A majestic black mist surged from the forbidden zone, slowly coalescing in the air into a towering figure, slender and magnificent, clad in intricate black scales carved with various bizarre, malevolent beasts. On the scales or feathers of every beast, precise runes were engraved.

Upon his head rested a horned iron helm, seemingly forged from deep-sea reefs. Beneath the helm were two eyes blazing like bright lamps, emitting a chilling light that surveyed all creation.

Behind him billowed a flowing black cloak, soaring high in the wind. The Dark Heavenly God!

This was the being who survived the great cataclysm of the Ancient Era, an entity that endured while the sun and moon decayed and heaven and earth were destroyed. What kind of cataclysm could fell such a formidable figure?

Ye Chen stared at the Dark Heavenly God, his voice cold. "You are no match for me.

Why impede me?" The Dark Heavenly God's colossal form resembled a divine statue; stars before him were as minuscule as dust. Ye Chen's body, in contrast, was so minuscule as to be almost invisible.

Yet, he answered, "In the war of the Ancient Era, I was grievously wounded and nearly perished. When I fled injured, I was sealed by the Crescent Moon Divine General, one of the thirteen Divine Generals serving the Ancient God.

Fortunately, the Crescent Moon Divine General was also heavily injured, making the seal imperfect, which is how I managed to break free. I bestowed the Chaos Realm upon them; naturally, I won't allow you to kill them." Despite his massive stature, his voice held the timbre of an ordinary person, as if conversing normally with Ye Chen, not booming like thunder.

Ye Chen let out a cold laugh. "So, you act out of gratitude?

Unbelievable. You, who betrayed and led to the deaths of the Eight Great Heavenly Gods, now understand gratitude?" The Dark Heavenly God fixed him with a steady gaze.

"I did not betray them to their deaths. The news was spread by the Ancient War Venerable.

When the Ancient God's mount, the Great Dao, was returning to the Ancient Realm, it suffered a temporal reversal and sustained severe injuries. Attaining the essence blood of the Great Dao would allow beings at our Heavenly God level to completely break the shackles of the Heavenly God realm, ascend to a higher plane, and enter the legendary Ancient Realm!" "You know the allure of the Ancient Realm; few can resist it." Ye Chen did not deny it.

To all supreme cultivators, the Ancient Realm was like the far shore of the world—the legendary endpoint of all journeys, the starting point of all things. Everyone desired a glimpse of what kind of world it was, what lay within, and why it could so easily birth Heaven-Defying Realm experts, even World Supremes.

Most importantly, legend held that the Ancient God originated from the Ancient Realm. The power of the Ancient God, from the distant past until now—no one had ever dared to question the nature of the place from which he was born.

"Hunting the Great Dao was not wrong. However, when the Great Dao was heavily wounded, the nine of you Heavenly Gods joining forces had an eighty percent chance of killing it.

At that moment, the Ancient War Venerable planned to seize the opportunity to confront the Ancient God. Unexpectedly, your motive during the battle was not to obtain the Great Dao, but to seize the chance to devour the other eight Heavenly Gods, seize their Divine Seals, and become the Supreme Heavenly God—a power sufficient to rival the Ancient War Venerable and the Ancient God," Ye Chen stated coldly, staring at him.

"You know that serving the Ancient God were thirteen Great Divine Generals, each nearly matching the power of a Heavenly God, and the Great Dao itself was terrifyingly strong, far exceeding a Heavenly God. Even though it was wounded, the combined effort of you nine Heavenly Gods would still have been fraught with peril, compounded by the thirteen Divine Generals.

Success would have been highly uncertain, which is why your ambition was never focused there initially." The Dark Heavenly God fell silent. After a long pause, he finally spoke slowly, "You know a great deal." Ye Chen replied, "Indeed." "You should understand that knowing too much is not always a good thing for a person." Ye Chen affirmed, "Indeed." The Dark Heavenly God sighed, "Sometimes, I wish I didn't know so much." "Oh?" The Dark Heavenly God regarded him.

"It is only a pity that when the Ancient God shattered me, a fragment flew towards your battlefield. A trace of my remnant soul witnessed your actions, and that is how I learned," Ye Chen stated slowly.

The Dark Heavenly God was silent for a moment before saying, "So that is how it was." "How many Heavenly God Divine Seals did you acquire in that great battle? You must understand my strength, yet you dare to stand in my way.

You must have some measure of confidence?" Ye Chen regarded him coldly. "There are things in this world that must be done even without absolute certainty.

Furthermore, they must be done," the Dark Heavenly God looked up and offered a slight smile. "However, facing you, without absolute certainty, I truly wished to avoid confrontation.

The power of your Emperor's Blade Qi is already approaching the legendary realm of 'Invincibility'; taking one hit is no trivial matter." "I see," Ye Chen smiled faintly, clenching his hand. The black flames swiftly retracted into his body.

Immediately, an aura of sharp blade energy manifested around him, his entire form seemingly enveloped in a faint illusion of edged weapons. The Dark Heavenly God's expression gradually grew grave.

He slowly raised both hands, and his enormous black body instantly shrank by hundreds of millions of times, reducing his height to only about ten zhang. The space between his hands fractured and vanished, slowly revealing four runes that shimmered with light.

The structure of these four runes was not overly complex, yet they possessed an air of innate perfection, as if drawn by a casual stroke but carrying complete artistic conception—unique, impossible to replicate or imitate! The four runes were red, cyan, white, and gold.

The red rune was as seductive as a fire lotus; the cyan rune was as crisp as a divine dragon; the white rune was as pure as ice and snow; and the golden rune blazed like the scorching sun, emanating a rolling, potent, sharp majesty. "Flame Heavenly God, Divine Wood Heavenly God, Sacred Water Heavenly God, Platinum Heavenly God." Ye Chen glanced over the four marvelous runes, a shadow of grimness flashing in his eyes.

"You actually managed to kill all four of them in the chaos. If I recall correctly, the nine of you were fellow disciples." The Dark Heavenly God sighed lightly.

"The strong prey on the weak. Sentimentality only serves to weaken one." Swish!

Ye Chen said no more. He pointed a finger, and a nearly tangible strand of blade energy, like a shining, silver-white river of light, tore through the void, shooting straight towards the Dark Heavenly God.

This strand of blade energy was not an illusion but the genuine article! If experts like Asura Supreme or others witnessed this, they would undoubtedly be struck dumb.

Such peerless blade energy, even a mere trace of it touching them, would cause their souls to perish, let alone a direct confrontation. The Yama Supreme, whom Ye Chen had slain, could be killed by just the illusion of a single strand of his blade energy—what then of the blade energy itself?

The Dark Heavenly God glanced at it, then lightly swept his palm. The surrounding heaven and earth instantly turned pitch black.

A dense, corrosive force, primal like something devouring all existence, enveloped the sharp blade energy, frantically neutralizing it until both vanished. "Fight me with your true body.

Splitting off mere strands of blade energy will not harm me," the Dark Heavenly God stated calmly. "Though I was severely wounded in the Ancient Era's war, I have long since healed, and my strength now far surpasses that of those days.

Coupled with the Four Great Divine Seals in my possession, I am already close to the realm of 'Invincibility.' You lack the Blade Spirit within your body now, severely diminishing your power; you are simply no match for me!" "Trying to scare me away with a few words? I shall personally experience the power generated when five Divine Seals gather together!" Ye Chen roared towards the heavens.

His body spun like a hurricane, instantly transforming into a colossal battle blade! This was a battle blade three zhang long, snow-white and silver throughout, its edge as smooth as a mirror, reflecting every scene of the world.

The void beside the blade automatically split apart, as if it had been sliced open. Seeing Ye Chen's true form, the Dark Heavenly God knitted his brows.

He dared not remain complacent. He grasped forward, drawing the four Divine Seals before him into his palm.

Intense four-colored light squeezed out from between his fingers like needles, then slowly sank into his palm, vanishing completely. He opened his eyes, and sharp brilliance shot from his pupils.

An aura of supreme dominion surged out like a tidal wave, covering the entire dark world. Instantly, all living things felt a vast, heavenly might, as if the sky above was about to collapse.

This irresistible force instilled fear in all beings. Ye Chen immediately felt his own aura being suppressed by the Dark Heavenly God.

He frowned but did not retreat. He charged straight towards the Dark Heavenly God, the sharp tip of the blade sweeping across the heavens— Pfft!

The entire world split in two. Heaven and earth seemed cleaved by a single stroke.

A bright sword light slashed across the world, and the sharp blade energy reached the Dark Heavenly God. This monarch-like blade energy, imbued with supreme dignity and cold arrogance, cut into his body.

Although his current aura was stronger than Ye Chen's, facing the assault of Ye Chen's true form, he still sustained damage. The hand gripping the blade edge was sliced open, revealing a massive wound that almost took half the palm away.

However, the blade edge he held was simultaneously struck back by a tremendous repulsive force. An aura mixing five pure energies rapidly invaded Ye Chen's body along the blade, destroying the internal structure of the blade itself.

Ye Chen frowned, let out a cold snort, and a surging resonance emanated from within his body, causing the five invading energies within the blade to rapidly dissolve like melting snow. If there was anything in this world that was the most indestructible, it would surely be Ye Chen's body.

Whether it was metal, wood, water, fire, earth, or any other energy, none could destroy or crush his physical form. After his body was shattered once in the past, his current rebirth had made him even sturdier—even the presence of the Ancient God himself would struggle to destroy him, let alone the Dark Heavenly God.

"Emperor's Blade Qi!" Ye Chen thought fiercely, roaring aloud. His body seethed with the power of the void, blade light scattering wildly, sweeping like a hurricane, colliding straight toward the Dark Heavenly God.