In a direct confrontation, he was simply no match for Ye Chen.
However, Qingtian Great Venerable was, after all, an Ancient Great Venerable, a peerless figure with the bearing of a Heavenly Venerate, and his master was a Supreme Heavenly Venerate. He possessed considerable understanding of Heavenly Venerates. Although his body had been shattered repeatedly, he had never suffered a fatal injury.
He possessed a vast vitality for recovery and seized this opportunity to brandish the Qingtian Axe, unleashing thirty-six strikes in an instant—the Qingtian Thirty-Six Heaven-Splitting Axe Techniques he had created.
These thirty-six Heaven-Splitting Axe strikes possessed the power to contend even against a Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
But the target of Qingtian Great Venerable's Qingtian Thirty-Six Heaven-Splitting Axe was merely the Tenfold Sealing Gate, which had only been blasted open by a sliver of a gap.
He knew that even if he had the power to fight a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, prolonging this battle would mean certain death.
Even during the Multiverse Dusk era, slaying a Supreme Heavenly Venerate required the combined efforts of multiple Ancient Great Venerables.
Only that monster could truly face a Supreme Heavenly Venerate in a peak duel.
Boom—
The Sealing Gate was directly sent flying by the Qingtian Axe. A massive axe scar, nearly tearing the entire Heavenly Gate asunder, appeared on its surface.
This demonstrated just how powerful Qingtian Great Venerable was.
It was blasted open!
A look of joy flashed across Qingtian Great Venerable's face. With this sealed domain breached, he could send a message to his master, Wanxuan Heavenly Venerate. Once his master arrived, he could turn the tables.
Boom—
He immediately shot forward like a cannonball, lightning-fast.
Boom—
But the next moment, his figure was violently slammed, his entire body torn asunder, blood light soaring skyward, nearly exploding completely.
Qingtian Great Venerable's pupils instantly constricted. He saw, to his horror, that Ye Chen's figure had appeared before him at some unknown time, his hand gripping one leg of the Chaos Great Cauldron.
Just now, he had grabbed the Chaos Great Cauldron and smashed it fiercely against his own body.
Simultaneously, he angrily discovered that the blasted-open Sealing Gate had returned, slowly closing once more, sealing this space again as an absolute prison.
"This Venerable told you, today you will not leave."
Ye Chen spoke coldly, infinite chaotic radiance flowing from his body, reminiscent of his supreme, peerless dominance in the Origin Land of old—the true form of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor.
Within his body, one Eternal shackle after another was continuously shattering. The Eternal Heavenly Laws that the two Supreme Heavenly Venerates had implanted within him to restrict his Eternal origin were all being transformed, converted into boundless Eternal Power that circulated through his form.
At the same time, countless black holes opened on Ye Chen's body surface, madly devouring the energy of the Pseudo-Heavenly Venerable Sun.
The Pseudo-Heavenly Venerable Sun was an energy source Qingtian Great Venerable had refined over endless eons, containing Great Venerable power tainted with the Heavenly Dao and infinite Eternal Heavenly Patterns within. It was no less than another Great Venerable origin.
Originally, this was Qingtian Great Venerable's confidence to fear nothing under heaven. Perhaps one day, the Pseudo-Heavenly Venerable Sun might undergo a qualitative transformation, instantly becoming a true Heavenly Venerable Sun, whereupon he could become a genuine Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
But that was almost impossible.
Now, the boundless energy of the Pseudo-Heavenly Venerable Sun was being madly devoured by Ye Chen, becoming his nourishment. This filled Qingtian Great Venerable with immense fury and shock.
He turned, brandishing the Qingtian Axe to cleave at Ye Chen.
He wanted to hack this shameless Supreme Heavenly Venerate to death.
But as Ye Chen's palm descended like a blade, his Supreme Heavenly Venerate body itself was the ultimate weapon. It directly clashed with the Qingtian Axe without losing ground, even sending Qingtian Great Venerable flying. The strike landed on the latter's Great Venerable body, leaving one deep, bone-revealing wound after another, vast amounts of blood spraying forth.
Boom—
Not long after, accompanied by a roar from Qingtian Great Venerable, heaven collapsed and earth split. The Pseudo-Heavenly Venerable Sun also showed faint signs of shattering.
He exploded, shattered alive by Ye Chen.
The terrifying power of a Great Venerable being smashed to pieces shook the six directions and eight wildernesses, its horror beyond description.
It could absolutely annihilate half a Tian Domain directly.
But all of this was blocked by the Tenfold Sealing Gate, completely isolated, unable to transmit to the outside world.
Of course, as an Ancient Great Venerable, his vitality was astonishing. His Great Venerable origin contained a portion of Eternal origin. In the next moment, he had already reassembled.
However, seeing Ye Chen who had almost completely ignored the explosive shockwaves, Qingtian Great Venerable's heart sank.
His own shattering just now had also been partly intentional.
Because he wanted to use the destructive energy formed by being smashed to pieces to harm Ye Chen somewhat.
Through the battle, he already knew that although Ye Chen was strong, compared to a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, there was still a certain gap.
There was a certain hope of escaping.
But his opponent was not only strong, but also cautious. The moment he was shattered, Ye Chen had also rapidly retreated, avoiding the epicenter. Therefore, the resulting destructive storm's final impact on Ye Chen did not achieve the anticipated effect.
There was no other way. It could only be like this.
Qingtian Great Venerable took a deep breath. An ancient seal flew out from the top of his head.
Though called an ancient seal, the moment it flew out, it bloomed with infinite radiance, like a universe seal, enveloping the myriad heavens and worlds, containing billions of living beings.
Boundless, surging Faith Power rushed forth.
This was the Qingtian Seal, the ancient seal of Qingtian Palace, one of the five great palaces of the Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces. It could mobilize the endless Faith Power of the Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces.
The Thirty-Three Celestial Palaces received the faith of the endless multitudes of the Origin Land. How terrifying was this Faith Power? It simply could not be compared to the mundane world.
Especially after accumulating over two or three Chaos Epochs, it was terrifying beyond imagination.
Thus, with this Heavenly Seal, Qingtian Great Venerable could mobilize up to one-fifth of this Faith Power, making it incomparably fearsome.
Originally, this Qingtian Seal had always been kept within Qingtian Palace. Qingtian Great Venerable's initial plan was not to use it against Ye Chen, but to guard against other Supreme Heavenly Venerates suddenly intervening, allowing him to resist using the Faith Power of the Qingtian Seal.
This decision was made only after returning from the Pangu Tian Domain.
But he never expected it would be used against Ye Chen.
Because even he hadn't known that Ye Chen was a Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
As soon as the Qingtian Seal emerged, endless Faith Power surged out, merging with Qingtian Great Venerable. Instantly, his aura strengthened once more as he actively charged to kill Ye Chen.
...
Origin Land.
Within the Thirty-Three Tian Domains, one colossal pillar of light after another shot into the sky, no smaller than Heavenly Venerate Suns. Rare, ancient and modern phenomena manifested, permeated with immense Great Venerable might.
Each pillar of light, like a pillar holding up the heavens, represented an Ancient Great Venerable.
At this moment, all the Great Venerables of the myriad heavens were closely watching that earth-shattering great battle taking place far beyond the heavens.
It was the first Great Venerable battle since the establishment of the Heavenly Covenant all those years ago. To a certain extent, it could also be called a Heavenly War.