The chaotic blade energy tore through the sky, aimed straight at the Fourth Sovereign.

"It's been so many years since I last made a move; people seem to have almost forgotten me." After shaking the seal, the Fourth Sovereign found it unbreakable. He turned to face the menacing blade light closing in, and his expression suddenly calmed. He raised a hand, and surging void energy manifested in his palm.

"Bloodline of the Heavens!"

The Fourth Sovereign tilted his head back to the sky, a crimson dot appearing on his forehead. Behind him, it seemed an ancient Phoenix from primordial times cried out, and a scorching aura radiated from him.

"Open again!"

With a low cry, a golden point of light emerged on his forehead. Simultaneously, a layer of fine, golden scales grew across his body, sharp as blades and imbued with infinite energy.

"Open! Open! Open!"

On his forehead, points of energy bearing different colors appeared in rapid succession, each embedded like a jewel. His entire presence instantly surged to a terrifying, world-shaking degree—even the Ancient War Venerable’s expression shifted.

Fierce power erupted wantonly from the Fourth Sovereign’s body, shattering the sharp blade aura before him. He slowly lifted his head, his long black hair whipping wildly, his gaze cold and filled with murderous intent, fixed upon the Ancient War Venerable. "Though I might not be your match, if you intend to keep me here, holding back your true strength, I fear it won't be enough!"

His figure flashed, and he charged directly toward the space constrained by the seal.

Bang!

A sound like shattering glass echoed. In an instant, the Fourth Sovereign traversed tens of thousands of light-years, leaving behind a parting shot: "When you face my Master, that will be the day of your demise!"

The Ancient War Venerable's face darkened, his eyes flashing with cold light. "Your Master, the Ancient God, only managed a draw with me. What hope do you have with this little bit of skill? Hmph!" With a cold snort, the surrounding void violently trembled, exploding like rolling thunder.

The Fourth Sovereign’s mind roared, his soul nearly scattering. He frowned deeply, quickly regaining his focus, silently murmuring an incantation before looking up at the Ancient War Venerable and bellowing towards the heavens: "With my body as kindling, I burn through the Three Thousand Realms—Shatter!"

As the words fell, a storm that swept heaven and earth erupted from his body, engulfing the entire world. A massive red point of light appeared on his forehead. It burst open with a deafening roar, the released power flowing through his limbs, instantly increasing his aura by a hundredfold!

The Ancient War Venerable’s brow furrowed slightly. He snorted coldly, slowly gripping the battle saber in his hand, pouring energy into Ye Chen’s body, refining it into a cohesive blade aura, and slowly raising it overhead.

"Lend me this one strike. You shall live!"

Vvvvmm~~

The blade hummed, and in that instant, an almost illusory, colossal divine blade shot out from the tip, piercing the heavens and earth—a white beam that seemed to connect the cosmos—and it cleaved down fiercely toward the Fourth Sovereign!

The Fourth Sovereign looked up; the white light expanded in his pupils—

Thwack!

Blood sprayed.

The Fourth Sovereign's body was flung backward like a broken-winged bird. Behind where he was propelled, a passage slowly opened in the void, swallowing his body whole.

In the void where he stood, only one severed hand remained, still clutching a dark light.

The Ancient War Venerable stared in the direction the Fourth Sovereign had fled, his brow furrowed. After a long pause, he sighed lightly. "This young man is an outstanding figure of this era. Even in death, he would be a peerless, formidable hero. In this entire realm, those who can withstand a single strike from me are only he and his Master, the Ancient God."

With that, he beckoned with his hand and drew the black light toward him. Observing the struggling radiance, his expression remained indifferent. "I created you in the beginning. Now, reclaiming you is merely a return to the source. Still struggling? You have no idea of your place!"

Saying this, he opened his mouth and swallowed; the black light was directly absorbed into his gut.

Whoosh!

Ye Chen’s figure flashed, transforming from the cold blade into a human shape. He frowned, looking at the Ancient War Venerable. "Aren't you afraid it will cause trouble inside you?"

The Ancient War Venerable smiled proudly. "A mere clown, why should I fear him?"

Ye Chen could only fall silent. After a while, he spoke again, "I have done what I promised you. Now, you should return the Blade Soul to my body, right?"

The Ancient War Venerable smiled at him. "No rush yet. I have sealed your Blade Soul in a highly secret location. After the great battle with the Ancient God, I will naturally let her meet you then."

"Wait until after the great battle?" Ye Chen’s face changed.

"Indeed." The Ancient War Venerable chuckled, looking at him. "Although you’ve lost the Blade Soul and your strength cannot be fully unleashed, I am enough this time. I only need your body; the only thing in this world capable of killing the Ancient God is your blade form. Nothing is sharper."

Ye Chen was silent for a moment before saying, "The Ancient God is making a comeback this time; his power will certainly have increased. What if you die during the fight?"

"Don't worry." The Ancient War Venerable looked up at the distant sky, as if the heavens and earth were beneath his feet. "He will not win. This time, I will absolutely erase him completely!"

Ye Chen watched his receding figure, his eyes flickering.

"Alright, I have just swallowed the origins of the Nine Sovereign Celestial Gods and need time to digest. During this period, do not wander off. Stay within the Ancient World, lest the Ancient God captures you." The Ancient War Venerable stated calmly, his figure flashing, disappearing into thin air.

Staring at the empty world, Ye Chen stood still for a long time before slowly withdrawing his gaze. He looked down at the void and darkness beneath his feet. "Absolutely will win...?"

A cunning smile, imperceptible to anyone, curved Ye Chen’s lips.

...

The Ancient Continent.

Across its vast and boundless territory, the former Ten Great Empires, Ten Great Sanctuaries, and countless cities and magnificent walls were now all ruined. Large swathes of land had turned to scorched earth, sweeping across the entire world like tidal waves, rapidly consuming one city after another. The once glorious and prosperous metropolises vanished one by one into the gaping maw of darkness.

It was like countless city lights, one after another, extinguishing into silence within the dark.

Countless living beings, who only moments before enjoyed happy dinners and the company of their families, were next subjected to monsters bursting forth from the earth, instantly crushing homes and trampling their loved ones into bloodied pulp—scenes of hell manifested before their eyes.

The apocalypse had arrived with shocking suddenness.

In every corner of the continent, countless people were desperately evacuating. Defense cities were overrun by monsters. The armies of the Empire marshaled spaceships and aircraft carriers to mount a resistance, but against these savage creatures, countless super-tech cosmic rays and laser cannons failed to pierce their scales.

The sheer might of the monsters instilled a sense of powerlessness in people’s hearts.

No matter how strong a human was, they remained human, possessing human emotions—thus, fear and timidity existed. When facing monsters countless times stronger, the Imperial armies pouring onto the front lines were merely throwing drops into a raging ocean.

The war was like a colossal meat grinder, slaughtering all life.

Ye Chen’s figure emerged from ripples of space, looking down upon the Ancient World beneath him. The blood-red moonlight above was eerily like an enormous, cold eye watching all living things on the land.

"Death is birth, and birth is destruction. Destruction comes because of birth, and birth comes because of destruction..." Ye Chen wandered aimlessly, observing the dilapidated cities, the countless lives that had stained this land crimson with their blood.

Born from the earth, they would nourish the earth upon death, becoming nutrients in the soil.

Were the dead not just like grass and trees?

Seeing this, Ye Chen experienced a moment of sudden enlightenment. He chanced upon a slender young woman in a ruined city, clutching an ancient zither. Her fair skin was smeared with patches of black soil. Not far in front of her, a beast resembling a giant wolf growled, stalking closer step by step.

This giant wolf was not an undead creature, but one of the original beings of the Ancient World, likely displaced from its nest by the necromantic forces underground, leading it to plunder the human realm.

This girl was, naturally, its target.

Ye Chen initially chose not to interfere. In his view, fate governed life and death; in such a chaotic world, even if he saved her this time, she would likely perish elsewhere later without sufficient strength.

However, upon seeing the girl’s appearance, he paused. With a casual flick of his hand, a cluster of flame drifted out and landed on the giant wolf, instantly igniting its fur, consuming its body along with it into ashes.

The sudden event stunned the girl. She stood there bewildered for a long moment before hearing a sound tearing through the air above her. She looked up and saw a black-haired youth descending swiftly from the sky, landing before her. His cold expression carried an air of nobility.

"It's you!" The girl exclaimed in surprise.

Ye Chen nodded slightly. "Come with me." With a grab of his hand, he lifted the girl’s body and shot away through the void toward the distance.

This girl was the one he had met when traveling to Earth and acquiring the civilization gene of the ancient zither. He hadn't expected to see her again after over a hundred thousand years. The aura surrounding her had already reached the level of a Divine Emperor.

Ye Chen looked down at the girl held in his embrace and murmured, "I'll take you to the human base."

The girl looked up at Ye Chen's chin and profile, feeling a sense of disorientation. She had experienced so much over the span of a hundred millennia, yet the scene from her childhood remained indelible. That black silhouette was deeply etched in her heart. Only after breaking through to the Divine Emperor realm did she realize how powerful that shadow had been, displaying a level of might far beyond that of a Divine Emperor.