Not long after, they appeared in the Star River Imperial City, the ancient imperial city of the Star River Great Emperor.
The ancient imperial city was constantly guarded by an Ancient Monarch under the command of the Star River Great Emperor. A vast and unparalleled Sovereign Heavenly Sense enveloped the entire imperial city at all times, preventing those with ill intentions from entering.
The thirteen individuals possessed special secret artifacts, which resulted in—
The Sovereign Heavenly Sense not detecting the slightest abnormality.
They arrived at the imperial city's Domain Gate and said, "Flame Emperor City!"
The two Divine King-level powerhouses guarding the imperial city's Domain Gate merely swept their gazes over the thirteen individuals before nodding indifferently.
With the Giant-Level Domain War approaching, many powerhouses from the eight Supreme Domains were heading to Flame Emperor City.
Taking out a Sovereign-level supreme treasure to inspect the thirteen individuals and finding nothing unusual, they allowed them to enter the imperial city's Domain Gate.
Whoosh— The thirteen individuals vanished.
Half a day later, the thirteen arrived at Flame Emperor City. Feeling the terrifying Flame Emperor's might emanating from Flame Emperor City, despite their own extraordinary and powerful strength, they felt their own insignificance, like mere ants facing the Boundless Heavens.
Unshakable!
Each of them was mentally shaken.
Hum—
At this moment, the secret patterns of the alien Great Emperors on the thirteen individuals manifested, concealing the true aura that had nearly erupted from their bodies, hiding it away.
One of them transmitted via voice, "What should we do? There are as many as twenty-two Ancient Monarchs in Flame Emperor City, and one of them is a Monarch."
Although the Flame Emperor was not present, such a fearsome lineup still made the thirteen feel immense pressure.
Especially that Monarch, who was the most terrifying adversary.
"Now is not the time to act. We need to wait for an opportunity to strike. We absolutely must not alert the enemy prematurely!"
The leader transmitted via voice. Seeing Flame Emperor City heavily guarded, with the Monarch constantly stationed there, they dared not act rashly, fearing they would alert the enemy and cause their mission to assassinate the Battle Saint King to fail completely.
Soon, everyone learned relevant information within Flame Emperor City.
The thirteen found a luxurious divine hall and temporarily settled in.
On the surface, they cultivated, but secretly, they communicated via voice transmission.
"I heard the Battle Saint King is currently in seclusion. That is the Flame Emperor's place of cultivation. We need to wait."
"As long as the Flame Emperor is not here, everything will be manageable."
"But this is the Flame Emperor Domain. Once discovered, even if the Flame Emperor is not present, that Monarch will take action. We will still be doomed."
Many felt anxious.
A Monarch, though not a Supreme One, was still above Ancient Monarchs. With such an existence stationed here, even though the thirteen were first-rate super-powerhouses, they dared not act rashly.
The leader comforted them, "Everyone, there's no need to worry. As long as we successfully kill the Battle Saint King, the various Great Emperor Majesties will not forget us. They will surely take action to rescue us and help us leave."
"Really? But this is Flame Emperor City, the core region of the Flame Emperor Domain!"
Some still harbored concerns.
The leader frowned, "That is natural. From the moment you agreed to come, you received the promise of the various Great Emperor Majesties."
"As long as we kill the Battle Saint King, who possesses great potential, how could the various Great Emperor Majesties forget us?"
"Agreed. We will follow your command." The other super-powerhouses from the alien side responded one after another.
The group lay low in Flame Emperor City, quietly waiting for the opportunity to assassinate the Battle Saint King.
Although the Battle Saint King was in seclusion, they heard he was about to emerge to participate in the Giant-Level Domain War. They did not believe he would not emerge at this time.
...
After Ye Chen emerged from seclusion, less than ten days remained until the Giant-Level Domain War.
Seizing this time, Ye Chen finally gave up on continuing his devouring, because he wanted to relax himself and adjust his state.
The place of seclusion was extremely secretive, personally created by the Flame Emperor. Even a Supreme One would find it difficult to detect, and even if they could detect it, entering would be challenging. It could be said to be extremely safe.
Not long after, he emerged from the place of seclusion and arrived at the Flame Emperor Hall.
He saw that beside the Myriad Flame Imperial Throne, Flame God was cultivating.
The Myriad Flame Imperial Throne contained the Flame Emperor's source, which naturally provided immense cultivation assistance to Flame God.
At the same time, he could use the various starry sky wonders within the Flame Emperor Hall to comprehend the myriad Daos of the heavens.
Although the number of heaven-defying Quasi-Monarch Sovereign rules had reached five hundred and could not increase further, he could still cultivate to the peak of the Divine King's spirit level. Once he broke through to Ancient Monarch, these Divine King spirits could also break through to Sovereign rules one after another, allowing him to grow stronger more quickly.
Sensing Ye Chen's appearance, Flame God also awakened from his cultivation state and wanted to greet him. But when he sensed Ye Chen's faintly discernible pressure, even he felt as if he were facing a peerless great menace, experiencing a sense of heart-pounding fear.
Flame God said in astonishment, "Brother Ye, did you break through?"
Ye Chen shook his head, "It can't be considered a breakthrough. I just improved my strength a bit."
Flame God immediately drew a sharp breath of cold air.
Ye Chen was an Eternal Quasi-Monarch, originally powerful enough to suppress a first-level Sovereign. Now, only a year had passed, and he had improved again.
Was he really that monstrous?
Moreover, he would not believe that Ye Chen had only improved "a bit."
Curiously, he asked, "How strong are you now?"
Ye Chen smiled without answering.
If he said he was comparable to a second-level Sovereign, would Flame God believe him?
Flame God did not press further, perhaps to avoid damaging his own self-esteem.
After all, he was also a heaven-defying Quasi-Monarch ranked on the Epoch Quasi-Monarch List, absolutely among the top existences among Quasi-Monarchs. But before Ye Chen, he was nothing.
Ye Chen asked, "Where is Old Flame?"
Flame God said, "Master has already left to prepare the Giant-Level Domain War battlefield."
Ye Chen nodded. Even a Supreme-Level Domain War required preparing a Domain War battlefield to prevent the intense warfare from spreading too widely.
Preparing a Domain War battlefield helped suppress all war fluctuations within it, preventing them from spreading and affecting the stability of the Origin Ancient Road.
"Let's go, Brother Ye. Before the Giant-Level Domain War begins, many powerhouses have gathered in Flame Emperor City," Flame God said.
There were quite a few powerhouses from the Flame Emperor Domain participating in the Giant-Level Domain War. Many would personally come to Flame Emperor City before departing for the Domain War battlefield, using the Domain Gate of Flame Emperor City to teleport directly to the Domain War battlefield area.
Of course, many were visiting Flame Emperor City for the first time and were naturally extremely curious about the central imperial city of the Flame Emperor Domain, which had only risen for a year.
They wondered how it compared to the imperial cities of the various Supreme Domains.
They also vaguely heard that eight ancient Great Emperors had left corresponding imperial traces in Flame Emperor City.
These were things that made countless powerhouses yearn for them.
If they could cultivate using the imperial traces, their cultivation would surely be twice as effective with half the effort.
Sure enough, after leaving the Flame Emperor Hall, Ye Chen sensed that Flame Emperor City seemed to have suddenly come to life. Within the indescribably majestic imperial city, countless powerhouses had already gathered, coming from the various Supreme Domains of the Flame Emperor Domain, including those from imperial cities.