The Celestial Vessel streaked across the vast expanse of the Yan Shen Empire like a meteor, traversing the majority of its territory, slicing through countless cities and hundreds of vassal states. Yet, all along its path lay only desolation, darkness, and chill. Every prosperous city had fallen, becoming a lair for monstrous entities.

Yan Shen Empire, Imperial Capital.

The Heavenly Dao Divine Ark arrived like a swift arrow, hovering above the Yan Shen Empire. Gazing down from the porthole, the entire massive citadel of the Imperial Capital was pitch black, devoid of light. A lonely, cold wind swept through the city streets.

Ye Chen’s heart sank.

He looked up toward the distant, inky horizon. "Could it be that the entire Ancient World has been overrun by monsters, and everyone... is dead?"

A chill crept up his spine.

The realization that one might be the sole survivor in a world where everyone else had perished and transformed into savage beasts was far more terrifying than death itself.

Bai Yijun noticed Ye Chen’s grim expression and felt a corresponding worry. She gently took his hand, finding it cold. "Don't worry too much. Perhaps only the Yan Shen Empire has fallen. Let’s go see White Spirit Mountain; it is the foremost renowned mountain in the world, geographically treacherous. There should be people there."

Ye Chen snapped back to attention, chiding himself inwardly. The gloom vanished from his face, and he nodded. "That’s right. Someone must still be there."

He knew that in this world, he had certain responsibilities to uphold.

"To White Spirit Mountain," Ye Chen commanded.

Xiao Zhongsheng immediately manipulated the Heavenly Dao Divine Ark, rocketing toward the distant heavens. Traveling to White Spirit Mountain from here, relying only on the Ark’s flight speed without the aid of the city's spatial wormhole connections, would likely take three to four months.

"I wonder how Bai Long and the others are doing..." Ye Chen worried silently.

Days turned into weeks. The sky over the Ancient World remained perpetually dark. That blood-red moon hung like an evil pupil, watching over the entire land. Countless wisps of mist coiled around the ruined cities.

Ye Chen sat cross-legged inside the vessel, secretly cultivating the third layer of the Yan Shen Mystic Canon.

When he was still in the Half-God realm, he had heard that within the entire Yan Shen Empire, no one except the Yan Emperor himself had ever managed to cultivate this secret canon to the third layer.

However, circumstances had changed. With Ye Chen’s current state of mind, coupled with the tempering of his body by the Divine Fire of the Fire Blood Phoenix, his mastery over the fire path was extraordinary. He managed to complete the cultivation of the third layer of the Yan Shen Mystic Canon in a mere ten days.

As the vessel flew over cities along the route, they frequently encountered large flocks of birds and beasts. These creatures possessed crimson pupils that glowed with an eerie light. As soon as they heard the sound of the Ark’s thrusters activating, they would shriek and dive to attack.

Just after finishing his cultivation of the Yan Shen Mystic Canon, Ye Chen used these beasts as training posts to test the power of its third layer.

Unlike the preceding two layers, once the third layer was unleashed, a colossal beam of red light tore through the dark clouds directly above Ye Chen's head. It seemed to collapse inward, revealing a massive, vivid crimson vortex.

A fierce, hot wind emanated from this vortex, consuming the surrounding dark clouds. Then, from the edge of the red vortex, a snow-white bone claw extended.

Behind this bone claw stood a gargantuan skeletal frame, reminiscent of the skeletal summons from the necromancy of the ancient Babylonian civilization.

However, the size of this skeleton was in no way inferior to that of the headless ancient corpse—it was colossal, reaching up to pierce the heavens, radiating an unparalleled aura.

Ye Chen immediately realized his consciousness was linked to this massive skeleton, as if this framework had become his own body, capable of combat.

Initially, Ye Chen found it hard to believe, but after some experimentation, he instantly discovered the skeleton's immense power. Under his control, it could easily unleash the might of the peak Void Heaven Realm.

All of his personal secret techniques, including the black flames, could be transplanted and executed through this white bone skeleton. Furthermore, the hardness of the skeleton’s structure was in no way inferior to the hull of the Heavenly Dao Divine Ark; regardless of the attacks it sustained, it suffered not a speck of damage, remaining pure white and crystalline like jade.

Ye Chen had not anticipated such a terrifyingly powerful secret canon existing within the Yan Shen Empire. No wonder the spirit of the sealed Fire Origin Void Heaven Artifact desired the Yan Shen Mystic Canon so much. If it could summon this white bone skeleton and imprint its soul upon it, sweeping through the entire Yan Shen Empire would be effortless!

After mastering the Yan Shen Mystic Canon, Ye Chen immediately began summoning the numerous Lords of Civilization he had subdued within his Rune Space. These Lords of Civilization were acquired while searching for the keys to the Ancient God’s grotto-mansion within the Ancient Realm Peak. Each one possessed a microcosm of their respective civilizations, along with powerful experts from other civilizations imprisoned within, serving as eternal slaves.

Ye Chen summoned them, taking stock and finding there were representatives from 825 civilizations. Without hesitation, he gathered the representatives from all 825 groups and collected a single drop of vital blood from each person.

The old man from the Green Rune within the Rune Ship was sleeping, waking up daily to tinker with small gadgets. If he needed any material missing from the Rune Space, he would demand it from these Lords of Civilization, living quite comfortably. Seeing Ye Chen arrive, his eyes immediately glowed green, like a famished male animal spotting a beautiful woman, and he lunged forward.

Bang!

What awaited him was a kick from Ye Chen, landed precisely on his face.

"Stay away from me," Ye Chen said coldly while collecting the vital blood.

The old Green Rune man scrambled up from the floor, rubbing his cheek, his expression mournful. "After all this time, you are still so ruthless to me. My heart is shattered..."

Ye Chen rolled his eyes so hard it felt immense.

The old Green Rune man chuckled slyly, creeping closer, peering curiously at the many test tubes in Ye Chen's hand. "What do you need so much blood for? When did you start enjoying drinking blood?"

Ye Chen busied himself, paying him no mind.

The old Green Rune man wasn't angry at all; in fact, he seemed to take it as a given. He leaned in conspiratorially toward Ye Chen’s ear and chuckled, "When will you help me refine the ship? I haven't been out in a long time. The world outside is chaotic now. Old Green... Little Green also wants to stretch his legs a bit."

Ye Chen glanced at him. "I don't have enough materials. If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll treat you as material and melt you into the Heavenly Dao Vessel."

The old Green Rune man jumped in fright, quickly covering his mouth with his hands and retreating a dozen yards.

Ye Chen gave an exasperated eye-roll, swiftly finishing the collection of the vital blood. He then returned to the Heavenly Dao Divine Ark with all the test tubes.

"This is..." Bai Yijun couldn't help but be astonished when she saw so many test tubes.

"For cultivation," Ye Chen murmured softly, then sat on the sofa. With a sweep of his hand, a pile of the 825 test tubes shot forward, with more than a dozen landing on the crystal table before him.

Ye Chen flicked his finger, and the cap of one test tube opened automatically. The drop of vital blood, drawn by some mysterious force, drifted out and hovered before Ye Chen.

Ye Chen flicked his finger against the blood vessels in his wrist. His sharp nail immediately sliced the fair skin, and blood began to flow out.

The drop of blood hovering before him rapidly shot toward his wrist, sinking into the wound.

With his ever-increasing power, Ye Chen no longer needed instruments to perform the gene chain fusion: the Myriad Heavens Melting God Art.

As the blood merged into his body, a golden glint flashed in Ye Chen’s eyes. He slowly closed them, rapidly circulating the Myriad Heavens Melting God Art within his body, quickly breaking down the drop of blood. He then extracted the highest quality genes and, using the specific methods of the Myriad Heavens Melting God Art, integrated them into his being.

During this process, Ye Chen’s own resistance was weakened to the extreme, but with Bai Yijun guarding him, he felt completely safe.

Time flowed quietly...

Bai Yijun watched Ye Chen with concern. She sat quietly on a sofa not far from him, vigilantly monitoring his condition while simultaneously keeping an eye on any activity outside the vessel.

White Spirit Mountain.

Across the vast expanse of the Ancient Realm territory, White Spirit Mountain stood as the foremost sacred peak. Its terrain was perilous, surrounded by peaks that stretched for millions of miles. Divine peaks pierced the clouds like bamboo shoots, sheer and straight.

Hazy white mist drifted among the peaks. In years past, countless people flocked here just to reside for a period, and even the princes of many minor vassal states offered immense wealth for the qualification—the right to cultivate within these mountains for a set time.

It was practically a holy land in the hearts of all cultivators.

The Tian Du River encircled White Spirit Mountain like a bracelet, its surging waters rushing past, unchanged, just as it had been in the West.

However, looking down from the high altitude upon the 10,130 peaks of White Spirit Mountain, the entire area was dotted with human presence, appearing like countless ants huddled together on the slopes, forming a dark, black, bristling shadow.

At the center of the peaks was the tallest, White Spirit Peak.

Currently, the massive palace originally built by the Bai family atop White Spirit Peak had completely vanished. In its place stood a palace forged of ice-like crystal, luxurious yet exquisite, magnificent and grand. At the entrance of the largest central palace, there was a huge stone tablet engraved with: Ancient God Temple!

Inside the expansive temple hall, the doors were open, the light piercingly bright. A straight, scarlet carpet led from the entrance. Flanking the carpet stood eighteen thrones carved from ice and snow, facing each other. At the very top rested an ancient golden Dragon Throne, currently unoccupied. However, the two rows of facing ice and snow thrones below were already filled with thirty-six figures.

Among them were Yue Ling, Bai Long, Yue Heng, and Zhuge Fan. Furthermore, the Samsara Saint King and Bai Tian were also seated. The former masters of the Heavenly Thunder Palace and other God Temples were nowhere to be seen.