It must be known that throughout the ages, the personal disciples taken in by Supreme Heavenly Venerates have, at their worst, achieved the status of Taishang realm overlords, ranking as kings among their peers on the Taishang list, no less than the children of Heavenly Venerates themselves.
Those with higher achievements have become Ancient Great Venerables, and some have even reached the level of Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
Moreover, the Endless Heavenly Venerate was alone. To be accepted as his personal disciple would inevitably mean receiving the Heavenly Venerate's boundless resources for cultivation, making the attainment of the Supreme Heavenly position a hopeful prospect.
During this time, even the Heavenly Venerate seeds from the various Eternal Heavenly Clans, who were entrusted with great hopes and considered to possess the bearing of a Heavenly Venerate, were eagerly anticipating being accepted as personal disciples.
But soon, everyone was disappointed, for not long after, news spread that the Endless Heavenly Venerate had already taken on disciples: one personal disciple and one nominal disciple.
The personal disciple he accepted was said to be Yaya, the eldest daughter of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor. It was rumored she was a World Tree that had taken human form, born with unparalleled talent in the Great Dao of Time and Space. Because the Endless Heavenly Venerate owed his reversal of life and death and his revival to the Chaos Heavenly Emperor, and due to various other factors, he accepted Yaya as his personal disciple, imparting to her the relevant Great Dao of Time and Space.
This undoubtedly filled countless people with envy and jealousy.
Not only because she had become the personal disciple of a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, but also because the Endless Heavenly Venerate stood alone. Although it was said a child of his had survived, that child had joined the Primordial Chaos Palace and become a personal disciple of the Primordial Beginning Heavenly Venerate.
Now, he was essentially solitary.
Yaya, becoming the Endless Heavenly Venerate's only personal disciple, could be said to receive all his favor and affection. Her treatment surpassed that of many Heavenly Venerate offspring.
Of course, many also knew this was the Endless Heavenly Venerate repaying the Chaos Heavenly Emperor's kindness.
But without a doubt, accepting the Chaos Heavenly Emperor's eldest daughter as a personal disciple signified that the relationship between the Chaos Heavenly Emperor and the Endless Heavenly Venerate had become even more solid, impervious to damage.
Furthermore, the other nominal disciple was also a child of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor—his eldest son, Qianxun—who was permitted to attend the Endless Heavenly Venerate's sermons, as Qianxun also cultivated the Great Dao of Time and Space.
All of this seemed to have reached a conclusion.
Time flowed on, and three hundred thousand years had passed in the world.
Over these three hundred thousand years, Ye Chen had selected a new Eternal Tian Domain, one without a Heavenly Venerate, Heavenly Clan, or Heavenly Venerate-level power established there. It was also quite close to the Pangu Tian Domain, separated by only one other Eternal Tian Domain, and became the new seat of the Chaos Heavenly Mansion.
This Eternal Tian Domain was henceforth renamed the Chaos Tian Domain.
Naturally, the Chaos Heavenly Mansion, by occupying a complete and infinitely vast Eternal Tian Domain, developed to a great extent.
During the three hundred thousand years, thanks to the group of supreme beings rescued from the Endless Forbidden Zone, the Chaos Heavenly Mansion grew even stronger, advancing further. Its overall power and foundational reserves were now completely unafraid of other Eternal Heavenly Clans and Heavenly Venerate-level powers.
Especially Kunxu Great Venerable, the second strongest in the Chaos Heavenly Mansion after Ye Chen. After spending a full three hundred thousand years, he finally succeeded in refining and fusing with the Heavenly Venerate body of his Heavenly Father. His cultivation increased immensely, becoming unfathomable.
From then on, the Heavenly Venerate legacy left by the Kunlun Heavenly Venerate for his son Kunxu was completely inherited by Kunxu Great Venerable.
Now, he possessed a true Heavenly Venerate body. His strength was so great that it surpassed even the four Ancient Great Venerables of the Thirty-Three Heavenly Palaces, making him the second strongest in the Chaos Heavenly Mansion.
He could rightfully be called the King of Great Venerables.
Without a doubt, with such a powerful Kunxu Great Venerable now in the Chaos Heavenly Mansion, even if Ye Chen were absent, they could hold off an attack from other Supreme Heavenly Venerates for a period of time.
Of course, in truth, Kunxu Great Venerable still lagged behind the mightiest Great Venerable, the Undying Heavenly Venerate. The Undying Heavenly Venerate's power, whether in body, soul, or Dao techniques, was not far from that of a Supreme Heavenly Venerate. He also possessed sufficiently powerful Heavenly Venerate origin source, having seized enough of it during the Twilight of the Heavens, undergoing repeated heaven-defying transformations to reach this stage.
Kunxu Great Venerable, who had merely inherited a Heavenly Venerate body, still fell short, though he was the closest among the many Great Venerables.
Moreover, as a flawed Heavenly Venerate, Kunxu Great Venerable's highest achievement in this life would likely only reach this point. Not everyone could attain the heights of the Undying Heavenly Venerate, who had achieved it by seizing the right time, place, and circumstances.
Meanwhile, the injuries Ye Chen had sustained in the past healed further, and his blood and qi grew even more powerful.
The Chaos Heavenly Venerate Sun hung perpetually in the sky of the Origin Land, merged with the Heavenly Dao.
Over the three hundred thousand years, Ye Chen naturally did not merely focus on healing his wounds. On another front, he was also searching for a path to advance further.
The Supreme Heavenly Venerate might not be the end; one could become even stronger, like the Primordial Beginning Heavenly Venerate and the Great God Pangu, who were the strongest among Heavenly Venerates.
It was said that both possessed the ability to directly slay other Supreme Heavenly Venerates, far surpassing other Heavenly Venerates. This was the foundation of their title as Heavenly Venerate Kings.
"The Heavenly Venerate should not be the end. One can advance further. I aspire to become a Heavenly Venerate King, like the Primordial Beginning Heavenly Venerate and the Great God Pangu," Ye Chen remained ever driven. He was still very young; other Supreme Heavenly Venerates had lived through multiple Chaos Epochs, while he was just over one epoch old, even younger than many supreme beings at the Three Taishang realms—frighteningly young.
Then, he lowered his head in contemplation, murmuring to himself, "In the past, a Supreme Heavenly Venerate once said that to become stronger, there are two methods. One is to have another Great Dao attain the Eternal Great Dao, thus possessing dual Eternal Great Daos, becoming a Heavenly Venerate King. The other method is to have one's physical body attain the Eternal Heavenly Dao."
"The Huang Heavenly Venerate walked this path, having his physical body attain the Eternal Heavenly Dao. He himself became the Eternal Heavenly Dao, a world unto himself—if he does not perish, his Great Dao does not perish. It is said that both the Primordial Beginning Heavenly Venerate and the Great God Pangu succeeded in attaining the Dao through their bodies."
"For the path ahead, should I also seek to attain the Dao through my body?"
Yet, Ye Chen deeply furrowed his sword-like brows, for attaining the Dao through the body was more difficult than imagined.
In the past, when he was weak, he had walked the dual path of body attainment and chaos attainment. He had once pushed the body refinement path to its extreme, possessing a peerless body, invincible among his peers, even capable of fighting across major realms.
But after becoming a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, although his body had also transformed into an immensely powerful Heavenly Venerate body, impervious to ten thousand calamities, it had not yet reached the stage of complete indestructibility.
Ye Chen believed his Heavenly Venerate body still had the potential to advance further, surpassing his peers, like the Huang Heavenly Venerate.
Once he successfully attained the Eternal Dao through his body, combined with the Chaos Eternal Heavenly Dao, he would become invincible in the world, a new Heavenly Venerate King.
However, the path of body attainment was not so easily traversed. At the very least, for now, Ye Chen had few leads.
In the past, although he had walked the body refinement path, the experience to reach true Eternal attainment through the body was insufficient, still somewhat shallow.
"Perhaps, given the opportunity, I need to pay a visit to the Huang Heavenly Venerate to seek a breakthrough opportunity," Ye Chen said to himself.