Swish—
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body appeared by his side, the fist-sized Imperial Star grasped in its hand, its state instantly elevated to the utmost limit.
Tap, tap, tap—
Ye Chen ascended the pyramid altar step by step. His speed was fast, yet it still took a full half an hour before he finally climbed up and arrived beside the Nine-Layered Divine Coffin.
The closed Nine-Layered Divine Coffin held no trace of an Emperor's majesty, appearing like an ordinary ancient coffin. Yet, it was precisely this ancient coffin that caused Ye Chen's Chaos Supreme Soul avatar, the Moon Mark, and the supreme treasure silver pearl to tremble, stirred into action by it.
"Open the coffin!"
His gaze sharpened, and he directly made his move, opening the first coffin lid in the blink of an eye.
Sure enough, inside was an even smaller ancient coffin.
With Ye Chen's current cultivation at the Eternal Quasi-Monarch level, opening it was naturally much easier. Before long, he had opened seven coffin lids.
However, at this step, even with Ye Chen's Eternal Quasi-Monarch strength, opening the eighth coffin lid required considerable effort.
He spat out a mouthful of Chaos Supreme Blood, which landed on the coffin lid. Ten Thousand Great Daos shone, and it opened smoothly.
Finally, the smallest ancient coffin was revealed, though it was still the size of a normal coffin.
At this moment, Ye Chen had expended a full nine mouthfuls of Chaos Supreme Blood before he managed to open it with great difficulty.
Boom—
The moment the ninth lid of the Divine Coffin was opened, instantly, an aura of great terror capable of burying all eternity surged forth. The entire inner world space of Flame Emperor Mountain began to collapse, and the pyramid altar shook violently.
Outside, the Flame Emperor Star immediately underwent a drastic change. The entire vast Flame Emperor Star trembled. Billions of living beings felt a supreme pressure high above, as if a supreme, peerless ancient Great Emperor had revived, startling all living beings.
"Emperor Lord!"
"Emperor Ancestor!"
"Has the Emperor Ancestor revived?"
On the Flame Emperor Star, billions of beings were startled, yet also filled with boundless joy. Under that pressure, even the Ancient Monarchs on the Flame Emperor Star were startled, kneeling and bowing joyfully towards the direction of Flame Emperor Mountain.
However, soon, the Ancient Monarchs received news: someone had broken into Flame Emperor Mountain, intending to disturb the Flame Emperor's Nine-Layered Divine Coffin.
"Seeking death! How dare they disturb the slumber of His Majesty the Flame Emperor!"
The Ancient Monarchs on the Flame Emperor Star were all alerted, rushing towards Flame Emperor Mountain at the first moment.
Whoever dared to disturb the Flame Emperor's slumber would undoubtedly die.
Inside Flame Emperor Mountain, beside the pyramid altar, even though he was prepared, the instantaneous eruption of the terrifying aura still struck Ye Chen first, as if an entire Sovereign's great world was pressing down on him. He suffered a heavy blow, immediately spitting out three mouthfuls of blood that stained his battle armor.
Immediately, the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body acted, protecting Ye Chen. The Imperial Star was ready to enlarge at any moment, permeated with wisps of Emperor's Might.
Thanks to this, Ye Chen was able to stand steadily in this place.
He stared intently into the Nine-Layered Divine Coffin, yet he could not clearly see what the Flame Emperor buried within looked like. He only saw what seemed like infinite suns rising within, radiating light for billions of zhang, carrying the most intense Supreme Emperor Laws, so dazzling that Ye Chen simply could not see through it.
If he continued looking, even his eyes would be blinded.
Boom—
An even more terrifying Emperor's Might surged forth.
Swish—
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body immediately took Ye Chen and retreated far from the Nine-Layered Divine Coffin. The pressure emanating from the Nine-Layered Divine Coffin was far stronger than before, countless times over. It was as if a slumbering ancient Great Emperor had been disturbed and was reviving.
That supremely powerful Supreme Emperor's Might directly struck Ye Chen at close range like a thunderbolt. His entire body cracked, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth. He was almost severely injured.
If not for the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body taking him away in time, the consequences would have been truly unimaginable.
Boom, rumble—
Suddenly, from within the infinite blazing Emperor's light in the Nine-Layered Divine Coffin, a figure rose tall from the sea of fire. The figure appeared slender and upright, with long hair vaguely flowing with resplendent, multicolored light, as if myriad flames were condensed within the strands, submitting to the Emperor's majesty.
Flame Emperor!
This name surfaced in Ye Chen's mind. He knew this was the Flame Emperor, the master of all flames under heaven.
Before the Flame Emperor, Ye Chen clearly felt that the Great Dao of Fire and related Great Daos within his body seemed to submit, becoming utterly dim and lightless.
It was like commoners seeing an emperor, a submission arising from the depths of their hearts.
He just didn't know who was stronger among these three Supreme Emperors who all cultivated fire-attribute Great Daos: the Flame Emperor, the Sun Supreme One, or the Golden Crow Great Emperor?
However, the Flame Emperor had once slain a Supreme existence, so perhaps he was stronger.
But the Golden Crow Great Emperor was also advancing towards becoming the strongest Emperor, so it was hard to say.
The Sun Supreme One was the eldest disciple of Tai Sheng Huang, with boundless potential, also hard to judge.
Boom, rumble—
Within his body, his strongest Great Dao—the Chaos Great Dao—was triggered, circulating autonomously. His entire body was permeated with myriad layers of chaotic light, actually able to barely resist this intense Emperor's Might.
At the same time, Ye Chen focused his gaze, painstakingly piercing through the layers of obstruction from the Supreme Emperor Laws, finally barely managing to see the Emperor's true face. He was immediately stunned, his heart tightening.
Because this face was all too familiar. After hundreds of years apart, it was exactly as he had first seen it back then. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Old Yan!"
That's right, the one within the Nine-Layered Divine Coffin was Old Yan. From every aspect, he was identical to the Old Yan of the past, though more real and more majestic, as the Old Yan back then was merely an illusory soul body.
However, the Flame Emperor, bathed in myriad Dao flames, seemed not to hear Ye Chen's voice at all. Although standing, his eyes were tightly closed, as if still slumbering. Yet, that Emperor's Might grew increasingly intense with the passage of time.
It could be seen that the entire inner world of Flame Emperor Mountain was submerged by myriad flames. Ye Chen also felt an extremely terrifying scorching heat rushing towards him, making him feel as if his entire body was burning, wisps of green smoke billowing forth.
The Great Emperor Reincarnation Body enlarged the Imperial Star in its hand to the size of a water vat, placing it in front, releasing wisps of Emperor's Might to resist.
Simultaneously, the Great Emperor Reincarnation Body, carrying Ye Chen's true self, rapidly retreated from this inner world of Flame Emperor Mountain.
Boom— Boom—
Boom— …
At this moment, several extremely powerful Sovereign auras rapidly surged from the passage, causing Ye Chen, who was retreating, to change expression.
Clearly, the Ancient Monarchs of Flame Emperor Star had finally arrived. They appeared in the inner world space and, seeing the myriad Dao flames filling the sky, couldn't help but be greatly shocked.
"This, this is—"
When they saw the supreme figure standing proudly amidst the myriad flames on the pyramid altar, like an emperor among flames, the nine arriving Ancient Monarchs immediately knelt and bowed, saying excitedly, "We pay our respects to His Majesty the Flame Emperor!"