Staring at the enormous, glowing red dot on the screen, Ye Chen’s heart seized with terror. "How can there be a creature with such a powerful life signature? What realm has it attained? Even a peak Divine Emperor powerhouse possesses less than one ten-thousandth of this aura!"

"Master, this aura has locked onto us," Xiao Zhongsheng’s expression suddenly shifted, and he spoke urgently.

A jolt went through Ye Chen, and he hastily commanded, "Quickly retreat! Back to the Great Dao of Ancient Realm Peak!"

"Yes." As Xiao Zhongsheng responded, his hands flew across the controls of the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat. It roared away into the distance, following the exact coordinates on the electronic map, cranking the main engine to maximum power. The thrusters erupted like furious dragons, and in an instant, they vanished from sight.

Watching the distance widen between them and the red dot, Ye Chen hadn't yet managed to breathe a sigh of relief when a deafening roar tore through the sky: "WHERE—IS—MY—HEAD!!"

Every syllable struck Ye Chen’s heart like a massive drum, vibrating his eardrums until they hummed. Even with the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat's defenses and soundproofing, the sound pierced through, revealing the terrifying power of the being that uttered it!

Rumble!

A sound like raging tides erupted thunderously from afar, accompanied by the incessant collapse of countless rocks and stones. Ye Chen peered through the Divine Boat's sensors, zooming the image from its true form onto the virtual LCD screen. What he saw was a landscape of small hills; though they appeared minor, each was actually tens of millions of kilometers high.

At the center of these hills was a massive basin. Suddenly, a storm of debris, gravel, and dust erupted from the basin. Immediately following this, a deep, hellish growl rose from the crater. Simultaneously, a hand, covered in coarse black hair and tipped with razor-sharp nails, emerged from the basin, grasping the crest of the small hill, and slowly rose to its full height.

It was a headless corpse. The neck was a dried, severed stump. Its skin was the color of aged bronze, the musculature taut and full, the pectoral muscles bulging—the entire form brimming with explosive power. Upon this body, which seemed near-perfect in its savage form, were several deep scars: one slashed diagonally across the chest, another across the lower abdomen, and a third marking the arm.

Seeing this figure, Ye Chen’s pupils contracted, his heart filled with indescribable shock. Even by visual estimation, the sheer scale was immense; its height must have exceeded a hundred million kilometers. What kind of colossal being was this!

Ye Chen dared not even conceive that such a terrifying entity could exist in this world.

At this moment, the headless corpse seemed to have noticed Ye Chen. It stood still for a moment, then suddenly raised one arm, striking its own chest with tremendous force, roaring, "Give me back my head!!!" The figure then launched itself from the hillock, pursuing the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat with bellows, leaving massive palm prints pressed into the ground with every step.

Ye Chen’s hair stood on end; an unprecedented sense of peril washed over him. He shouted, "Maximum speed! Run! Faster!"

Xiao Zhongsheng’s delicate features were etched with gravity, cold sweat tracing lines down her forehead as her slender fingers rapidly manipulated the control panel. The Divine Boat’s various thrusters accelerated instantly to their limit. The entire vessel streaked away like a bolt of light into the distance.

"Give me back my head!!" the headless corpse roared in pursuit.

Ye Chen noticed that the creature only possessed one arm; the other was severed cleanly at the wrist, cleaved off by some unknown force. A shock ran through him—this creature hadn't died despite losing its head.

Whoosh!

The Heavenly Dao Divine Boat tore through the void, swift as a hurricane, traveling millions of kilometers per second. Yet, under the relentless pursuit of the headless corpse, the distance between them was rapidly closing.

"It’s no good," Xiao Zhongsheng said anxiously. "In 18.6 seconds, the enemy will catch us."

At this critical juncture, Ye Chen surprisingly calmed down. He made an immediate, decisive command: "Activate the jump drive! When we are about five seconds away from the enemy, initiate the warp!"

"Yes!" Xiao Zhongsheng acknowledged.

During this frantic flight, the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat roared past. It encountered numerous ferocious beasts lurking on the ground. These beasts prepared to ambush the Divine Boat the moment they sensed it, but before they could attack, they saw it vanish from sight.

One by one, the beasts recoiled, preparing to return to their lairs. Just then, a world-shaking tremor approached, like the advance of a primeval savage beast, accompanied by a hysterical roar that made every creature tremble: "Give—me—BACK—MY—HEAD!!"

Wherever the headless corpse passed, all the fierce beasts prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to move, as if witnessing something utterly terrifying. Horror flooded their normally cruel and savage eyes.

"Warp!" Ye Chen commanded.

"Jump drive engaged."

"Antimatter containment releasing—stabilizing the spatial jump corridor…"

Whoosh!

Millions of miles ahead of the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat, a stable star-gate materialized. The Divine Boat hurtled toward it, diving straight in. The immense force of its entry dragged the external antimatter energy, and the star-gate slowly began to close.

"ROOOAR!!!" A furious bellow erupted from the pursuing headless corpse. It stood where the star-gate had vanished, raising its single fist toward the heavens. A roar, emanating from some unseen part of its body, shook the firmament! "WHERE IS MY HEAD BEYOND THIS PLACE?!!"

A flash of white light.

The Heavenly Dao Divine Boat reappeared in a tranquil expanse of sky. It was wide and boundless. Ye Chen scrutinized his surroundings for a moment before realizing with a start that he had accidentally blundered his way back to the Great Dao of Ancient Realm Peak!

"We actually made it back," Ye Chen whispered in delighted relief, feeling the sensation of escaping certain death.

Bai Yijun walked over, her delicate brows slightly furrowed. "What was that monster just now? I sensed a potent life signature, but absolutely zero soul fluctuation—it was entirely a corpse puppet. Whatever creature it was in life, after so many millennia, no one ever knew its body could resist decay."

Ye Chen nodded slowly, his expression grave. He pondered for a moment, then turned to Xiao Zhongsheng. "When you followed Master Heavenly Dao, did you ever encounter a being like that?"

Xiao Zhongsheng shook her head. "Never."

Ye Chen frowned, thinking deeply for a moment. "Let's go find the Ancestors first. Perhaps they know something. If they are still outside the Great Dao of Ancient Realm Peak right now, it’s going to be troublesome. If we run into that headless corpse again, it will be certain doom!"

Bai Yijun nodded slightly.

Immediately, Ye Chen followed the stellar markers on the electronic map, speeding toward the encampment of the Spiritual Civilization along the Great Dao. It took about two hours of flight before they arrived. Along the way, they encountered people from the Faith Civilization, but thanks to the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat’s activated camouflage, they were not recognized.

"They are here!" Ye Chen saw the area where the Spiritual Civilization was stationed—a massive castle sat quietly nestled there. His eyes lit up. He arrived before the castle, stepped out of the Divine Boat, and called out loudly, "Is the Ancestor present?"

The castle remained silent for a moment, then the massive gates rumbled open. Ye Chen recalled the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat and, hand-in-hand with Bai Yijun, floated inside. Not long after entering, they encountered a figure—it was none other than Emperor Shao Hao!

"Ye Chen!" Shao Hao exclaimed joyfully upon seeing Ye Chen from afar and instantly teleported over.

Ye Chen was equally delighted to see him alive and well. He smiled. "Are the Ancestors all here?"

"They are." Shao Hao glanced at Ye Chen and Bai Yijun, then jokingly punched Ye Chen’s chest, laughing. "You have a truly hard life! To escape a monster that powerful—where have you been all this time? We haven't heard from you and thought you might have met your end."

"Just good luck," Ye Chen replied with a slight smile.

Shao Hao laughed heartily, then his smile abruptly stopped as if remembering something. "I almost forgot! Now that you’re back, quickly, come! We have run into trouble."

"Trouble?" Ye Chen was momentarily stunned.

In the main hall of the Heavenly Emperor Castle, an alloy round table was set up, surrounded by majestic dragon thrones. On the left side of the table sat six figures—four men and two women. Each was dressed in distinctive attire, yet all appeared calm, either leaning back in their seats with faint smiles or looking casual.

Some were fiddling with their fingernails, while others had their arms crossed over their chests, leaning back and dozing off.

On the right side sat Fuxi, the Yellow Emperor, Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun, and other Great Emperors. At the highest seat was Nuwa. Her eyebrows were like graceful willows, and her exquisite, beautiful face held a hint of detached elegance. She looked toward the six figures and spoke calmly, "Esteemed guests, after all the effort you've exerted coming here, your objective is simply to demand that the Spiritual Civilization hand over two fragments of the Ancient God’s Cave Mansion, is that correct?"

"It’s not about handing them over," a scholarly-looking man smiled gently. "It’s about forming an alliance. Once the Ancient God’s Cave Mansion opens, we hope you will entrust the two fragments to the League for unified activation. You should be aware that the many civilizations currently present at Ancient Realm Peak have formed four major factions: the Primordial Alliance, the Dragon’s Tooth Alliance, the Heroes’ League, and the Civilization Alliance! Our Dragon’s Tooth Alliance stands in the middle to upper tier of these four, gathering seven to eight hundred civilizations, including powerful figures from the Ten Palaces and Ten Kingdoms, as well as envoys from the Lei and Long families of the Nine Ancient Families. Such formidable strength means many civilizations can’t even find a way to join."

"Our Alliance Master sent us here because he recognizes that the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are unparalleled heroes, thus we invite you to join us. Any treasures acquired within the Alliance in the future will be shared with you."

"We will not join any alliance," Nuwa stated serenely. "If my deduction is correct, your Dragon’s Tooth Alliance possesses only two or three key fragments of the Ancient God’s Cave Mansion, correct? You must know that the Progenitor of the Mechanical Civilization has calculated, based on the fragments’ size, that there can be at most ten key fragments in total! We currently hold two. You should understand how priceless that makes them."

The scholarly man smiled faintly, but a hint of mockery flickered in his eyes. "I understand their value. You should also understand that our Alliance Master would not send us here to return empty-handed. Furthermore, we extend this invitation as a courtesy. I did not wish to spell this out and strip you of face, but you must not be too unappreciative of the gesture!"