The Primordial Ancestor, or rather, the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will, ultimately managed to escape. Relying on strength infinitely close to the Overlord level, it fled far away. Even someone as powerful as Ye Chen, even with the combined efforts of eight Half-Step Overlords, could not completely keep it there.
Even someone as powerful as Ye Chen only managed to keep the Profound God Ancestor behind.
With absolute power, he suppressed the Profound God Ancestor within his Origin Universe. The combined forces of his Immortal Path Half-Step Overlord power, his Universe Chaos Body power, and his Origin Universe power acted as one, forcefully suppressing the Profound God Ancestor, preventing any effective escape.
Originally, the Profound God Ancestor was merely a newly advanced Half-Step Overlord, having not yet had time to cultivate to his peak period before he was hunted down by the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will. Now, he could only be said to be barely equivalent to a dark avatar of that Origin Will.
As Ye Chen suppressed the Profound God Ancestor, his eyes, like the most blazing stars, shot out two terrifying beams of light that directly pierced into the Profound God Ancestor's pupils, seeking to comprehend every detail within his body.
He wanted to know if the true Profound God Ancestor was still alive.
After all, the Profound God Ancestor was a Half-Step Overlord. Even if he was hunted on the day of his ascension by the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will, the strength of a Half-Step Overlord was such that even other Half-Step Overlords would find it extremely difficult to kill one.
Back then, Ye Chen's ability to kill the Demon Daoist was partly due to his own formidable strength, and partly because of the price paid by burning everything, ultimately dragging the Demon Daoist to his grave along with him.
After burning everything, his strength was absolutely greater than that of the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will, even capable of fighting against Shidai at his peak. This speaks volumes.
It was precisely because of this that he successfully killed the Demon Daoist.
Therefore, Ye Chen suspected the Profound God Ancestor had not completely perished.
Soon, Ye Chen conducted his investigation. He discovered that the divine soul within the Profound God Ancestor's body had vanished. All that remained was a fragment of the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will's soul, controlling the Profound God Ancestor's body. It looked coldly at Ye Chen and said, "Chaos Heavenly Emperor, there's no need for you to go to such great pains. The Profound God Ancestor was slain by this sovereign long ago. His true spirit is annihilated. It's impossible for him to still be alive."
"Is that so?" Ye Chen gave a faint, indifferent smile, naturally not believing it. Looking at the Profound God Ancestor, the Chaos Emperor Radiance shooting from his eyes grew even more terrifying, containing boundless Chaos Emperor Power, as if to disintegrate everything, comprehending every detail of the Profound God Ancestor inch by inch from the outside in.
He felt that the Profound God Ancestor should not have completely perished. Tens of thousands of years were not enough for complete annihilation; it was possible he still lived.
He just didn't know where the true Profound God Ancestor was hidden.
However, under Ye Chen's inch-by-inch search, he eventually found the true Profound God Ancestor—a divine soul, very weak, far from the Half-Step Overlord level of his peak, but still powerful, at least not inferior to a Primordial Giant. It was hidden within a secret, unknown space inside the body.
He could sense that space was filled with the infinite dark power of the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will, constantly refining that fragment of the Profound God Ancestor's divine soul, seeking to completely refine it.
But the Profound God Ancestor was, after all, a Half-Step Overlord. Completely refining him was easier said than done. He had been stubbornly holding on, never being completely refined.
However, this was not the place to rescue the Profound God Ancestor.
After suppressing the Profound God Ancestor, Ye Chen said to the Heaven-Defying War Lord, Donghuang, and the Tian'a Immortal Lord, "Let's go. There's no need to stay here any longer."
Just then, Ao Yuan said coldly, "Chaos Heavenly Emperor, we also had a part in dealing with the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will. It stands to reason that the Profound God Ancestor should be divided among us as well."
Qianji Tianzu said, "The Profound God Ancestor is a traitor of our Origin Saint Race. Although he has fallen, he should be handed over to our Origin Saint Race for disposal."
Disheng said, "We hope the Chaos Heavenly Emperor will hand over this traitor, the Profound God Ancestor, to our Origin Saint Race."
Ye Chen swept a glance over them and succinctly uttered one word: "Fight?"
Fight?
The four Half-Step Overlords from the Origin Saint Race and the Alien Ancient Universe immediately darkened their expressions. Without a doubt, the Chaos Heavenly Emperor's attitude was direct, forceful, and clear. Handing him over was impossible. If they wanted him, it would come down to a fight!
Qianji Tianzu wanted to curse. This Chaos Heavenly Emperor was, after all, a Half-Step Overlord, and the strongest one at that. But no matter how you looked at it, he seemed like a ruffian, even more of one than the Battle Saint Ancestor or the Heaven-Defying War Lord. Opening and closing his mouth was all about fighting. Couldn't he maintain some dignity as a Half-Step Overlord? Couldn't he speak properly?
Yet, Ye Chen only sneered.
Having cultivated to this step, he had long understood the cruelty of the cultivation world—the law of the jungle, where the one with the bigger fist was the true master.
Now, why would he bother with so many useless rules when dealing with enemies?
The fist was the best rule!
In the end, helpless, the four Half-Step Overlords from the Origin Saint Race and the Alien Ancient Universe could only leave angrily, not daring to voice their fury, with nothing more to say.
Ye Chen gave a cold laugh, took the Profound God Ancestor back to the Pangu Universe, and directly joined forces with the Heaven-Defying War Lord, the Battle Saint Ancestor, Tai Sheng Huang, the Space-Time Emperor, and other Half-Step Overlords to completely suppress the fragment of the Eternal Night Land's Origin Will's soul, rescuing the suppressed divine soul of the Profound God Ancestor.
"Many thanks, Fellow Daoists, for your aid in rescuing me!"
After the Profound God Ancestor's divine soul regained control of the body, his aura was weak. He cupped his fists in gratitude towards Ye Chen and the other Pangu Universe Half-Step Overlords.
"No need for formalities. Back then, the Profound Clan did not hesitate to face the danger of the Alien Ancient Universe to help the Pangu Universe. This kindness is merely being repaid now," said Tai Sheng Huang.
At the same time, the Alchemy Emperor arrived. Using an eleventh-rank Heaven-Defying Emperor Pill, he allowed the Profound God Ancestor's injuries to recover to a great extent. Of course, fully recovering to his former peak would still require a very long time.
However, for the Profound God Ancestor, within the Pangu Universe, there was basically no danger.
Rescuing the Profound God Ancestor greatly invigorated the Profound Clan, filling them with immense gratitude towards the Pangu Universe.
Afterwards, Ye Chen did not choose to go into seclusion. Instead, he continuously cultivated within the mortal world.
Over the past tens of thousands of years, his comprehension of the "Heavenly Emperor Scripture" had reached an extremely high level, almost completely comprehended, mastering another third of the Eternal Great Dao.
In other words, he now controlled two-thirds of the Eternal Great Dao.
Now, only the final third of the Eternal Great Dao, held by Shidai, remained.
However, this was also the most difficult part.
The Heavenly Emperor and the Immortal Ancestor were on his side. They could both grant him cultivation, allowing him to comprehend the third of the Eternal Great Dao they controlled. But Shidai was different.
Shidai was an enemy.
Moreover, Shidai was also the most terrifying hidden hand in history—not only a peerless Overlord but also one of the eternal sinners exiled from the Origin Land.
But Ye Chen always felt that the Heavenly Emperor had concealed some things about the events of that past.
Why were the three of them exiled? What kind of eternal sin did they bear, to the extent that three peerless Overlords were exiled?