By the time Su Chen returned to the demon nation, everything had changed.

From Jin Da, he learned that many demons had died after his disappearance. Yuan Yuan had stopped at the Saint King realm. When her lifespan neared its end, she had chosen to seal herself in the divine source, waiting for the day Su Chen might return. He had indeed come back.

Yuan Yuan lay within the divine source. When Su Chen awakened her, the first thing she saw was the familiar figure she had not seen for countless years.

"Big Brother, is it really you?"

Su Chen still looked like a young man, peerlessly elegant. The little fox, however, had grown up. The former loli had become a graceful older sister. After years of ruling the demon nation with dignity and comfort, she carried a faint imperial aura. Yet in front of Su Chen, she remained the same little girl at heart.

Su Chen looked at the big fox, who was trying hard to act obedient with wide eyes, and said gently, "You've worked hard all these years, little one."

Yuan Yuan smiled.

"Yuan Yuan isn't tired. But… Yuan Yuan can no longer follow Brother anymore."

Her lifespan had reached its limit. Once she left the divine source, she would only have a few months left.

...

A few days later, disaster struck the Heavenly Yang Divine Sect.

The entire sect was razed to the ground overnight. Even their Great Saint Ancestor died miserably, and all their foundations were destroyed before they could activate.

The annihilation of the Heavenly Yang Divine Sect became an unsolved mystery. Some said the sect had angered the heavens and been struck down by divine punishment. Others claimed they had possessed something they should not have, leading to their extermination. There were also rumors that the current Great Emperor was displeased with them and had personally wiped them out.

A powerful orthodoxy being erased without any resistance in a single night was simply too shocking. The one who destroyed the Heavenly Yang Divine Sect was naturally Su Chen.

The reason lay in the big fox now sleeping soundly before him. He had annihilated the entire Heavenly Yang Divine Sect and refined it into divine medicine, allowing Yuan Yuan to comprehend the Dao and live out a second life.

It was not because he held a grudge over being hunted for a thousand years. As a Quasi-Emperor, how could he care about such a trivial matter?

Unfortunately, Heavenly Heart Great Emperor still existed.

Su Chen muttered inwardly.

While Yuan Yuan reversed life and death to begin her second life, Su Chen spent some time reforging Jin Da, successfully advancing him from a Saint King artifact to a Great Saint artifact.

"Master, what is your current strength?" Jin Da asked curiously.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Even as a Great Saint artifact, he still felt that his master could snap him at any moment if he wished.

Su Chen glanced at the sky and said calmly, "In this universe, aside from 'Emperor' and the Supremes in the forbidden zones, the number of beings who can stand against me can be counted on one hand."

Quasi-Emperor!

Jin Da was shocked. In any great era, powerhouses were not rare, yet his master could rank among the top five in the entire universe.

Several hundred years later, Yuan Yuan successfully lived out her second life. The current Great Emperor still reigned, suppressing all living beings. No one could attain the Dao.

Su Chen, however, did not choose to seal himself away. He was waiting for a good show. Over tens of thousands of years, Heavenly Heart Great Emperor had not only failed to restrain his descendants' arrogance but had allowed it to grow worse. Many powers suffered terribly and chose to seal themselves. Heavenly Heart Great Emperor's own strength was declining far too quickly.

Su Chen sensed that great chaos would soon descend upon the world. Two thousand years later, his prediction proved correct. Heavenly Heart Great Emperor was failing.

That was good news. The bad news was that Heavenly Heart Great Emperor had appeared before him.

Heavenly Heart Great Emperor praised, "A mere mortal crow who could reach this step… unprecedented throughout the ages. You are truly extraordinary."

The visitor came with ill intentions.

"What brings Emperor Heavenly Heart to seek me?" Su Chen asked.

"You are far too extraordinary… You should not have appeared in this era," Heavenly Heart Great Emperor replied.

Su Chen sensed danger, but it was already too late. Heavenly Heart Great Emperor suppressed him directly, tearing off a small world and turning it into a prison. He sealed Su Chen inside.

"You want to suppress me so I cannot compete for the chance to become Emperor," Su Chen said. "You want your own descendants to attain the Dao!"

Trapped within the small world and seated cross-legged, Su Chen stared at Heavenly Heart Great Emperor and questioned him sharply.

For a brief moment, Heavenly Heart Great Emperor felt a trance, as if some ancient sage from a distant era was glaring at him with fury. But he was a Great Emperor, the supreme being of the universe. In an instant, his mind returned to calm.

"What is wrong with that?" Heavenly Heart Great Emperor stood proudly, unrivaled across the universe. He was the Great Emperor of this era. All races in the universe were his subjects.

"Do you know what consequences this will bring?" Su Chen asked.

Heavenly Heart Great Emperor said indifferently, "I have no parents. I was born as an innate lifeform and attained the Dao. Do you understand the loneliness of being alone in the world?

"No… You do not understand. This Emperor merely wishes to pass on his bloodline. What is wrong with that? I know that if anyone else becomes Emperor in this era, the myriad races will never spare my descendants. Only if one of my own bloodline becomes Emperor can my lineage continue and become an Emperor Clan."

Su Chen felt that Yao Tianxin had gone mad. He should have slapped this fellow to death back then.

Throughout history, no Great Emperor had ever cleared away all obstacles just so his blood descendants could have a chance to become Emperor. Would an Emperor born in such a way be anything more than food for the Supremes?

Especially since the current Supremes had already hunted a Great Emperor once before. Some Supremes could probably erupt with Great Emperor-level power for a short time even without full sublimation. If Heavenly Heart died at their hands, and then another Great Emperor followed, Su Chen could not imagine the final outcome. All the hard work of countless Great Emperors across hundreds of thousands of years would be wasted, and the forbidden zones would boil with activity once more.

"You will become a sinner against all races!" Su Chen declared.

Heavenly Heart Great Emperor's action was even more sinister than self-severing his path and fleeing into the forbidden zones.

Heavenly Heart Great Emperor's expression grew complicated. Perhaps, as Su Chen said, he would indeed become a sinner of the myriad races. Even so, he did not regret it. To him, the continuation of his bloodline was more important than transcendence.

Heavenly Heart Great Emperor left.

Su Chen remained suppressed inside the small world, bound by endless Emperor arrays and restrictions. For the time being, he could not break free and return to the universe.

In the end, Heavenly Heart Great Emperor had not chosen to kill him outright. Perhaps his descendants would fail. If that happened, existences like Su Chen would be able to break the seals and become the final hope of the myriad races.

Provided they were still alive.