Among them, Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord felt it most directly.
The moment this Celestial Venerate's Heart appeared, he could sense the Celestial Venerate bloodline within his own body spontaneously reviving, boiling wildly, stirred by a resonance between bloodlines.
Even more, faintly, his own stagnant cultivation realm seemed on the verge of a breakthrough.
Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord understood instantly, looking at this pulsating, crystalline heart with incomparable excitement. "This is the Celestial Venerate's Heart of the Heavenly Father!"
Connected by blood, he sensed immediately that this was the Celestial Venerate's Heart of the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable.
When the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable fell, he was not buried within the Ten Tribulations Celestial Clan. On the contrary, he vanished abruptly back then, disappearing without a trace.
Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord had once speculated that the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable had disappeared within the Primordial Realm.
Now it seemed that was indeed the case; otherwise, the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable's Heart could not possibly be in the hands of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor.
Ye Chen said, "Actually, the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable is interred within the Primordial Realm. His Eternal Celestial Realm and his Celestial Venerate's Heart were both left behind there. Back then, I obtained them by chance. Moreover, thanks to the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable's Heart, I managed to survive a life-and-death calamity and return to my Heavenly Venerate position. Now, meeting his descendant, I should return the Celestial Venerate's Heart to its rightful place."
Ye Chen felt no attachment to the Celestial Venerate's Heart and directly returned it to Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord.
Because he himself was a Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
However, this Celestial Venerate's Heart indeed held great significance for him, especially when he was advancing to Supreme Heavenly Venerate, allowing him to reverse life and death and survive.
Even later, when he suffered a fatal interception by the three Supreme Heavenly Venerates including Wan Xuan Heavenly Venerate and was nearly annihilated, part of the reason was himself, but this Celestial Venerate's Heart also preserved a sliver of his vitality, saving him from death.
Precisely because of this, Ye Chen held a sense of gratitude towards the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable in his heart.
Previously, before he had returned to his Heavenly Venerate position, this Celestial Venerate's Heart still held some important functions.
But now that he had returned to his Heavenly Venerate position, the Celestial Venerate's Heart was dispensable, so naturally, he should return it to the hands of the Ten Tribulations Celestial Clan.
Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord looked at this Celestial Venerate's Heart with unparalleled excitement, also recalling the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable of old—the great figure who had supported the entire Ten Tribulations Celestial Clan.
To this day, he remained the goal that this Taishang of the Celestial Clan, Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord, strove for throughout his life, as well as the father he most revered and admired.
He slowly received the Celestial Venerate's Heart, performed three bows and nine kowtows to Ye Chen—the grandest of rites—and said solemnly, "Thank you, Celestial Venerate, for returning the Heavenly Father's Heart."
Ye Chen said, "It is what you deserve."
Inside and outside Heaven-Mending City, countless cultivators watched that Celestial Venerate's Heart with intense envy.
A Celestial Venerate's Heart was one of the most precious heavenly treasures between heaven and earth—the heart of a Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
Its value was in no way inferior to an Ancient Celestial Venerate Weapon.
Moreover, in many aspects, it was especially important.
Because a Celestial Venerate's Heart could continuously generate Eternal True Blood, holding immense significance for those below the Celestial Venerate level.
Those at the Taishang realm might be able to use it to comprehend the Eternal Heavenly Dao of the Supreme Heavens.
As for Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord, he might have a greater hope of becoming a Supreme Heavenly Venerate because this Celestial Venerate's Heart was most compatible with him, a descendant of the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable.
However, no one dared to act, not only because of Ye Chen, the Primordial Realm's Celestial Venerate, but also because Ten Tribulations Emperor Heavenly Lord was himself the clan leader of a major Eternal Celestial Clan, a peerless Taishang with boundless authority. Within his clan, there were also behemoths like Ancient Great Venerables who suppressed the myriad heavens. Who would dare to covet it?
After giving away the Celestial Venerate's Heart, Ye Chen felt as if a weight had lifted from him.
He knew that the causality between himself and the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable had vanished.
Although he had become a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, causality was the most mysterious; even a Celestial Venerate could not escape it and would still be entangled.
Of course, with the power of a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, one could sever many causal ties.
But Ye Chen would not do that; instead, he would repay them.
In the past, he had obtained the Ten Tribulations Celestial Venerable's Heart; now, returning it to the Ten Tribulations Celestial Clan invisibly resolved this causality.
Faintly, Ye Chen felt his own cultivation quietly strengthen by a sliver.
Not much, but it was a pleasant surprise.
After all, at the Supreme Heavenly Venerate level, one was practically at the peak, with no further advancement possible—it was the final realm.
Only Pangu and Primordial Beginning were special, possessing combat power surpassing that of other Supreme Heavenly Venerates.
"Well then, we shall meet again if fate allows."
Having settled the debt of gratitude, Ye Chen turned and left.
Behind him, within Heaven-Mending City, billions of cultivators knelt and bowed in farewell: "We respectfully send off the Celestial Venerate!"
After returning to his Heavenly Venerate position, Ye Chen settled back into the Chaos Heaven Mansion.
After so many years, he could finally reunite with his family. Being someone who always valued sentiment, he naturally felt content and enjoyed this rare time.
The Chaos Heaven Mansion was located on Pangu Celestial Venerate Mountain.
On this day, supreme powerhouses appeared from all directions, descending upon the Chaos Heaven Mansion one after another.
They arrived outside the Chaos Heaven Hall, not daring to barge in.
The hall guards were greatly surprised to see the visitors, for the leader among them was none other than the Primordial Realm's former Ancient Demon Lord, Divine Emperor, Henggu Monarch, and Ancestor Xuan—several Half-Step Overlords from back then. Now, they stood together with a host of other Primordial Realm Giants, somewhat awkwardly positioned before the hall doors, politely saying, "We trouble you, sir, to announce us to His Majesty the Chaos Heavenly Emperor."
"Everyone, please enter."
Without needing an announcement, a gentle voice came from within the Chaos Heaven Hall, and the doors opened.
The Primordial Realm Giants were startled, knowing it was the Chaos Heavenly Emperor, and hurried inside, sensing a not-overwhelming yet invisibly supreme and peerless Heavenly Might.
"Fellow Daoists, it has been an epoch since we parted. To be able to meet again now brings me great joy."
Ye Chen personally descended from his throne, his Heavenly Might restrained, making the Primordial Realm Giants feel as if bathed in a spring breeze. Their previous awkwardness vanished instantly.
Originally, because the Chaos Heavenly Emperor was now a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, they had become somewhat more reverent and fearful.
But seeing that the Chaos Heavenly Emperor remained just as before, they happily stepped forward.
"It has been an epoch, Fellow Daoist Ye. You are now a Supreme Heavenly Venerate—truly unimaginable," Ancient Demon Lord exclaimed in amazement. Back when they parted, Ye Chen had been like them, a Taizhen-level Half-Step Overlord, merely approaching the Taishang realm. Who could have thought that after just one epoch of separation, upon meeting again, the other party had become the strongest in the Origin Land, standing shoulder to shoulder with other Supreme Heavenly Venerates.
They themselves were still the Taizhen-level Half-Step Overlords of old, having made some progress, but compared to Ye Chen, the gap was far too vast.
"Indeed," Divine Emperor sighed in wonder. Back then, he had personally witnessed the rise of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor. Even more, the latter had competed with his own son in the Ten Heavens Ancient Domain. Although his talent was transcendent, he had not been taken seriously by him.
Later, he witnessed with his own eyes how the Chaos Heavenly Emperor rose at a terrifying, earth-shattering speed. In just a few million years, he successively became a Giant, a Primordial Giant, and later a Taizhen-level Half-Step Overlord, dominating the Chaos Sea with unparalleled divine might.