.
In successive battles against Quasi-Monarchs, ordinary injuries were one thing, but once a Quasi-Monarch employed Monarch Rule Power, such injuries became far more terrifying.
Even Ye Chen had to bear certain Dao injuries. Moreover, the Monarch Rule Power that contaminated his body was quite sinister, constantly emitting a special aura. It made him like a firefly glowing in the dark—clearly visible, attracting the accurate pursuit of those Quasi-Monarchs.
If Ye Chen’s cultivation were profound enough, he could suppress it with absolute power. Otherwise, he would be found by other Quasi-Monarchs immediately—this was the greatest trouble at the moment.
However, for now, he could only suppress it briefly.
“This bit of Monarch Rule Power is truly a big trouble, difficult to resolve. I’m afraid only a Quasi-Monarch exerting full effort could dissolve it, and it would require a full half day.”
Ye Chen frowned. The Dao injuries within his body persisted precisely because of this, never having been resolved or healed.
By now, blood was constantly seeping out; the injuries were somewhat severe. He looked pale, like a sickly young man, his complexion very poor.
But there was no other way. Once he stopped suppressing it and allowed the Reverse-Ancient Quasi-Monarch to act, he would be exposed immediately.
Given the terrifying perception of those Quasi-Monarchs, they would surely detect it within a short time and locate him immediately. Then, another series of great battles would be inevitable. Perhaps before his injuries were resolved, new wounds would be added—something he was unwilling to see in his current state.
“If not for that suspected Heaven-Defying Quasi-Monarch, Haotian War God, things wouldn’t be so troublesome. I would have long since returned to the Human Emperor Realm.”
Ye Chen sighed. Regarding Wu Hao, it was indeed a headache.
He also inspected the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body within him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to use the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body to resolve his injuries, but once activated, that power surpassing the Quasi-Monarch level would be keenly detected by the ancient Sovereigns of the All Heavens—another major trouble.
“Forget it, forget it. The boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridge.”
Ye Chen could only think this way. Then, he silently regulated his breathing within the room, slowly dissolving the Monarch Rule Power contaminating his body.
Although the dissolution speed was slow, it was better than nothing. Given enough time, he could eventually succeed in dissolving it.
Of course, achieving this would take at least a year or two, but by then, the great war would have already erupted—the war between humanity and the allied forces of the various powers of the All Heavens.
Thus, time passed continuously. Ten days went by in the blink of an eye.
He completely restrained all his aura, even shielding the Chaos Great Cauldron. He did not make a move against the two Quasi-Monarchs, remaining like an ordinary mortal the entire time.
During this period, Quasi-Monarchs had appeared in Anxia City, but they did not make a grand display. Instead, they secretly swept the area with absolutely powerful divine senses, so quietly that even Divine Kings would find it difficult to detect.
The Heaven-Observing Divine Master even performed divinations with a tortoise shell every two days.
Unfortunately, with Ye Chen intentionally hiding, none of the pursuing Quasi-Monarchs discovered Ye Chen’s presence, and they subsequently left.
Time continued to pass silently.
From the time Ye Chen left the Human Emperor Realm until now, after more than two months of preparation, the various imperial clans and Immortal Clans had become much more prepared. The tense atmosphere before the great war was continuously spreading.
“Perhaps in less than half a month, the true great war will erupt at a touch.”
Ye Chen sighed inwardly, sensing the ongoing preparations of the various imperial clans, Immortal Clans, and numerous king clans, with an unprecedented atmosphere of great war quietly spreading.
When it truly reached that point, even if his identity were to be exposed, he would have to appear.
On this day, he left the courtyard once and entered the most bustling district of the city to purchase some special medicinal herbs.
He intended to refine eighth-tier pills, aiming to dissolve the threads of Monarch Rule Power within his Dao injuries in advance.
Within the Chaos Great Cauldron, the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body refined the pills.
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body could not participate in battles below the Sovereign level, but that did not mean it couldn’t refine pills.
Approximately a day and night later, brilliant pill light erupted within the Chaos Great Cauldron, almost bursting out and summoning a pill tribulation.
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body raised a hand and slapped down, extinguishing all fluctuations that might attract the pill tribulation.
Three eighth-tier pills appeared in its hand.
Outside the cauldron, Ye Chen flipped his palm, and three emerald-green eighth-tier treasure pills appeared, bearing special pill patterns and emitting rich spiritual light and powerful fluctuations that could stir the hearts of many great powers and even some Divine Kings.
He swallowed them directly. The three eighth-tier treasure pills transformed into vast medicinal power, filling his limbs and bones.
Not long after, a strand of pitch-black blood seeped from the corner of Ye Chen’s mouth, actually carrying specks of Monarch Rule Power that had been forced out.
Boom—
Simultaneously, a cluster of chaotic Dao fire instantly flashed into existence, burning with ten thousand Daos, drawing those specks of Monarch Rule Power into the Chaos Great Cauldron to be incinerated.
After roughly half a day, this strand of Monarch Rule Power was completely burned to annihilation.
Ye Chen let out a sigh of relief, though he still frowned slightly.
This Monarch Rule Power was truly a stubborn thorn. It required great effort to force out just a strand, and then half a day of burning to completely eradicate it.
“Given a bit more time, it will be enough!”
Ye Chen sat cross-legged in the room, closing his eyes…
This period of quiet cultivation did not last long.
Because a person suddenly appeared in the courtyard, startling Ye Chen.
Upon seeing who the visitor truly was, he was greatly astonished—
Chi Xue Emperor Lord!