Everyone on Ye Fan’s side was stunned. The Ancient Emperor of Silkworm Ridge — this was utterly earth-shattering! Who could have imagined it? A single stone cast ripples across a thousand layers of waves!

The Ancient Emperor of Silkworm Ridge was without question a singular existence. With Nine Transformations, he was undefeated above and below the heavens. With Ten Transformations, he looked down upon all of past and future. The era in which he ascended to Emperor could only be described as brilliantly radiant.

His reign as Emperor had spanned an incomparably long stretch of time — so vast and enduring that every other supreme being despaired, unable to so much as lift their eyes to look upon him.

He was known as the Divine Emperor!

And who would dare claim such a title? Yet the Ancient Emperor of Silkworm Ridge had done exactly that — standing sovereign over all nine heavens and ten earths beneath it.

The Silkworm Daoist’s eyes blazed with extraordinary light. His fists were clenched. He was about to charge forward. The Silkworm Princess too was overwhelmed with shock at what she had seen. Her words had already been heard by the great saints at a distance.

Even from far away, all the assembled saints were covered from head to toe in cold. The hair stood on end across their bodies. This was the Divine Emperor’s coffin — and it had been opened before Mount Sumeru. It was truly mind-shattering.

“The Divine Emperor of Ten Transformations who transcended all of past and future?”

“We never could have imagined it would be him!”

After a brief silence came a wave of low murmurs. Everyone was subdued by those Emperor fluctuations — their entire bodies trembling — and learning of his identity now only made them more terrified.

Atop Mount Sumeru, a host of arhats, bodhisattvas, guardian heavenly kings, and ancient Buddhas all stood stunned, deeply shaken.

The old monk Mo Ke felt his head throb with pain. What was to be done now? By this point, anything said was too late. The coffin had already been opened — it could not be undone. Who could step forward to stop it?

The Great Peacock Wisdom King gripped the Demon-Subduing Staff, her expression shifting between composure and alarm. As formidable as she was, even she had reached the very limits of her wariness — sensing that Mount Sumeru was about to face a great calamity.

“Father!”

The Silkworm Daoist called out, taking great strides forward. He desperately wished to enter the depths of the Source Formation and draw near the opened stone coffin — to see once more the true face of that ancient supreme being.

Ye Fan was also somewhat taken aback. He had never expected it to be the Ancient Emperor of Silkworm Ridge. This was clearly a troublesome development — the Silkworm Princess had come to his aid, and the Ancient Emperor’s own son was here beside them. Using his body as a weapon hardly seemed appropriate. Yet the coffin was already open and could not be reversed. Even if he wished to stop, it was already too late — he had missed the moment.

“Crack!”

The foremost section of the Source Heavenly Formation shattered — it simply could not bear the weight of that pressure. Once the stone coffin opened, the chaos qi and Emperor deathly aura surged together and destroyed everything in that part of the formation.

There is nothing more terrifying in this world than such a fluctuation.

Everyone retreated. Not a single one did not feel a chill.

Ye Fan too could only retreat. Having reached this point, he could not reverse it — there was no putting the lid back on the coffin.

A Great Emperor-level figure — their power was beyond imagination. In this world, no one could oppose them. Even in death, their physical body was indestructible.

A single body was sufficient to suppress an immortal inheritance ten thousand ages old!

In ordinary times it could only be contained by a coffin — for the Emperor’s body represented death and destruction. Once it fell into the mortal world, it would inevitably bring terrible calamity.

In a certain sense, an Emperor’s coffin was more fearsome than anything else in existence. It could not be controlled — it was the equivalent of a demon’s box. Opening it was equivalent to opening the “origin” of blood and chaos.

Ye Fan attempted to activate the Numinous Treasure Celestial Venerable’s Slaughter Sword and harness the Green Copper Cauldron, hoping to draw the body back. After all, this was the ancestral Emperor of the Silkworm Ridge lineage — using him as a weapon seemed inappropriate without the consent of that lineage. But at this moment, taking action was utterly useless — he could not move it in the slightest.

The body within the Emperor coffin was far too terrifying. Its boundless fluctuations spread outward like ripples — seemingly gentle, yet even the most faint and feeble of them was enough to make every bone in one’s body feel as though it were on the verge of shattering.

In ordinary times, it was even more fearsome than an Emperor Artifact. For an Emperor’s divine weapon could be controlled — one could not activate it without reaching a certain level of cultivation, and it remained dormant, causing no harm to those nearby. Moreover, even if one could activate an Emperor’s divine weapon, one’s own cultivation would need to reach its absolute pinnacle before it could fully revive — because it was a weapon exclusive to a Great Emperor, something that no ordinary force could move or truly wield.

The Emperor’s body, however, fluctuated without cease. The aura of death and destruction that it represented spread at all times. Only by sealing it within a coffin and cutting it off from the world could it be contained — otherwise, it would be an unending catastrophe.

Rumble—rumble—!

The opened small stone coffin moved slowly forward, approaching Mount Sumeru. It pressed down — causing the vast and ancient sky to fracture, sending out supreme ripples that destroyed every obstacle in its path.

The Silkworm Daoist stopped in his tracks. Even his father — he could go no closer. The bond of parent and child was for the living. In death, all memory was extinguished. Going up there would shatter his own bones.

The small coffin bore down upon Mount Sumeru — nearly pressing against it.

Yes — “pressed” was the right word. Though small, no one would underestimate it. In the hearts of those watching, it was heavier than the nine heavens themselves — capable of destroying all things.

This was a Great Emperor of the ancient past. The Emperor’s fluctuations spread outward — who could resist?

Clearly, the Buddhist power of Mount Sumeru represented sacred purity, while the ancient coffin represented death. Buddhist radiance and the dense, suffocating aura of the departed clashed — the two completely opposed.

Amid world-shaking tides, Mount Sumeru trembled — as though it were about to collapse. The ancient coffin shuddered too, the mist within boiling and churning.

Provoked by this, both sides blazed with light — neither was calm any longer. Mount Sumeru’s Buddhist radiance illuminated all ten directions, lighting up the entire expanse of the Western Desolation. The small coffin too had brilliant runes flickering within — and inside, the silhouette of a human form materialized.

The Emperor coffin was unfathomably deep — like an abyss, with an entire world existing within. That silhouette was boundless and immeasurable, as though it were about to shatter the void and emerge.

“Boom!”

Atop Mount Sumeru, Buddhist radiance illuminated everything — rising up again and again as one Buddha-shadow after another ascended, each towering and immense, soaring into the sky.

This was the Great Emperor’s formation, fully revived — arrayed against the approaching Emperor coffin. Every formation rune was completely activated, radiating awe-inspiring might. Any great saint who entered would be ground to dust in an instant.

Yet within all of this, the Emperor coffin glided through freely — taking no damage, advancing at an unhurried pace, pressing steadily forward, on the verge of being driven down upon it.

Boom!

The fluctuations of Mount Sumeru grew even more violent. Runes covered the entirety of the mountain — like great hornless dragons crawling everywhere, everywhere, in configurations complex and profound beyond measure.

This was the Great Emperor’s formation, truly revived. It could slay gods and suppress immortals — supremely powerful to the extreme. The small coffin was finally impeded, shuddering and trembling violently.

Everyone held their breath, their hearts overwhelmed with astonishment, intently watching all of this. An Emperor-level confrontation was about to be played out — every single person was deeply uneasy, yet filled with anticipation.

The small coffin shuddered — nearly flipping over. The chaos qi within surged like a vast ocean, jetting out powerfully and sweeping across the surrounding area of Mount Sumeru in all directions.

Finally, with a tremendous boom, a humanoid being was shaken forth from the coffin. The moment it emerged, the four seas trembled, the five domains were struck with dread, heaven and earth let out a mournful cry, and the Great Dao itself prostrated beneath its feet.

It was a sight so shattering that none of those present would ever forget it — forever branded upon the depths of their hearts.

The Emperor’s body had emerged — enveloped in the primordial chaos, indistinct and hazy. Every great hero knelt and prostrated themselves on the ground, terror brought to its extreme. Every inch of their flesh trembled — reverence emanating from the very depths of their souls.

A complete Emperor’s body — how many people in all of history had truly seen one?

Without question, this was a magnificent male figure. Standing there, towering and mighty, pressing the ten directions into ruin — he alone endured, eternal and everlasting, wreathed in swirling mist.

“We cannot see clearly… what does he truly look like?” One of the great saints said, trembling.

“Is this truly the legendary world-surpassing Divine Emperor?!”

Everyone yearned to see — yet none could. This primordial chaos mist was extraordinary — impenetrable, utterly impossible to see through. There was simply no way to behold his true countenance.

Among them all, the expression on the Silkworm Daoist’s face was the most complex. Excitement, grief, joy, sorrow — all intertwined. He had confirmed it beyond doubt. This was his father.

And at this very moment, the seven great life restricted zones of the Eastern Wastelands stirred. Someone had been awakened — revived from deep slumber.

The Divine Emperor had emerged with his body fully intact — unlike an Emperor Artifact, requiring no expenditure of cultivation to activate. His body fluctuated without cease, ceaselessly spreading the most powerful aura in existence, shaking the mortal world!

“Is it him — has he returned?!”

“The Divine Emperor — a figure of reverence and awe!”

From within the Primordial Ancient Mine, which had rested in silence, a voice arose today — filled with boundless emotion, and deep, deep wariness. Awakened by the aura of the Divine Emperor’s emergence, the one who spoke was overwhelmed with feelings.

This age — destined to be glorious. This age — destined to be sorrowful. This age — destined for upheaval. The waiting of ten thousand ages had all converged upon the present — and there must be a reckoning.

The Divine Emperor had emerged, his might bearing down upon all nine heavens!

He stood there — as though still alive — enveloped in primordial chaos mist, approaching Mount Sumeru, pressing down upon the mountain peak with brilliance and boundless rippling waves.

“Crack!”

Some of the Emperor formation runes, limited by their materials, simply could not withstand the weight of that pressure. As he drew near, they snapped and then crumbled away to nothing.

Yet it was precisely because of this that Mount Sumeru released fluctuations more powerful still — they had been provoked. Vast as the ocean, the Buddhist power boiled upward. The entirety of Mount Sumeru transformed into a single enormous living entity — Emperor formation and divine implements uniting to resist the Ancient Emperor.

This was an ultimate confrontation. How many in the present age had ever witnessed one? Truly Emperor-level fluctuations — spreading and swelling across Mount Sumeru.

If not for this place being so extraordinary, the mountain grounds would long since have been reduced to flying ash!

“Clang!”

Behind everyone, the battle armor of Silkworm Ridge rang out — radiating blazing immortal light, trembling and resonating with unceasing intensity.

The Divine Emperor had emerged. As death qi and Emperor deathly aura surged and spread to their fullest, his primal source aura began to diffuse outward — awakening the Emperor Artifact that had accompanied him through a lifetime of conquest, which had been slumbering until now!

It roused from its dormancy — in an instant illuminating past and present alike. Like a lost child catching sight of its parents, it cried out ceaselessly, shuddering in violent agitation.

The resonant ringing went on and on, unbroken. The Ancient Emperor’s battle armor of Silkworm Ridge came apart — dissolving into piece after piece of armor, rushing toward the Divine Emperor, covering him layer by layer.

With every piece that fell into place, the primordial chaos mist was scattered a little more. The nine-colored immortal garment trembled — its sound clear and crisp, its metallic sheen striking, brilliant as the sun and moon descending.

The Divine Emperor was clad in his battle armor once more. In the days of old — Nine Transformations and undefeated above and below the heavens; Ten Transformations and looking down upon all of past and future. That armor had been with him as he painted the Emperor’s road in blood, tempered over countless tribulations into a divine implement indestructible through ten thousand calamities.

The Emperor Artifact revived, fully donned upon him — even more terrifying than before. In an instant a tenth kind of light blazed forth, tearing open the formation of Mount Sumeru. The Divine Emperor walked straight in — as though there was no one there to oppose him.

By the time events had unfolded to this point, all of it had far surpassed what anyone had anticipated. No one had expected it would be the Divine Emperor who emerged — and even more impossible to have foreseen was that he would don his battle armor from life and walk directly into Mount Sumeru.

Never mind the assembled heroes — even great saints like the Silkworm Princess and the elder patriarchs of the ancient imperial clans each felt every hair on their body stand on end. It was too bizarre, too awe-inspiring.

The Divine Emperor had given such a display — as though he still possessed life — leaving the crowd stunned, yet feeling within themselves an unanswerable question!