Boom—
Infinite destructive power suddenly erupted, spreading outwards in overlapping waves. Its speed was so swift that in mere moments, it had already flooded the boundless expanse of the Emperor Great World, even tearing open the world's barrier and spreading into the starry void beyond.
The myriad stars trembled violently.
A long time later, when everything settled, the Emperor Great World had been blasted half to ruin. Many massive holes, piercing through the world from inside to out, had appeared. An Emperor Great World was nearly shattered completely.
The Soul-Restraining Hall experts within this Emperor Great World suffered heavy casualties, with over ninety percent perishing. Even the nineteen Heaven Halls were shattered, and of the nineteen Heaven Hall Masters, more than sixteen fell. Only three survived by sheer luck, and they too suffered grievous, terrifying wounds.
Ancient Path Monarchs like Qingyang Great Monarch and Xuyang Monarch, and even the three Star Sky Overlords including the Ice Flame Monarch, felt waves of dread.
Too terrifying!
Dominant!
Overbearing!
A single strike had nearly annihilated an entire Emperor Great World, and this stronghold of the Soul-Restraining Hall was almost completely obliterated.
Yang Shen, the Eighth Emperor Envoy who bore the brunt of the attack, was nearly pulverized into dust. His Monarch Heavenly Soul was perilously weak, and though he arduously reconstituted his physical body, his aura was utterly withered, barely stronger than a Sixth Heavenly Layer Monarch.
Clearly, the explosion of a Star Sky Overlord-level Dao Weapon like the Spear of Judgment had power comparable to the self-detonation of an Eighth Heavenly Layer Monarch.
At the same time, they were secretly shocked by the Battle Saint King's ruthless methods, sparing no effort to deal with the Soul-Restraining Hall in such a manner.
Whoosh—
Ye Chen entered the devastated Emperor Great World. He paid no heed to the severely wounded, dying Yang Shen. Instead, he reached into the shattered world and grasped a massive, radiant cluster of light, as dazzling and scorching as a sun—it was the origin core of the Emperor Great World.
This origin core of an Emperor Great World, evolved from a Monarch, was immensely powerful. If fully unleashed, it could exhibit nearly half the strength of a Monarch. Even a peak Tenth Heavenly Layer Monarch could only resist it, not suppress it.
Of course, under normal circumstances, a world origin could utilize less than half its power, with the rest maintaining the world's stability.
But under such violent destruction, the Emperor Great World's origin core was also severely wounded. Moreover, suppressed by the Universe's origin and Ye Chen's absolute power, it offered little resistance before being devoured by the Chaos Small Universe.
Boom—
Instantly, the Chaos Small Universe began a new round of expansion, generating more Universe Dawn Light, strengthening his form and spirit in all aspects.
However, at this stage, such improvements were not substantial.
Naturally, devouring the origin core of an Emperor Great World made the Chaos Small Universe even more powerful. It directly caused the residual power of the Heavenly Dao Sun to be further neutralized, allowing him to wield greater strength. His Monarch Rules surged from around nine million strands to approximately twelve million strands, barely reaching the threshold of a Ninth Heavenly Layer Monarch.
"Finally returned to the Ninth Heavenly Layer Monarch level!"
Ye Chen murmured softly, his body brimming with surging power. This was the strongest power he could currently wield while ignoring the residual Heavenly Dao Sun power—a Ninth Heavenly Layer Monarch with twelve million strands of Monarch Rule power, enough to easily crush a Star Sky Overlord like the Ice Flame Monarch.
Of course, if not for the hidden danger of the Heavenly Dao Sun's residual power, his maximum strength would absolutely number in the tens of millions of Monarch Rules.
That level of power would be that of a Tenth Heavenly Layer Monarch, and not merely a newly ascended one at that.
"I truly look forward to what level my strength will reach when I return to my peak state!"
Whoosh—
His figure flickered, and Ye Chen appeared before the Eighth Emperor Envoy Yang Shen, grabbing him.
Yang Shen was severely wounded and on the brink of death, his body tattered and ruined. Even his Monarch Heavenly Soul was listless and powerless. Before Ye Chen, whose power rivaled a Ninth Heavenly Layer Monarch, he had no ability to resist whatsoever.
"Devour, and increase the number of my Monarch Rules."
Boom—
The Chaos Thunder Origin revived, wantonly devouring the numerous Thunder Monarch Rules from his body—over seven million strands of Thunder Monarch Rules were consumed.
Ye Chen also sighed at the strength of these Emperor Envoys, the elite among Star Sky Overlords. This Yang Shen possessed powerful mid-Eighth Heavenly Layer Monarch strength, no simple feat.
In the end, with Yang Shen utterly unable to resist, it took only two hours for all the Thunder Monarch Rules he had cultivated in his lifetime to be completely devoured. Seven million one hundred and thirty thousand strands of Thunder Monarch Rules, through the Chaos Thunder Origin's devouring and feedback, yielded seven hundred and ten thousand unowned Thunder Monarch Rules. Combined with the earlier seventy thousand unowned Thunder Monarch Rules, this gave Ye Chen a total of eight hundred thousand unowned Thunder Monarch Rules out of thin air.
Though the increase to his overall power was limited, it was still something. Because of the Chaos Thunder Origin's cut, Ye Chen couldn't help but curse it as a profiteer.
Better than nothing, at least!
"Ah—! Battle Saint King, I'll drag you down with me to the grave!"
Yang Shen roared at the heavens, filled with infinite resentment and fury.
A generation's Star Sky Overlord, an Emperor Envoy who followed the Heavenly Soul Emperor in the distant past, a peerless Monarch who dominated the starry skies with no match—to think he would fall to such a state today.
The Thunder Monarch Rules he had painstakingly cultivated over a lifetime were completely devoured. Even though he still possessed some Monarch Rules of other Great Daos and a vast Monarch Great World, his strength was greatly diminished, having fallen to the initial Monarch stage. How could he accept this?
With a great roar, his entire body suddenly ignited, his form and spirit blazing—he was self-immolating, preparing to self-detonate and take the Battle Saint King with him to death.
As the Eighth Emperor Envoy, dying in battle was the best end!
"A mere First Heavenly Layer Monarch dares to clamor before me?"
Ye Chen paid it no mind. A single slap passed through, and before Yang Shen could truly self-detonate, he was smashed to pieces, utterly annihilated into dust.
The Universe trembled. A generation's Star Sky Overlord, Yang Shen, the Eighth Emperor Envoy of the Heavenly Soul Emperor's nine great Emperor Envoys from ages past, fell into darkness.
The Battle Saint King's prestige shook the eight directions of the Universe even more!
Ye Chen seized Yang Shen's Monarch Great World and devoured it, causing the Chaos Small Universe to expand a little more.
As for the final three Heaven Hall Masters in this Soul-Restraining Hall headquarters, Ye Chen did not act further. He allowed the three Star Sky Overlords, including the Ice Flame Monarch, to strike from afar, directly strangling them.
Of course, they also captured one Heaven Hall Master alive. Ye Chen personally performed a soul search. His supreme and mighty Chaos Saint Soul power, of unimaginable strength, directly suppressed the Heaven Hall Master's Monarch Heavenly Soul and performed a cruel, unrestrained soul search.
Ye Chen did not feel particularly cruel about this. In the end, compared to himself, the methods of the Soul-Restraining Hall were countless times more brutal. They had inflicted such methods upon countless people. Now, it was merely the perpetrator becoming the victim—karmic retribution.
From this, Ye Chen obtained some information regarding other strongholds of the Soul-Restraining Hall, a fair amount of intelligence.
Yang Shen was merely one of the nine great Emperor Envoys of old. Eight other Emperor Envoys still lived, equivalent to eight Star Sky Overlords.
Moreover, the higher the ranking, the stronger the strength.
Rumor had it that the top three Emperor Envoys were all peak Tenth Heavenly Layer Monarchs, powerful beyond belief.
Especially the First Emperor Envoy, who was said to have half a foot already stepped into the Emperor Dao realm.
Furthermore, the most powerful Forbidden Weapons, No. 1 and No. 2, had yet to appear.
It was also heard that there might be an even more terrifying and shocking No. 0.
The Soul-Restraining Hall'sheritage / foundation was far beyond imagination!
"The Soul-Restraining Hall is indeed terrifying, but I, the Battle Saint King, am not one to be bullied either."
Ye Chen spoke indifferently, his gaze profound as he looked deep into the starry sky, as if seeing the locations of other Soul-Restraining Hall strongholds, even the legendary headquarters Great World.