The Immortal Pass crumbled, and Ye Chen entered.
Immortal Venerable Huanyu could only watch helplessly, wanting to peer into the ultimate truth beyond the 49th Pass, only to find his vision completely obscured by a dense fog.
He wanted to follow, but terrifying rule power blocked his path. Even though he was superbly powerful, a top-tier expert among Immortal Venerables, very close to that level, he still could not successfully step forward.
That rule power transcended his realm.
Only Ye Chen could break through this rule power and truly enter beyond the 49th Pass.
Immortal Venerable Huanyu watched with a bitter smile, shaking his head in resignation.
And he wondered in which year or month he would truly take that crucial step.
Beyond the 49th Pass.
Ye Chen appeared here.
What appeared before him was not the imagined transcendent, sage-like cultivation holy land, but merely a vast, rootless sea of stars. Countless stars dotted the space, converging into an extremely resplendent Star River stretching before his eyes.
It seemed like just an ordinary starry sky.
However, Ye Chen faintly sensed Eternal Power drifting within this starry space, much like in the Eternal Heaven Realm.
"No, the concentration of Eternal Power here is enough to rival the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Eternal Heaven Realm, even comparable to the Main Heavenly Domain."
Ye Chen was surprised and suspicious. Although the 49 Immortal Pass Secret Realm was a secret realm that fell from the Origin Land, and the Eternal Heaven Realm was also an origin secret realm, it was because Pangu's Heart had scattered a portion of Eternal Power in the distant past that Eternal Power existed there. Why then did this starry sky beyond the 49th Pass contain such a rich concentration of Eternal Power?
He raised his gaze and scanned ahead. On the resplendent Star River, there were no immortal palaces or great worlds. There were only a few old men sitting cross-legged on the Star River, holding fishing rods, silently fishing.
Just seeing these few old men, even a Half-Step Overlord like Ye Chen felt waves of terrifying threat, as if these old men before him were fearsome, peerless great evils capable of annihilating past, present, and future.
Half-Step Overlords!
All were Half-Step Overlords!
Just as he had guessed, almost all the Half-Step Overlords of the Primordial Immortal Realm were gathered beyond the 49th Pass.
Among them, one person appeared particularly aged and decrepit, with graying hair, looking like a rather ordinary old man. Yet, this person gave Ye Chen a sense of threat no less than that from the initial generation.
To the point that the cosmic phantom around his body became countless times clearer.
The Immortal Ancestor!
Without a doubt, this person must be the Immortal Ancestor. Aside from the Immortal Ancestor, in all the world, few could give Ye Chen such a terrifying sense of threat.
Seeing the Immortal Ancestor for the first time, Ye Chen focused his spirit and dared not be careless.
The Immortal Ancestor resembled an ordinary old man, appearing quite plain, sitting on the Star River with the other few Half-Step Overlords of the Primordial Immortal Realm, holding a fishing rod and silently fishing.
Beneath the Star River seemed to be a boundless, vast ocean. From time to time, one could see terrifying existences like True Dragons, Kun Pengs, Phoenixes, and Zhu Yans—all Chaos Holy Spirits, and all at the Supreme One realm. Some had even reached the Immortal King level, extremely fearsome.
These Chaos Holy Spirits at the Supreme One realm should have become overlords in their own right, but at this moment, they could only become fish to be angled,left to be fished by several people.
This showed how terrifying these few were—even Supremes became fish to be angled.
Ye Chen hesitated slightly. If it were just a few Half-Step Overlords, he wouldn't need to worry. After the battle years ago where he was besieged by several alien Half-Step Overlords, he fundamentally feared no siege at the Half-Step Overlord level. But facing the Immortal Ancestor was a different matter.
The truly Overlord-level Immortal Ancestor was a completely incomparable, great existence compared to Half-Step Overlords. Even Ye Chen was extremely wary; the slightest misstep could lead to his downfall here.
The key point was, he harbored far too many secrets. Just Pangu's Heart alone might tempt an invincible Overlord like the Immortal Ancestor.
"You've come."
The Immortal Ancestor gave Ye Chen a gentle smile, and a cushion appeared beside him, gesturing for Ye Chen to sit.
Just this one sentence made all of Ye Chen's tension vanish.
For no other reason than because he was the Immortal Ancestor, one of the five most invincible Overlords in the Chaos Sea.
If he truly wanted to act, he wouldn't need to enter the 49 Immortal Pass Secret Realm; he could directly seize the Pangu's Heart on Ye Chen's person.
With the Immortal Ancestor's ability, Ye Chen would be powerless to resist.
Only Ye Chen, having personally experienced the might of an invincible Overlord, understood the irresistible invincibility of an existence like the Immortal Ancestor!
Ye Chen nodded and walked calmly to the Immortal Ancestor's side, sitting on the cushion.
Not far away, the other few Immortal World Half-Step Overlords gave Ye Chen a friendly smile.
"It's been a long time since anyone has come. Today, we are fortunate to have a distinguished guest visit."
One Half-Step Overlord spoke. He also looked like an old man, with a bright, blood-red cinnabar dot in the center of his brow. He seemed fierce, but the smile on his face was exceptionally warm and friendly.
"Yes, I don't know how many epochs it's been since someone came. This old man thought the next one would be that old fellow Donghuang. I didn't expect it to be a young friend," another old, decrepit but white-haired, child-faced elder chuckled.
The third Half-Step Overlord appeared much shorter. At first glance, he looked like alecherous's old man, with a sly, shifty-eyed appearance. He said, "That old fellow Donghuang is indeed almost on par with us now. It's a pity he hasn't come yet. Instead, a young Fellow Daoist from outside the Immortal World has beaten him to it."
With their abilities, they naturally knew Ye Chen was not a Half-Step Overlord from the Primordial Immortal Realm but came from the outside world.
Ye Chen's mindset was calm. "Donghuang has become a Half-Step Overlord. However, because something happened in the Donghuang Domain recently—it was almost destroyed—he needs to handle it, so he hasn't come yet. Also, Donghuang asked me to send you his greetings."
"If that old fellow Donghuang truly wants to send greetings, he should come personally," the elder with the cinnabar dot in his brow snorted coldly, somewhat displeased.
The shifty-eyed elder glanced over. "Even if Donghuang comes, he can't come immediately. Once he comes, he won't be able to return."
Ye Chen was surprised. Once he comes, he won't be able to return?
The Immortal Ancestor said peacefully, "Don't worry. It's just that after becoming a Half-Step Overlord, by regulation, one can no longer intervene in secular matters. Unless there is a major upheaval, one must remain here."
Ye Chen didn't understand. Why was that?
The shifty-eyed elder said, "Once you become a Half-Step Overlord, you have almost touched the Eternal Domain. The level is different. In the long run, your own origin Great Dao will have a massive impact on the entire Primordial Immortal Realm. Therefore, barring major events, the Half-Step Overlords of the Primordial Immortal Realm are basically all in the deepest part of the 49 Immortal Pass Secret Realm. This is a special secret realm that fell from the Origin Land, capable of effectively sealing the Great Dao on our bodies so it doesn't excessively affect the Primordial Immortal Realm. Otherwise, have you ever seen any other Half-Step Overlords besides Donghuang appear?"