Figures who had once defeated the Chaos Great Emperor had now reappeared in this era. How could this fail to shock? This city had once preserved the records of their might and their footsteps.

After countless tens of thousands of years, they had returned once more, appearing here — looking down upon all under heaven — astounding every single person present.

These were seven figures who made one tremble. In that age, they were the most powerful enemies of the young Chaos Great Emperor. It was they who had driven him to despair and into a journey to the desolate frontier.

How could this be so? Peerless figures from the primordial ancient age had returned in this invincible manner — making everyone feel deeply unsettled.

They were named in the historical records, their fearsome deeds shaking the world — legendary throughout the ages. Now that they had manifested, it felt so unreal.

Many people on the city walls were too stunned to speak. The Seven Champions of Chaos — no further elaboration was needed; their title alone was enough to make hearts tremble.

Yet, were these still themselves? Time had passed; the blood now flowing within their bodies was black — the blood of the dead — no longer red and vital. This was the most powerful kind of awakening the underworld possessed: summoning legendary powerful figures of antiquity to reign over this world.

“Do they still retain their memories from before? I think… it is impossible!” Someone grew calm and spoke those words.

These were ancient powerful figures who had died and been received into the underworld, where they had been preserved across a vast span of time — blessed by the Lord of the Underworld, endowed with this black blood of the dead, and given birth to a different kind of will.

“Come with me.” The foremost of the Seven Champions of Chaos raised the great black sword in his hand and pointed it at Ye Fan. His eyes held no whites at all — entirely pitch-black, like two black voids.

Boom!

The seven riders charged forward as one, all manner of light-patterns swirling, pressing forward to execute and destroy.

Ye Tong, Hua Hua, and Yang Xi struck out in fury — the Sacred Physique’s phenomenon, the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist, the simultaneous eruption of the Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang, the all-illuminating Buddha-light — it was a collision of laws, a direct confrontation of the supreme Dao.

Blood-rain flew. Between the two sides, the most ferocious of slaughters broke out. Then both sides retreated. The blood of Ye Fan’s three great disciples splattered outward — their wounds exposed bone, dark light flowing within them — the death aura and corroding power of the underworld soil.

They cut away the putrefied flesh, rapidly reconstructed their bodies, and each one’s gaze turned sharper and keener, their spirit and vitality rising to its absolute peak.

This was bound to be an arduous battle, for these seven were far too powerful.

“Figures who once drove even the Chaos to despair and into madness — truly fearsome!” This was the astonished thought in every heart within the Emperor Pass.

Though Ye Tong, Hua Hua, and Yang Xi were covered in blood and had suffered grave injuries, they had also inflicted wounds on their opponents — a feat of battle already sufficient to astonish the world.

These had been the powerful adversaries faced by the Chaos in his time. The three of them, as long as they survived, were already sufficient to stand proud above all heroes. That they had indeed slain the Fire Spirit and contended with the Tyrant had proven no empty boast.

Just then, footsteps sounded along the path of meteorite fragments that paved the road before the city gate. Ye Fan stepped forward one pace at a time, a grave expression on his face. He could not allow his disciples to risk their lives further — and in facing these seven, he felt something distinctly peculiar.

“The underworld has moved with great ambition. To have summoned the enemies of the young Chaos Great Emperor and sent them into the Emperor Pass — truly startling.”

Ye Fan believed that these seven had originally not come for him — for at that time, everyone had assumed he was dead. That they now sought to kill him was surely a decision made in recent days.

Between his fingers, streams of blood seeped out, transforming into a red chain — bright red and gold entwined together like chains of divine order.

In that moment, not only those on the city walls, but even Ye Tong and the others were startled. Why was blood flowing from the tips of Ye Fan’s fingers? What was he trying to do?

The sound of divine chains rang out, crisp and clear. The bloodflow did not fall to the ground but joined together, forged into a true blood-chain, carrying within it a strange and wondrous power.

“Is that Master’s law and Dao?”

“No — that is the most primordial power of his physical body!”

The disciples discussed it among themselves.

Ye Fan walked forward. “From ancient times to the present, you have always sought to draw the Sacred Physique into the underworld. All this trouble truly makes me curious.”

As he spoke, the divine chains at his fingertips grew ever more resplendent. One could see clearly the symbols flickering within them, constructing the divine chain and making it ever more real.

“You… have not yet become a Quasi-Emperor, yet you have already deciphered part of the secrets within the blood!” One among the Seven Champions of Chaos said in shock.

At that moment, they were profoundly affected. For Ye Fan’s blood had transformed into chains of divine order — all seven of them trembled bodily, retreating involuntarily.

“That is… because within your bodies… there flows the true blood of the human race!” Suddenly a shattered remnant of a spiritual imprint came rushing across — the answer to the question Ye Fan had posed earlier.

It was a thought fragment from the foremost rider, clearly surpassing the dominant consciousness, transmitted by force. Immediately afterward, that rider clutched his head and let out a miserable cry, and that shattered imprint dimmed and faded.

These were no longer the Seven Champions of Chaos!

Ye Fan’s spirit stirred, his eyes shooting forth an astonishing beam of light as he fixed his gaze on what lay before him. The blood-chain at his fingers became even more formidable — runes flickering within it, the most primordial power flowing through.

The lead rider’s body shuddered. He clutched his head and transmitted a final remnant thought — swift and brief: “The blood within your bodies causes the underworld both fear and desire. If obtained, it can awaken the most powerful heroic spirits of the human race — but if applied in the opposite direction, it would cause certain figures with blood of the dead to walk toward destruction.”

After these words were spoken, his eyes became dark as ink — the dominant consciousness completely suppressing that remnant imprint. His voice became terrifying and cold: “These seven bodies have already changed masters, yet stubborn obsessions persist and will not scatter. Truly vexing.”

A faint cold smile played at the corner of Ye Fan’s lips. He said nothing. He had already obtained more than enough information — a truly unexpected gain.

As he advanced, the Seven Champions of Chaos began to behave strangely. In the face of the blood at his fingertips, they showed a nameless agitation.

“Is this one of the fruits of Master’s enlightenment of the Dao?”

They had heard Ye Fan murmur to himself — that under the six paths of reincarnation, there was no transmigration, but rather a different kind of mutual transformation. His laws, his Dao — all of it underwent reincarnation and rebirth within the world of his body.

Now Ye Fan had unexpectedly learned some of the underworld’s secrets, and he was even calmer than before. He had long since penetrated the secret of the rune source-power contained within blood — otherwise he would not have brought it out in advance.

“Kill!”

The Seven Champions of Chaos charged forward. Their bodies flowed with the runes of the supreme Dao; their black armor was supremely intimidating; their killing intent was world-shaking.

Ye Tong, Hua Hua, and Yang Xi were about to rush forward — but Ye Fan stopped them. From his fingertips appeared seven divine chains, bright red and golden entwined together, ancient runes within them shimmering. They gave off no powerful fluctuations, yet inspired awe in all who beheld them.

The divine chains forged from flowing blood rang with the sound of metal and then began to dance through the air, in an instant piercing through the void and disappearing directly into the body of one opponent.

“Ah…”

With that single cry of anguish, one of the Seven Champions of Chaos shuddered. The black blood within that person’s body was instantly evaporated — burning — as a blinding light erupted.

This was the destruction of the bloodline. As the runes flowed through, the black blood of the dead suffered a fatal blow, rapidly dimming and being extinguished.

“You… have awakened the true meaning within this?!” One of the Seven Champions of Chaos cried out.

Ye Fan had not merely deciphered a portion — he had penetrated a flawless set of runes that were lethal to them, the most fearsome thing imaginable.

“Retreat!”

The lead among the Seven Champions of Chaos let out a great roar and turned to leave. If this battle continued, there would be no suspense whatsoever — they were innately countered and suppressed.

Unfortunately, Ye Fan’s two hands trembled, sending seven divine chains flying outward — carrying the most terrifying of runes within them — cutting off their paths of retreat.

“Yang Xi, listen well!” Even as Ye Fan was attacking, he found time to transmit his voice, teaching his youngest disciple to perceive the secret of the true blood and help him comprehend it.

This required insight, however, and the process would be arduous. Yang Xi, for the time being, could certainly not fully comprehend it — the bloodline within oneself had to be unlocked by oneself.

“Ah…”

“Ill fortune will befall you!”

The divine chains crisscrossed — like a dozen colored phoenixes dancing through the air, spreading their wings to soar — piercing through the Seven Champions of Chaos with a kind of innate suppression, making escape impossible.

With the True Blood Divine Chains upon them, the hellfire within the Seven Champions of Chaos burned. In a very short time, they were reduced to ash. Vaguely and imperceptibly, Ye Fan heard several sighs of obsession finally set free.

On the city gate tower, everyone was thunderstruck — watching this scene with expressions of utter disbelief. That had been the Seven Champions of Chaos — yet they had been struck down just like that, as though it were myth.

Far too simple. This left people feeling it was inconceivable, profoundly unreal.

Seven streams of true blood flowed back, runes flickering within them. In the final instant, Ye Fan captured a fragment of a shattered demonic chain — the imprint left by the one who had controlled the Seven Champions of Chaos.

To be more precise: though these seven had been given entirely new dominant consciousnesses, they were still subject to someone’s control — tools of war, invincible killing machines.

Someone had brought them out of the underworld and directed their actions. The reason these seven had blocked him in such a way was that they had been commanded to do so.

Blocking him in this manner — not even allowing him through the city gate — if it had succeeded, it would have been among the most serious humiliations imaginable. Even Yao Guang and Yin Tiande, who were destined to clash with him eventually, would not have acted this way — it went too far.

“Someone of the lineage of the Eternal Heavenly Venerable!” Ye Fan broke apart that shattered imprint, and his heart was violently shaken.

The Eternal Heavenly Venerable had once been the lord of the underworld. He had departed long ago, but his lineage still held great influence in the underworld — an important branch.

Today, the one truly trying to deal with him was a disciple sealed by the Eternal Heavenly Venerable into this era — a figure from the age of myth, yet still young. And he was within the city.

Within him now, a fire burned. Three hundred years ago, when the Great Sacred Physique had perished, the final rain of light had flown to his side, and he had sensed the full course of that battle.

Ye Fan entered the city. No one blocked his path any longer.

Within the emperor city, there were vast numbers of people. This era was truly one in which powerful figures were gathered together — from every corner of the ten thousand realms of all the heavens, this was not a vague generalization but a literal truth: that many had come.

Even if only one had come from a single domain, the sheer number was staggering — so many stars, so many small chaotic worlds, so many blessed caves and sacred lands… All the people who had come from every ancient place in existence gathered together in a number beyond reckoning.

Many ancient realms had not sent a single person in tens of thousands — or even hundreds of thousands — of years, yet in this era they had reappeared in the starry sky, with their most powerful figures bringing divine might and cutting their way here.

Everyone showed surprise in their expressions, watching as the four of them — master and disciples — entered the city.

Within the city there were the most alluring of beauties, the most fearsome of demon lords, the most gifted of heroes, the most ruthless and venomous of villains, the most domineering of men… This would be the most powerful clash among all the heavens!