"You are—Hunyue?"
Dao Shishi stopped struggling, recognizing Hunyue Emperor's identity.
His ten eyes narrowed into slits, shooting out terrifying sharp glints: "I never expected you to still be alive, and to have reached the Monarch level. That surprises me. However, weren't you Qin Wuxiang's defeated foe, and didn't you hate him? I clearly sense the aura of the Battle Saint lineage from this kid, yet you've submitted to him? As a Chaos Primordial Divine Spirit, a future Supreme One, to submit to a mere Sovereign—it shames me that we are both Monarchs."
"A Monarch?"
The Angel Race experts all changed expressions, looking at Hunyue Emperor with shock.
There was actually a Monarch-level supreme powerhouse hidden by Ye Chen's side.
They felt a sense of belated fear, and also immense wariness. If this Monarch chose to act, there was a great chance he could break the Great Emperor's seal.
After all, over endless eons, the Great Emperor's seal had worn away most of Dao Shishi's vitality, but it had also been corroed by Dao Shishi's terrifying power, mutually eroding and wearing away much of its strength.
A Monarch truly could potentially break open the Great Emperor's seal.
If the alien Eternal Emperor Dao Shishi were to break free, it would be an endless calamity for the entire Desolate Realm, and even the Pangu Universe.
Ye Chen nodded apologetically to the Angel Race God Kings and said, "Esteemed Seniors, please rest assured. He is Hunyue Emperor, currently this junior's guardian."
Having a Monarch as a guardian naturally shocked everyone profoundly. What shocked them even more was that they had clearly heard Dao Shishi earlier refer to Ye Chen as a Sovereign.
Ye Chen had ascended to the Upper Realm less than a thousand years ago. Back then, he was merely a half-Saint, yet now, upon his return, he had become an Ancient Monarch. His advancement was simply too rapid.
Hunyue Emperor sneered, "It's not submission. I am his guardian. However, he is no ordinary Ancient Sovereign. You should be more familiar with that aura than I am."
"Hmm?"
Within the inner realm, Dao Shishi's ten eyes instantly transformed into ten narrow beams of light, staring intently at Ye Chen.
Soon, this peerless Emperor—who ranked among the top five of the Mythical Epoch and had the potential to ascend to the realm of Eternal Giants—suddenly underwent a drastic change in expression: "The aura of the Eternal Path... you are an Eternal Sovereign?"
As a fellow traveler on the Eternal Path, how could he not recognize it? Moreover, he sensed that the Eternal Path aura on Ye Chen was exceptionally pure and dense, far from ordinary.
Instantly, he thought of his supreme nemesis from the battles of the previous epoch—Qin Wuxiang!
The one hailed as the acknowledged number one under the Supreme Ones in the Chaos Sea.
Even someone as powerful and fierce as Dao Shishi had to admit Qin Wuxiang's peerless might; he was absolutely the strongest of his generation Dao Shishi had ever encountered, bar none.
Throughout their rivalry on the Ultimate Path, they had fought countless battles, large and small, yet Dao Shishi could never gain the slightest upper hand.
In their final battle at the path's end, he narrowly lost by half a move. From then on, he abided by his promise, left the Ultimate Ancient Path, returned to the Alien Ancient Universe, secluded himself in bitter cultivation, and continued to rise steadily in the following years, constantly breaking through to higher realms.
When Dao Shishi thought that after advancing to Sovereign, he would inevitably leave his old nemesis Qin Wuxiang far behind, Qin Wuxiang also broke through to the Sovereign realm, becoming the strongest Sovereign of the era, hailed as the King of Sovereigns, sweeping aside all Sovereigns in the world.
Dao Shishi strove to catch up. In the subsequent years, he even broke through to Monarch, then obtained a great opportunity, becoming the exceedingly rare Eternal Emperor, stepping onto the legendary Eternal Path. He swept through the entire universe, invincible among Monarchs, even capable of challenging Supreme Great Emperors.
He wanted to find Qin Wuxiang for a battle, because Qin Wuxiang had also become a Monarch by then and had already earned a mighty reputation throughout the vast Chaos Sea, hailed as the number one under the Supreme Ones.
Dao Shishi wanted to duel Qin Wuxiang, but before it could begin, the Alien Ancient Universe invaded the Pangu Universe, launching the Great Mythical Cataclysm battle.
Qin Wuxiang was also ambushed by alien Great Emperors, trapped in a supreme scheme involving two Monarchs, seven peerless Sovereigns, and layers of Emperor-level formations. The final outcome, Dao Shishi did not know, as he then engaged in battle with the Angel Race Emperor, Xiu Puluosi.
What should have been a certain victory turned when his opponent broke through to the Great Emperor realm mid-battle, suppressing him instead. Using his Emperor-level Dao Fruit to transform into the Dao, Xiu Puluosi applied countless layers of seals, imprisoning Dao Shishi here forever, unable to escape.
Dao Shishi never imagined that in this life, he would encounter another Battle Saint like Qin Wuxiang, and also an Eternal Sovereign.
"Qin Wuxiang!"
Dao Shishi roared. The thousands of Dao chains binding him clanged and rattled loudly, almost on the verge of being completely broken and torn apart.
He was too powerful. Even though sealed by the Great Emperor Xiu Puluosi's life-forged Emperor Dao seal and worn down over endless eons, he remained undying, still possessing utterly terrifying power. Endless demonic light surged forth, seeking to kill Ye Chen, who shared the same Battle Saint lineage as Qin Wuxiang.
This power alone was already comparable to that of an Ancient Monarch.
Dao Shishi—a true peerless genius of the Alien Ancient Universe, not from an Emperor Clan or King Clan, but a Primordial Divine Spirit. From the moment of his birth, he had been in countless life-and-death battles among the alien race, enduring infinite warfare to stand out and suppress his peers.
This strength, and his absolute will that remained unbroken through ten thousand battles, allowed him to unleash horrifying power even while sealed.
Even if he couldn't break out of this void realm, it was enough.
"Young friend, be careful."
The Angel Race experts showed slight concern and were about to use the contingency left by Great Emperor Xiu Puluosi to intervene.
But Ye Chen signaled it was unnecessary.
"Dao Shishi, enough!"
Without needing Hunyue Emperor to act, Ye Chen looked down from above, coldly watching this terrifying power. He reached out a hand and clenched it from afar. This power, comparable to an Ancient Monarch, instantly turned to dust.
"With just this insignificant bit of strength, you cannot kill me."
He met Dao Shishi's ten-eyed gaze and said coldly, "I might as well tell you—I am not just an Eternal Sovereign. I advanced from an Eternal Quasi-Sovereign."
"Eternal Quasi-Sovereign!?"
Dao Shishi's expression changed completely. He recalled a shocking rumor.
That was, the Alien Ancient Universe's Primogenitor, and the Pangu Universe's Heavenly Emperor—the two strongest individuals of the Chaos Sea's mightiest ancient universes, the invincible beings who suppressed past, present, and future—both had stepped onto the Eternal Path step by step from the Eternal Quasi-Sovereign realm.
Throughout all ages, aside from those two, even the most dazzling Qin Wuxiang of the Mythical Epoch, hailed as number one under the Supreme Ones, was only suspected to have stepped onto the Eternal Path from the Ancient Sovereign realm.
Did this not mean this person possessed terrifying potential comparable to the Primogenitor and the Heavenly Emperor?
Thinking this, Dao Shishi's killing intent toward Ye Chen became almost overwhelming.
Such a person was simply countless times more terrifying than Qin Wuxiang of old. He must be killed.
Unfortunately, trapped within the Emperor Dao seal, even someone as powerful as the Eternal Emperor Dao Shishi could do nothing but watch Ye Chen standing before him.
Although the power he leaked out was vast and immense, enough to make even the Angel Race tread carefully, Ye Chen was different. As an Eternal Sovereign, his own combat power was comparable to a peak eighth-layer peerless Sovereign, even stronger in some aspects.
All the power was blocked before him, easily annihilated.
Yet, likewise, Ye Chen could also do nothing.
The more one understood the Eternal Path, the more one realized its terrifying, world-defying nature, surpassing peers in every aspect by countless degrees.
Especially Dao Shishi, an Eternal Emperor who, at his peak, could challenge a true Great Perfection Supreme One. Even now, sealed for endless eons with greatly diminished strength, killing him would be extremely difficult, Ye Chen felt.
Hunyue Emperor by his side had informed him: the erosion of endless eons had reduced Dao Shishi's strength to less than twenty or thirty percent of his peak, but Ye Chen still sensed he wasn't much weaker than himself. This was the terror of an Eternal Emperor.
Moreover, acting rashly could very likely damage the Emperor Dao seal on him, which would be counterproductive.
"To be honest, I really want to kill this guy."
Ye Chen did not conceal his killing intent toward Dao Shishi. If there was an opportunity, even the slightest, he would not hesitate to strike.
Just as the alien race would spare no effort to kill him, given the chance, Ye Chen would absolutely act to slay a supreme demon like Dao Shishi, an Eternal Emperor with the potential to become an Eternal Giant.
Hunyue Emperor said, "No need to be so fixated. Dao Shishi is sealed by the Emperor Dao. I observe the seal left by that Angel Race Great Emperor remains very stable, enough to last an entire epoch. An epoch—even the strongest Emperor cannot endure it; their lifespan would be utterly exhausted. There's no need to pay a price to deal with him."
"Alright."
Ye Chen nodded. But for safety's sake, he asked Hunyue Emperor to act, applying multiple layers of Monarch-level seals, invisibly reinforcing the Emperor Dao seal.
Only then did Ye Chen feel slightly at ease.
Yet, for some reason, he still had a vague sense of foreboding.
But he also thought he was overthinking it. With the Angel Great Emperor's Emperor Dao seal, and even Hunyue Emperor's additional seals, and Dao Shishi so weakened, breaking free was simply unrealistic.
At the same time, he extracted the two clumps of furious, leaked demonic light power from Dao Shishi, comparable to Ancient Sovereigns. They consisted entirely of dark-natured Sovereign rules, totaling a hundred thousand strands—comparable to a fifth-layer Sovereign.
But this was merely a minuscule fraction of the power leaked by Dao Shishi.
The Sovereign rules mastered by a Monarch far exceeded imagination, surpassing ten million strands, let alone an Eternal Emperor.
Using Chaos Dao techniques, Ye Chen refined them. As a Chaos Saint Body, he completely feared no backlash from the demonic energy.
Soon, Ye Chen felt his cultivation improve slightly.
After all, his overall combat power was now comparable to five million Sovereign rules. Achieving a significant increase was difficult, unrealistic.
Before leaving, he informed the Angel Race God Kings that when he ascended to the Upper Realm in the future, he would notify the Angel Race in advance so they could prepare.
The Angel Race experts were very excited and naturally agreed repeatedly.
Learning that the Desolate Realm actually sealed an alien Eternal Emperor, Dao Shishi, Ye Chen felt that upon his return to the Upper Realm, he must inform the Human Race Supreme Ones. If necessary, they should slay Dao Shishi to eliminate the hidden danger.
It must be said: an Eternal Emperor with the potential to achieve Eternal Giant status—as long as he lived, one could never truly rest easy.
At the same time, Ye Chen planned to visit the Primordial Heaven Realm.
"Tit for tat. It's time for me to set out for the Primordial Heaven Realm, to see if it is as unfathomable as imagined."
He smiled slightly.
On this day, leaving the Little Divine Realm, leaving the Heavenly Kingdom, Ye Chen officially set out for the Primordial Heaven Realm.
Alone!