Over these years, Ye Chen had lived a contented life.
His parents were still here, his wives and children were by his side, and his disciples were present as well. It could be considered a perfectly fulfilled life.
Only, there were one or two people missing, like his youngest son, Ye Junlin, who had been gone for over four thousand years. Although he knew Ye Junlin had obtained a heaven-defying opportunity—a supreme fortune that belonged exclusively to him—as parents, how could they not worry about their child.
Still, as long as the person was alive, it was good.
Ye Chen believed that Ye Junlin would return one day, and become incomparably powerful.
What was slightly regrettable was that over these three thousand years, only one daughter, Ye Jing, had been born.
He and Yu Qing, and Chen'er, had not had any children.
It had to be said, Ye Chen's bloodline was far too heaven-defying, which also resulted in him absolutely having very few descendants.
The more powerful one was, the more difficult it was to have children, because the bloodline was simply too heaven-defying.
Looking at his wives by his side, they were already Monarchs, but unfortunately, not Eternal Monarchs.
Indeed, the Eternal Path was not so easy to set foot upon. Even Great Perfection Supreme Heavenly Prides, those possessing flawless Emperor potential, throughout the ages, those who could step onto the Eternal Path could be counted on one's fingers.
Like the Taichu Emperor, whose Emperor Dao Fruit had decayed back then, who had narrowly escaped death, and only by a stroke of luck and coincidence became an Eternal Monarch. One could imagine, it was not that simple.
Ye Chen's gaze was like blazing lightning, sweeping over the Chaos Heavenly Mansion, and also sweeping over the myriad domains of the heavens and the eight lower realms.
Three thousand years had passed. The Pangu Universe had entered an unprecedented golden age, with Heaven's Prides emerging in great numbers, and Supreme Heavenly Prides appearing continuously.
Old friends and relatives had, over these years, each ascended to new heights, with wives and children basically all reaching the Monarch level.
Other Imperial Sons and Daughters, Great Perfection Supreme Heavenly Prides, were the same.
After all, their innate talent and potential were there; becoming Monarchs was merely a matter of time. Moreover, with the guidance of the many Supreme Ones and Ye Chen's personalimparting of experience, they naturally entered the ranks of Monarchs one by one over these three thousand years.
Unfortunately, no one had yet managed to Attain the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor.
This included Eternal Monarchs like the Taichu Emperor and the Sovereign of Formlessness.
Attaining the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor was too difficult. Even those possessing the most powerful bloodlines of ancient giants, like Di Wuming and Di Wushuang, remained at the Monarch realm, never breaking through.
At this stage, where one could converse freely with Supreme Ones, Ye Chen had long understood that the so-called probability of one or two out of ten Monarchs Attaining the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor was merely looking at the best possible scenario.
The Monarch realm, situated above Ancient Monarchs and below Great Emperors, was a special realm, a stage where one could advance no further. To Attain the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor, one could only rely on the continuous accumulation over long years, and only after sufficient accumulation could one finally succeed in Attaining the Dao.
However, for a Monarch to accumulate enough foundation to Attain the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor, how easy was that?
It wasn't just the accumulation of divine power, but also the comprehension of the Great Dao, the understanding of the Emperor's Dao.
This required accumulation over who knows how many tens of thousands of years.
Moreover, during this process, one wrong step could lead to a cascade of errors.
Throughout the ages, there was no lack of Monarchs who, due to comprehending the Dao, became possessed by inner demons and ultimately passed away prematurely.
The so-called twenty to thirty percent success rate was the probability of successfully Attaining the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor after sufficient accumulation.
However, even after sufficient accumulation, there were many aftereffects. Many Monarchs, by the time they possessed enough accumulation, had passed through endless years, were old and frail, their life force decayed. How could they make the necessary breakthrough?
Like the Cang Xiong Great Heavenly Venerable, who had accumulated enough but whose form and spirit had decayed, unable to break through. It was only by forcibly devouring eighty to ninety percent of the Tianhun Great Emperor that he, perilously and narrowly, took that step and succeeded in Attaining the Dao!
Therefore, only with sufficient accumulation and while one's life force was still at its peak, was there a twenty to thirty percent probability of Attaining the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor.
In reality, the actual success rate for Monarchs to truly Attain the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor was still quite low.
Thus, over these years, even though there were many Monarchs—whether the Great Perfection Supreme Heavenly Prides of the Chaos Heavenly Mansion or the Imperial Sons and Daughters—all became Monarchs, no one had yet managed to Attain the Dao to Become Supreme Emperor.
The path to becoming a Supreme One was long and arduous.
However, when these Monarchs looked towards the direction of the Chaos Heavenly Mansion, at that lofty figure who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Supreme Ones of the heavens, even stand a head above them—the master of the Chaos Heavenly Mansion, the legendary invincible Battle Saint King—they couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The path to becoming a Supreme One, though difficult, with a slim hope of Attaining the Dao, did not include that person.
Because, at the same Monarch realm, the Battle Saint King had already completely surpassed ordinary ancient Great Emperors, standing above them, almost comparable to quasi-giants like the War Emperor, the Divine Void Great Emperor, and the Golden Crow Great Emperor.
And reaching that step had only taken a little over two thousand years.
Moreover, he had obtained the "Ultimate Supreme" immortal opportunity at the very end of the Ultimate Ancient Path and the Supreme Ancient Path.
No one knew what that "Ultimate Supreme" immortal opportunity truly represented.
But what was clear was that the Battle Saint King must have already opened it and obtained it.
Now, three thousand years had passed. No one knew to what step that invincible Battle Saint King had now walked.
At the very least, no one had ever seen him fight at his peak. He had always been sitting high upon the Emperor's throne of the Chaos Heavenly Mansion, often sitting motionless, overlooking the golden age.
But they believed that the Battle Saint King could not have remained stagnant; he should have become even stronger.
Ye Chen's gaze returned, once again falling upon his wives and daughter, especially his little daughter, Ye Jing. She had inherited her parents' looks. At a young age, she was already exquisitely beautiful, unimaginably pretty. It was hard to imagine what a stunning, peerless beauty she would become when she grew up, not inferior to his several beautiful wives.
At this moment, the Goddess said, "Yue, are you planning to let Jing'er participate in the competition for the Human Sovereign Path?"
Although Ye Jing was still young, the struggle for the Human Sovereign Ancient Path would last for hundreds, even thousands of years. With her inheritance of both parents' invincible bloodlines, catching up was not a problem at all.
She was fully qualified to compete for the final Human Sovereign position.
Ye Chen sighed, "I'm sorry."
He very much wanted to give his family a peaceful harbor, free from the entanglements of worldly strife. In fact, the fundamental purpose of his arduous cultivation over these years was precisely to allow his family to live in peace and happiness.
But he couldn't do it. Even the present him, superior to the past, found it difficult to achieve.
The Blood-Stained Future was something even ancient giants could not avoid.
He could not forget the scenes of the Blood-Stained Future he had witnessed on the River of Time—the future, supremelySupreme One, peerless in the world yet utterly alone, with all those around him withered away, the World Tree that Yaya had transformed withered and dead.
He had personally buried one family member and old friend after another, solitary and profoundly desolate.
In the Blood-Stained Future, he simply could not guarantee his family's safety. He could only let them all become powerful as quickly as possible, so they would possess the strength to protect themselves.
The Goddess could see the worry in her husband's heart. Gently stroking his face, she said, "I understand. You don't need to blame yourself."
Only, when she looked at her little daughter, Ye Jing, there was a bit more guilt. After all, as parents, who would wish for their children to grow through all kinds of hardships? But all of this was also a matter of necessity.