Clearly, Ye Chen's intentions were not truly in the wine; his aim was to escape.
After all, the Blood Empress was truly too terrifying, the strength she displayed far surpassing his own.
"What a cunning lad, to harbor such intentions."
The Blood Empress also let out a light laugh, but her enchanting eyes held a trace of appreciation. Then, with a twist of her delicate form, she vanished, tearing through the void to leave.
Clearly, she intended to pursue and kill Ye Chen.
On the vast horizon, suddenly, thunderous roars akin to galloping thunder rumbled, echoing throughout the heavens.
Within this vast region of the Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain, many true powerhouses lay hidden, including super-powerful beings like Heavenly Kings and Great Powers.
Even in the deepest parts of the boundless mountains, it seemed a Divine King renowned for many years was secluded here.
It could be said this had always been a quiet place; even the various major powers of the heavens dared not trespass lightly.
At this moment, the roars echoing between heaven and earth startled them all.
Just as numerous powerful auras surged upward, expressing their inner fury, in the next moment, those auras receded at an even more astonishing speed.
Because the person bringing those rolling roars radiated an aura that made them feel as insignificant as ants gazing upon a giant dragon.
This feeling was something even that secluded Divine King in the deepest part of the endless mountains fell far short of.
Boom—
The sky shattered inch by inch, as the leading chaotic light suddenly increased its speed by a notch. Its terrifying velocity caused the void of heaven and earth to be unable to bear it, thus shattering.
However, the bloody light chasing from behind was not the slightest bit slower; on the contrary, it seemed to be a fraction faster.
In just a few short breaths, this land where many powerhouses were secluded was surpassed.
Only after a long time had passed did the various hidden powerhouses in this region fall silent, terrified, watching the figures of the pursuer and the pursued who had left first.
Those two, either one of them could probably annihilate half the powerhouses here with just a casual wave of their hand.
Even the most powerful of them, that secluded Divine King, likely wouldn't be a match for a single exchange.
Just who were they?
During this chase, the distance between them was slowly closing.
"She really is persistent."
The chaotic light streaked across the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye. However, sensing the bloody light behind him that remained firmly locked onto him, the young figure within the chaotic light couldn't help but frown.
This person was naturally Ye Chen, who was being pursued.
He just hadn't expected the Blood Empress's capabilities to be not the slightest bit inferior.
He had already used a Chaos secret technique to reach his ultimate sublimation, elevating all aspects by a level, including speed. Yet, the Blood Empress was not far behind him, steadily locking onto him, which troubled him greatly.
More importantly, after using the Chaos secret technique, although all aspects had improved significantly, the consumption had also risen sharply.
After this full hour of pursuit and escape, traversing nearly the entire Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain, he could feel a significant emptiness within his body.
Perhaps he couldn't hold on for much longer; he would soon fall back to his previous realm. Moreover, the feeling of emptiness after using the enhancement secret technique would inevitably descend upon him, undoubtedly putting him at a severe disadvantage in his current situation.
"Master, the Blood Empress is about to catch up. You must find a way to evade her quickly," the Reverse-Ancient Quasi-Monarch within his body said anxiously.
"Damn it."
Ye Chen's expression was extremely grim. Moreover, during the escape, he had also learned about the Blood Empress and what the so-called Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking truly was.
The Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking lived up to its name; it was a ranking that recorded Quasi-Monarchs.
However, this ranking was not merely an ordinary list of Quasi-Monarchs; it recorded the most powerful Quasi-Monarchs of the current epoch.
The Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking only had one hundred spots. Yet, any Quasi-Monarch qualified to be listed on it was among the most powerful and most potential-filled Quasi-Monarchs across the numerous Chaos Ancient Universes and Chaos Worlds of the entire Chaos Sea.
All Quasi-Monarchs in the Chaos Sea considered it an honor to be listed on the Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking.
It could be said this was an extremely authoritative ranking.
It was a ranking compiled by a mysterious existence within the Chaos Sea.
Those who could rank on it were not only powerful enough to be called kings and lords within the Quasi-Monarch domain, but also, barring accidents, were virtually guaranteed to become true Ancient Sovereigns—not with a mere thirty percent chance, but nearly one hundred percent.
Furthermore, even the weakest person on the Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking was at least at the late-stage Quasi-Monarch level, and a standout among late-stage Quasi-Monarchs at that.
As for true Great Perfection Quasi-Monarchs and Heaven-Defying Quasi-Monarchs, they were naturally also on this list.
The Blood Empress was a Supreme Powerhouse on the Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking.
After learning about this Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking, Ye Chen's expression couldn't have been grimmer.
First, there was the fearsome suspected Heaven-Defying Quasi-Monarch, Haotian War God, making a move. Now, there was a Supreme Powerhouse like the Blood Empress, famous on the Epoch Quasi-Monarch Ranking, pursuing him. Ye Chen really wanted to ask himself what sins he had committed in his past life to be so unlucky.
"Although the Blood Empress is very powerful, having slain over a hundred Divine Kings and killed nine Quasi-Monarchs, wouldn't she be pursued by other imperial clans or Immortal Clans?"
At the same time, Ye Chen was puzzled.
The numerous Divine Kings and even Quasi-Monarchs manifested within the Blood Empress's Blood Realm showed she had killed so many top-tier powerhouses.
Most of those, whether Divine Kings or Quasi-Monarchs, came from imperial clans or Immortal Clans; even their corpses still carried the aura of imperial or Immortal Clans.
They were not mere cabbages on the street. Whether Quasi-Monarchs or Divine Kings, they were pillar-like supreme powerhouses for any major imperial clan or Immortal Clan.
For her to kill so many supreme powerhouses from imperial and Immortal Clans and still be alive to this day was truly a miracle. Hadn't she been pursued within her Chaos Ancient Universe?
Even with the protection of an imperial clan, it shouldn't be able to withstand so many enemies.
"The Blood Empress must have gone to the Origin Ancient Battlefield. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to kill so many supreme powerhouses and remain unscathed," the Reverse-Ancient Quasi-Monarch suddenly said.
"Origin Ancient Battlefield?"
Ye Chen was slightly taken aback, hearing of the Origin Ancient Battlefield for the first time. However, anything involving the word "Origin" was likely not simple.
Like the Origin Ancient Path, the Origin Land, and so on.
The Reverse-Ancient Quasi-Monarch transmitted his voice: "Master, the Origin Ancient Battlefield is located in the deepest part of the Primordial Immortal World, the place that buries immortals, buries emperors, buries everything."
Hearing this, Ye Chen's mind shook, recalling some matters.
But now was not the time to dwell on them, because the Blood Empress was in close pursuit behind him, and he sensed she was getting closer.
He let out a helpless sigh. The chaotic light around him burned even more fiercely, and his speed increased a bit more.
Behind him, seeing Ye Chen's speed subtly increase, the Blood Empress couldn't help but show a hint of surprise, then raised a smile that could bring chaos to the mortal world: "What a fine Battle Saint King you are. It seems there are still many things about you that can surprise this Empress. Show them all, one by one. Let this Empress continue to be pleasantly surprised."
...
The Desolate Ancient Fortress was an ancient fortress spanning between the Sixth and Seventh Heavenly Realm Ancient Domains.
It was also a fortress from the Dark Blood Era, an important stronghold guarding the rear Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Heavenly Realm Ancient Domains.
Having undergone endless years of evolution, this Desolate Ancient Fortress, which once blocked Primordial Beast Calamities, had long become a symbolic fortress between the two Heavenly Realm Ancient Domains. Through generations of development, it had now become a prosperous ancient city.
An old man appeared. He stepped into the Desolate Ancient Fortress and smiled: "The Ten Heavenly Realm Ancient Domain is indeed unique. The world here is so special and has given birth to many Ancient Sovereigns. It's not much inferior to a true Chaos Ancient Universe. It's just a pity one cannot achieve the Supreme Fruit here; the world imposes some suppression."
His voice was not soft, but as he walked on the bustling streets, everyone seemed not to hear it. Moreover, whenever anyone approached him, they would automatically avoid him.
Everything appeared so natural. Observing the expressions of these people, even though many cultivators passed by, including some Great Powers and Heavenly Kings, they all acted as if they hadn't seen this old man.
The old man, with his hands behind his back, walked along the bustling street, shaking his head while muttering to himself: "Battle Saint King, oh Battle Saint King. Who would have thought that after a separation of one or two hundred years, you have grown from a mere Great Power back then to your current state, standing at the peak of Divine Kings, even capable of battling Quasi-Monarchs. Your growth truly exceeds this old man's expectations."
"But after all, your cultivation time is still short. There are heavens beyond heavens, people beyond people. Among Quasi-Monarchs, there are also terrifyingly powerful experts beyond your imagination."
"You must live well. Don't die so quickly before this old man fulfills his promise from back then to protect your path for thirty years."
Swish—
The old man's figure vanished.
...
Boom—
Outside the Desolate Ancient Fortress, suddenly, terrifying, rolling roars came from afar.
However, before they truly arrived, two streams of light could already be seen approaching at an astonishing speed.
Accompanying them were the rolling thunderous roars that shattered the vacuum.
Who was it?
On the Desolate Ancient Fortress, almost all the powerhouses soared into the air, looking at the streams of light that should have been infinitely far away on the horizon.
At this moment, in just two or three breaths, they went from being faint and nearly invisible to right before their eyes.
Moreover, an extremely terrifying pressure descended upon them, overwhelming heaven and earth.
"Quasi-Monarchs!"
Everyone on the Desolate Ancient Fortress changed color. That level of pressure far surpassed even that of the current city lord, a Divine King of his generation. Only Quasi-Monarchs could be like this.
Whoosh—
A pillar of bloody light shot straight down, instantly severing this stretch of heaven and earth from top to bottom, slashing toward the chaotic light ahead.
Within the chaotic light, a young and heroic figure flickered in and out of sight. He erupted with world-shaking power as a massive cauldron soared into the sky, carrying billions of layers of ancient chaotic aura to meet the bloody sword radiance.
Boom—
The roar exploded. The Chaos Great Cauldron was sent flying, shattering the void and crashing into the Desolate Ancient Fortress.
Boom—
The Desolate Ancient Fortress still bore the Dao patterns left by the myriad races' supreme powerhouses from the Dark Blood Era, including Quasi-Monarchs, but many had been worn away.
The overwhelming force caused a section of the tall city wall to collapse, resulting in heavy casualties.
The young figure within the chaotic light spat blood into the sky, his aura rapidly wilting.
An urgent voice faintly transmitted out—
"Trouble. The secret technique's enhancement time is up."