Ye Chen was astonished. This was actually an Innate Chaos Demon God, far stronger than the Immortal Great Celestial Venerable, having reached the Half-Step Overlord level. It could truly be called astonishing and absolutely ranked among the strongest of the Innate Chaos Demon Gods.
"Great Elder!"
The Immortal Great Celestial Venerable who had followed spoke with reverence. Although he was also an Innate Chaos Demon God and had cultivated to this day, with both his Dao Principles and physical body reaching the level of a Primordial Giant—making him an outstanding figure among Primordial Giants—he clearly understood the vast gap between himself and this Innate Chaos Demon God before him. Yet he still respected him.
This was because during the Heaven and Earth Creation period of the Chaos Sea, this Half-Step Overlord was the first to rise. In the early days, he had protected him and other Innate Chaos Demon Gods, hence the respectful address of "Great Elder."
Similarly, it was also because this Innate Chaos Demon God was the undisputed strongest. Among the contemporary Innate Chaos Demon Gods, none were mightier than him.
"Great Elder" was both an honorific and a ranking of strength.
The wild-looking man glanced at the Immortal Great Celestial Venerable and revealed a trace of a smile. "Immortal, you've come too."
At this moment, Donghuang spoke up. "Fellow Daoist Ye, this is Desolate Heaven Demon Lord."
Ye Chen said, "So it is Desolate Heaven Demon Lord. I have long heard of your great name. I am Ye Chen."
Although his own rise had been brief, he had heard of the name Desolate Heaven Demon Lord from many of the Chaos Sea's early super-powerful figures. Whether from the mouths of other giants or from ancient texts, he had gained some understanding.
Desolate Heaven Demon Lord was hailed as one of the most powerful Innate Chaos Demon Gods of all time. And this was the world's evaluation of him from before his disappearance in the endless ages past.
Long ago, in those endless ages, the world had evaluated Desolate Heaven Demon Lord as not inferior to Donghuang, having dominated the Chaos Sea for countless eons. He had even once nearly shattered a Chaos Ancient Universe single-handedly.
Many epochs ago, he had vanished after venturing into the Eternal Unknown Land, leading many to believe he had followed in the footsteps of those others and perished within that mysterious, unknown eternal realm.
Of course, upon meeting Desolate Heaven Demon Lord, Ye Chen knew he had not perished. He still shook the world with his might and possessed the peerless cultivation of a Half-Step Overlord, dominating the Eternal Heaven Realm. For endless ages, only Donghuang had been able to contend with him. Now, there was one more: Ye Chen.
Desolate Heaven Demon Lord nodded, grinning to show his teeth. "Brother Ye, there's no need for formalities. You can call me Desolate Heaven."
Desolate Heaven was very courteous, asking Ye Chen to address him by his true name. In fact, Ye Chen indeed had this qualification. Both were at the Half-Step Overlord level; who was truly weaker than the other?
"Agreed," Ye Chen said without standing on ceremony.
"Brother Ye, I observe your blood qi contains youthful vigor. You are very young. How many epochs have you cultivated?" Desolate Heaven asked. At their level, cultivation time was measured in epochs.
Donghuang chuckled. "Desolate Heaven, I'm afraid you've miscalculated. You must think Fellow Daoist Ye has cultivated for at least ten epochs, right? But in fact, I can tell you he is indeed very young, even less than one epoch."
Hearing this, Desolate Heaven was greatly shocked, finding it hard to imagine that Ye Chen had cultivated for less than an epoch yet had become a Half-Step Overlord.
Such cultivation speed could only be described as astonishing.
One must know that he, Desolate Heaven Demon Lord, had only reached the Half-Step Overlord level after cultivating from the Heaven and Earth Creation of the Chaos Sea until now.
Ye Chen smiled slightly. His life's journey could be called legendary, but reaching this step had been anything but easy.
"Brother Ye is the true heaven-defying talent. We Innate Chaos Demon Gods, in comparison, merely benefited from being born innately. We may seem like Supreme Ones who achieved physical body Dao confirmation from birth, but in reality, we are far inferior to Brother Ye."
This was a sigh from the depths of Desolate Heaven Demon Lord's heart. He had only barely cultivated to the Half-Step Overlord level from the Chaos Sea's creation until now, yet Ye Chen had done it in less than an epoch. The disparity was evident.
"I also experienced much to reach this step," Ye Chen sighed.
The various Great Heavenly Venerates remained silent, not actively inquiring.
A moment later, Desolate Heaven suddenly said, "Brother Ye, I have an impertinent request. Could you release the few Innate Chaos Demon Gods you suppressed? I can sense their Demon God souls are still present."
Ye Chen was taken aback. He hadn't expected Desolate Heaven Demon Lord to still sense the auras of the Seven Heroes of Chaos. But on second thought, being a Half-Step Overlord, he indeed possessed such capability.
Desolate Heaven added, "Of course, I won't shortchange you. Here is a World Stone. It should be of considerable help to you, capable of expanding your Primordial Emperor World."
Whoosh—
Immediately, a World Stone as massive as a small mountain appeared, emanating a rich aura of world essence.
Even Ye Chen, with his vast experience, was startled. World Stones were extremely rare, only born from Chaos Primordial Great Worlds or realms/secret realms not inferior to such worlds. They were usually not large; having a cubic meter was already excellent and enough to drive even Supreme Ones mad.
Yet before him was one ten zhang in length, width, and height, resembling a small hill, its volume countless times greater than any World Stone he had obtained before.
Truly worthy of being the number one figure among Innate Chaos Demon Gods—extremely wealthy and generous.
Ye Chen was also amazed. Naturally, he was willing to make this trade. After all, such an enormous World Stone would be of tremendous help to his Chaos Small Universe, accelerating its expansion and refinement.
He immediately released the souls of the Seven Heroes of Chaos and the other seven Innate Chaos Demon Gods.
The moment the Seven Heroes of Chaos were released, they shot into the sky, stirring billowing dark aura, and glared furiously at Ye Chen, wishing they could kill him immediately.
But soon, they were dumbfounded. They sensed familiar primordial auras and, upon looking, saw it was none other than Desolate Heaven Demon Lord and Immortal Great Celestial Venerable—two of the mightiest figures among Innate Chaos Demon Gods.
"Great Elder!"
"Immortal!"
The Seven Heroes of Chaos were excited to see the two, believing they must have forced Ye Chen to release them. With the help of these two strongest Demon Gods, they could surely suppress Ye Chen.
Then they looked down at Ye Chen and declared, "Immediately return our seven Demon God bodies and our Eternal Indestructible Great Worlds! Moreover, hand over all your treasures! If you do, we might still persuade the Great Elder to let you die more comfortably. Otherwise, we will definitely suppress your soul and torment you for eternity."
Ye Chen watched this scene with amusement and glanced at Desolate Heaven. "Brother Desolate Heaven, do you also have this intention?"
"Have you truly grown tired of living, daring to continue acting against Brother Ye?" Desolate Heaven snorted coldly, causing the Seven Heroes of Chaos to tremble with fear, somewhat confused.
The Immortal Great Celestial Venerable also said indifferently, "He is a Half-Step Overlord. I am not his match, and he is someone even the Great Elder personally acknowledges. You overestimate yourselves. Being able to survive is already the best outcome. Do you dare expect the Great Elder and me to stand up for a few good-for-nothings like you?"