"Great Emperor Secret Treasury!?"
Both the Divine Kings of the Four Great Divine Dynasties and the numerous Heaven's Prides of the human race trembled in their hearts upon hearing this.
Indeed, Yun Aotian had reached this step by obtaining an unparalleled opportunity related to an ancient Great Emperor.
However, in their astonishment, they failed to notice the flicker of a peculiar gleam in Yun Aotian's eyes.
It vanished in an instant.
"Back then, I was fortunate enough to obtain the Great Emperor Secret Treasury," Yun Aotian said. "With the help of this opportunity, my talent was transformed, allowing me to soar to the heavens, break through layer after layer of shackles, and ultimately become a Divine King, one of the five overlords ruling over Yihuang Ancient Star."
"It is precisely for this reason that I adopted the title of Great Emperor God-King. I firmly believe that if I could obtain the complete Great Emperor Secret Treasury, I would ultimately become an unparalleled Great Emperor!"
Yet, Ye Chen and the other human Heaven's Prides shook their heads. The path to becoming an Emperor was not something one could achieve simply by obtaining a Great Emperor Secret Treasury.
Even among the strongest human Heaven's Prides present, few would ultimately become ancient Great Emperors.
Yun Aotian continued, "I suspect that the Supreme Teleportation Array was also left here intentionally by that ancient Great Emperor. The most crucial core coordinate of the formation array must also be within the Great Emperor Secret Treasury."
"Therefore, I humbly request you, young lords, to join me in opening the Great Emperor Secret Treasury and retrieving the core coordinate of the teleportation array!"
Everyone stared at Yun Aotian in shock. "You are willing to take us to the Great Emperor Secret Treasury?"
That was a Great Emperor Secret Treasury, the legacy of an ancient Great Emperor, its value immeasurable. Even Ye Chen and his group would be tempted, let alone the Divine Kings of the other four divine dynasties, whose eyes were already turning red with greed.
If not for Ye Chen and the others' presence, they would likely have immediately attacked Yun Aotian to force him to reveal the treasury's location.
Yun Aotian gave a carefree laugh. "What of it? Although it is a Great Emperor Secret Treasury, it is not the complete one. It is merely one of the secret treasuries left behind by that ancient Great Emperor. Moreover, with my abilities, I cannot fully open it."
Even so, even a partial Great Emperor Secret Treasury could drive an Ancient Monarch to madness.
Anything involving a Supreme One was worthy of countless powerful experts fighting desperately for it.
Everyone was also quite surprised that Yun Aotian dared to reveal this to them.
Under Yun Aotian's lead, the group arrived at the central region of Yihuang Ancient Star, finally reaching the location of the Aotian Divine Dynasty's imperial palace.
"Yun Aotian, why have you brought us to your divine dynasty's imperial palace?"
Initially puzzled, the group, being extraordinary individuals, quickly realized the truth—the Great Emperor Secret Treasury was likely located beneath the Aotian Divine Dynasty's imperial palace.
Yun Aotian confirmed, "Correct. The Great Emperor Secret Treasury lies beneath my Aotian Divine Dynasty's imperial palace. Back then, I spared no cost in waging war against your four divine dynasties, paying a tremendous price. I then chose to establish my divine dynasty here, a place that appears relatively barren and desolate, rather than in the Central Region which has more spiritual energy and dragon veins. My purpose was for the Great Emperor Secret Treasury."
The Divine Kings of the four divine dynasties understood. After all these years, they finally realized why Yun Aotian, having just stepped into the Divine King realm back then, dared to wage war against the other four Divine Kings at all costs, even paying a bloody price. Yet, he established his divine dynasty not in the central land of Yihuang Ancient Star—the Central Region—but in a place much more desolate and barren. So that was the reason.
The group traversed the sky, landing directly in a seemingly unremarkable palace at the deepest part of the divine dynasty's imperial grounds. However, this place was guarded by five Great Powers, accounting for over half of the divine dynasty's publicly known Great Power strength, sufficient to indicate its extraordinary nature.
"Great Emperor!"
The five Great Powers within the palace appeared, bowing respectfully to Yun Aotian. When they saw the Divine Kings of the other divine dynasties had also come, they revealed looks of astonishment.
Only these ancestral figures who had followed Yun Aotian in conquering the world knew how important this place was to him. Apart from Yun Aotian himself, even his most beloved descendants and the current ruler of the divine dynasty were not qualified to enter.
Moreover, it was an extreme secret. Apart from a limited few, no one else knew of its confidentiality.
They never expected Yun Aotian to actively bring the Divine Kings of other divine dynasties here today, along with a group of rather unfamiliar young Heaven's Prides.
Even more shocking was that they clearly saw, whether it was the Great Emperor God-King or the other Divine Kings, they all seemed to show a hint of respect towards these young Heaven's Prides.
"Who are they? Even the strongest Heaven's Prides of the five divine dynasties would not have the qualification to come here."
Waves of astonishment surged within the hearts of the five Great Power ancestors.
"These are all supreme honored guests. You continue guarding," Yun Aotian said to the five Great Powers, then turned to the others with a light smile. "Please follow me into the palace."
The group filed in one after another.
The palace did not appear large from the outside, but inside, it contained a separate universe, far more magnificent than its exterior suggested, concealing a small world.
Under Yun Aotian's guidance, they passed through layer upon layer of meticulously arranged, astonishing formation arrays, all at the Divine King level, causing the Divine Kings of the other four divine dynasties to feel their hearts pound with fear.
The terror of these formation arrays was such that if they all erupted simultaneously, even Divine Kings like them would pay a bloody price.
However, Ye Chen and his group remained composed. Such formation arrays could injure ordinary Divine Kings, but for them, they could be forcibly broken without suffering harm.
After traversing the numerous terrifying Divine King-level formation arrays, the group finally arrived behind a door. Yun Aotian opened this door, so ordinary it aroused no suspicion. Inside was merely a cultivation chamber with only a meditation mat.
"Everyone, simply sit on the meditation mat and activate the formation array beneath it using the method recorded in the Memory Jades. That will take you to the location of the Great Emperor Secret Treasury."
As he spoke, numerous streams of light flew from Yun Aotian's palm—all Memory Jades recording the method to activate the formation array within the meditation mat. Immediately, the first person stepped forward and, with a whoosh, vanished.
"Indeed cautious enough. No wonder it has remained undiscovered for hundreds of thousands of years," Ye Chen said with a light laugh, turning to those beside him. "I'll go first. If there's danger, I'll inform you in advance."
The other human Heaven's Prides nodded. Ye Chen possessed the strongest cultivation and had a Great Emperor reincarnation body, enough to handle any situation.
Following the method recorded in the Memory Jade, Ye Chen injected a stream of divine power into the formation array within the meditation mat. A ripple of energy appeared at an astonishing, imperceptible speed, enveloping Ye Chen—this was the fluctuation of teleportation.
Ye Chen vanished.
The next moment, a voice transmitted into everyone's consciousness: "It's very safe. Come."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Subsequently, the others, one by one, utilized the teleportation formation array within the meditation mat, and their figures vanished.
Before long, everyone arrived in an empty space, not very large, surrounded by nothingness, situated within a special spacetime. Probing outward, there was only endless spatial turbulence, with spacetime forces in disarray. From the outside, it would be impossible to effectively locate the coordinates of this space amidst the infinite spatial turbulence.
Ahead in the space stood a magnificent divine hall, actually identical to Yun Aotian's Immortal Divine Hall, yet far more majestic, carrying an immortal aura of eternal antiquity.
"An Imperial Hall, a true Imperial Hall left by a Great Emperor, though it's likely only one of the Imperial Halls constructed back then."
The human Heaven's Prides naturally had extensive knowledge, sensing the faint Supreme aura flowing from the Imperial Hall.
Yun Aotian was fine, having clearly been here many times, but the Divine Kings of the other four divine dynasties were encountering it for the first time. Instantly, awe arose in their hearts, nearly causing them to kneel and prostrate.
Simultaneously, intense greed shot from their eyes.
Back then, Yun Aotian entered this Imperial Hall and defied fate, soaring to the heavens from then on, becoming the most powerful Great Emperor God-King of Yihuang Ancient Star.
If they could also obtain the Great Emperor Secret Treasury within, they too could definitely soar to the heavens, breaking the shackles of the Divine King realm to become the legendary Ancient Monarchs overlooking the great cosmos.
They might even have a sliver of hope to step onto the peak of the Great Dao, ultimately attaining the supreme position of a Supreme One overlooking all eternity.
Yun Aotian swept a glance over the crowd, naturally able to see the blazing greed in the eyes of the four Divine Kings, very similar to his own in the past. When he looked towards the human Heaven's Prides, however, he was startled to find that although they also showed some eagerness, they appeared many times calmer in comparison, leaving him bewildered.
He did not know that among the human Heaven's Prides present, ten were Imperial Sons and Daughters, their fathers being Emperor Sovereigns.
Ye Chen and the others had also obtained corresponding Supreme inheritances.
Especially Ye Chen, who had even received the inheritance of the strongest Emperor Sovereign and had interacted with a Supreme One. Therefore, even a Great Emperor Secret Treasury could not drive Ye Chen to madness.
Swish— Swish—
At this very moment, two figures, each ten zhang tall, appeared outside the Immortal Emperor Hall. Both were stone statues—one with a dragon head and human body, the other with a phoenix head and human body—majestic and towering, looking down upon the group before the Immortal Emperor Hall from on high.
The dragon-headed divine general coldly glanced at Yun Aotian. "It's you. Are you attempting the Imperial Hall trials again?"
Yun Aotian bowed respectfully towards the dragon-headed divine general. "Dragon General, this time it is not me, but these young lords who wish to attempt the Imperial Hall trials."
"You?"
Both the dragon-headed and phoenix-headed divine generals looked towards Ye Chen and the group. An intense pressure, far surpassing Yun Aotian's, emanated from them as they said coldly, "So there are new trial-takers. Your cultivation levels are stronger than Yun Aotian's. Hmm, at least above the Seven Tribulations Divine King realm. You are qualified to pass trials above the seventh level."
At this moment, Yun Aotian transmitted a voice message to explain to them.
The Imperial Hall trials consisted of ten levels. Passing each level would grant rich rewards bestowed by the Imperial Hall.
If one passed the tenth level trial, they could obtain all the Great Emperor Secret Treasures within the entire Immortal Emperor Hall!
To this day, Yun Aotian had only barely passed the fifth level trial.
"I'll go."
Ye Chen said, walking directly towards the Immortal Emperor Hall.
The two divine generals of the Imperial Hall slightly frowned, for they actually could not probe Ye Chen's true cultivation level. Just as they were about to stop him, Ye Chen's figure flickered and vanished into the Immortal Emperor Hall.
"This—"
Both divine generals were startled.
At this time, Ye Chen appeared within the Immortal Emperor Hall. It was a vast expanse of heaven and earth. Ahead lay a million great mountains, with countless Ant-Dragon Beasts flying about. There were even five Ant-Dragon Beast Kings at the Saint Treasury realm, each occupying a ten-thousand-zhang mountain peak as their nest.
"The first level is a trial targeting the Saint Treasury realm?"
Without further ado, Ye Chen simply flicked his sleeve, unleashing his peerless cultivation.
Boom—
The entire manifested heaven and earth directly began to collapse.
Level cleared!