The instant the ancient seal shattered, a terrifying pressure that could suppress the Heavens and span the ages swept over the entire altar plaza like an ocean overturning the nine skies.
The world fell utterly silent.
The Ancient War Spirits that had just been rampaging wildly and slaughtering everything in their path froze in midair. Their black baleful aura stopped roiling, and every trace of their ferocity bowed in submission. The surviving experts across the plaza heard their bones creak as their blood and energy reversed course. Even as they desperately activated their protective techniques, their bodies sank helplessly toward the ground.
No one dared look up. No one dared move a muscle.
This was the suppression of an Ancient Supreme's rank, the absolute gulf between realms and eras. It was like an ant facing the heavens—a natural chasm with no room for resistance.
The pitch-black fissure in the depths below expanded wildly, stretching from a hundred meters to a thousand, then tens of thousands of feet... The cracks spread across the entire Ancient Altar. Ancient divine stones crumbled layer by layer, and countless fragments floated into the air before being crushed to dust beneath the Supreme's pressure.
An immense, indistinct figure slowly rose from the pitch-black abyss.
It had no complete physical body. Its entire form was woven from dark, heavy mist and ancient golden runes. It towered between heaven and earth, blotting out all the light above the secret realm. The remnants of its battered battle armor bore the mottled scars of an ancient war, every line steeped in the terrifying bloodlust of countless ages of slaughter. Its face was impossible to make out; only a pair of blood-red eyes, each stretching a hundred feet across, stared down coldly and lifelessly at this newly born world of the Heavens.
It was only a wisp of remnant soul, yet it bore an unparalleled dominion capable of suppressing all ages.
"The Ancient Supreme Remnant... It's really appeared."
The black-robed elder slumped against the shattered divine stone, drenched in cold sweat. His voice carried utter despair. He had roamed the Heavens Secret Realm for ten thousand years and seen countless deadly perils, yet he had never experienced such suffocating terror from the depths of his soul. The being before him had been a top expert of the ancient era, a Supreme who once traversed countless worlds and commanded the cosmos. Even as a mere remnant soul, it was beyond anything cultivators of the present Heavens could withstand.
The surviving experts from the other races and the demonic cultivators nearby were all deathly pale. They had completely lost the will to fight. Everyone had come to the heart of the secret realm to compete for Dragon Ball Fragments and seek an unrivaled opportunity. None of them had imagined they would awaken a taboo existence capable of destroying the world.
The only one standing calmly in the entire crowd was the Mysterious Shadow atop the altar.
It remained suspended in the shadows, utterly still, as though even the Supreme Remnant's arrival could not stir the slightest reaction in it. Only its cold eyes remained fixed on Lin Chen at the center of the battlefield. Its earlier words—"Dragon Ball reincarnation. The ancient seal opened because of you"—still echoed clearly in everyone's ears.
Lin Chen's heart sank to the bottom.
At that moment, he finally understood everything that had led to this.
Ever since he entered this Wild Secret Realm, the Dragon Ball Origin flowing through him and the reincarnated Dragon Soul awakened within him had been subtly drawing on the ancient seal beneath the ground. This wasn't some chance encounter with an opportunity in the secret realm triggering an anomaly. His own Origin aura had been the key that broke the seal.
The prying eyes that had followed him all this way, the strange surges of energy deep in the secret realm, the abnormal flickering of the rune restrictions—none of it had been coincidence.
It was him. He had personally undone the cage that had suppressed the world for countless ages and released the terrifying Ancient Supreme Remnant.
"So from the very beginning, I was the target." A glimmer of understanding flashed in Lin Chen's eyes as he murmured under his breath.
The Mysterious Shadow had followed him the entire way without attacking, revealing itself, or interfering. From beginning to end, it had simply watched coldly as he ventured deeper into the secret realm and used the Dragon Ball Origin to batter the seal's barriers, until he finally triggered this world-ending crisis.
Son Goku's Super Saiyan aura surged violently around him. He struggled to withstand the immense Supreme pressure with his brilliant blue light, veins faintly bulging at his temples. He turned to Lin Chen, his voice utterly resolute. "Lin Chen, this isn't your fault. The seal was already on the verge of breaking. It would have appeared sooner or later!"
Vegeta's brows drew together as his deep-blue battle aura shielded him. His proud eyes were full of gravity. He understood the terror of the Supreme realm better than anyone. The depths of an ancient powerhouse were beyond the comprehension of an ordinary World Lord.
"There's no point saying more." Vegeta spoke in a low voice. "It's come to this. We can only fight."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Supreme Remnant hovering in the air suddenly moved.
The blood-red eyes stretching across the sky narrowed slightly. The endless black mist churned violently, and a terrifying force, condensed to its utmost, instantly locked onto Lin Chen. Without any elaborate technique, it struck casually, sending a black pillar of annihilating light down from the void. Wrapped in the power to crush all things, it shot straight toward Lin Chen.
Its target was simple: kill the reincarnation of the Dragon Ball.
The ancient seal had been created because of the Dragon Ball. Now that its reincarnation had appeared, the Supreme Remnant could completely escape the seal's remaining restraints by killing Lin Chen and severing his connection to the Dragon Ball Origin. Then it could devour the scattered Dragon Ball Fragments, restore its remnant soul, and return to its peak.
"Don't even think about it!"
Son Goku roared and shot forward, his aura blazing at full force. Golden and blue light intertwined around him as he drove his combat power to its peak. He swiftly drew his hands together, gathering immense energy until a brilliant blue sphere formed in an instant.
"Full-power Kamehameha!"
A dazzling beam tore through the air and met the black pillar of annihilating light head-on.
The two ultimate forces collided with a thunderous boom that ripped through the secret realm. Violent waves of energy swept in every direction. The already-ruined altar shattered completely, and the surviving cultivators nearby were swallowed by the shockwaves before they could escape, reduced to ash.
The blue beam held for only an instant before shattering inch by inch.
Son Goku's body shook violently. He spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, crashing into the ruins. His aura dimmed in an instant.
A casual strike had gravely wounded Son Goku, who had already broken through to the Super Saiyan level.
That was the Ancient Supreme's absolute power.
Vegeta's eyes sharpened. He no longer held back any of his trump cards. Blinding white light erupted around him as immense energy gathered in his palm.
"Final Flash—full power!"
A torrent of destructive white light shot skyward, following close behind the Supreme Remnant's pillar of energy in an attempt to forcibly stop its attack.
But the gulf between their realms was like an impassable chasm.
The white light collapsed in an instant. Vegeta grunted as the armor on his shoulder split apart. Blood slid down his arm, and he staggered back several steps. His palm split open, and his combat power was badly damaged.
The two Super Saiyan powerhouses had joined forces, yet they couldn't even withstand a casual strike from their opponent.
Everyone present was utterly overcome with despair. Their eyes held nothing but lifelessness.
Seeing the two of them hurt and flung aside, Lin Chen felt anger and dread twist together in his heart. He stopped holding back. All the Dragon Ball Fragments in his palm floated before him as seven-colored Origin light shot into the sky. Immense, gentle Dragon Soul power surged through his entire body.
Golden patterns instantly spread across his skin. The Saiyan bloodline's violent power fused perfectly with the supreme Dragon Ball Origin, and a new force erupted from within him.
Since the seal had opened because of me, and the crisis had begun because of me, then I'll be the one to stop it!
Lin Chen's eyes were clear and resolute as he stepped through the air, facing the oncoming pillar of annihilating light. His hands flashed through a series of seals, and countless golden swords of light took shape, weaving together into a dense Origin Barrier. At the same time, all the Dragon Soul power in his body poured out, filling every inch of his veins and flesh.
The countless swords of light surged toward the black pillar.
Crack, crack—
One sword after another shattered. The Origin Barrier shook violently as cracks raced across it. The violent force of annihilation battered the barrier relentlessly, drawing ever closer to Lin Chen.
Excruciating pain swept through his body along his meridians. His organs churned, and a coppery sweetness rose in his throat, but Lin Chen remained perfectly still. Gritting his teeth, he desperately wrung out every last bit of his strength, calling on every wisp of Dragon Ball Origin to hold back the Supreme's strike.
The brief standoff lasted only a few seconds, yet felt like an eternity.
At last, the Dragon Ball Origin erupted to its utmost, weakening the black pillar again and again until it collapsed in the void.
Lin Chen's body jolted. He staggered back more than a dozen steps before regaining his balance. His face was as pale as paper, his breathing ragged, and his energy nearly spent.
To withstand a single strike from a Supreme Remnant as a World Lord was already an act against the heavens.
For the first time, the Mysterious Shadow atop the altar stirred slightly.
It leaned forward a little, its indistinct gaze fixed on the seven-colored Origin light still lingering around Lin Chen. The aura that had lain dormant for countless ages rippled almost imperceptibly.
Above them, the Ancient Supreme Remnant's blood-red eyes flashed with surprise, then filled with utter savagery and greed.
"Dragon Ball Origin... complete Dragon Soul..."
Its hoarse, ancient voice rang through heaven and earth, brimming with boundless madness and desire. It could clearly sense that the power hidden within Lin Chen was enough to free it completely from the restraints of its remnant soul—and might even let it surpass its former peak.
The next moment, black mist billowed around the Supreme Remnant. The baleful aura of the entire secret realm gathered into it, and a force of destruction several times stronger than before began to condense. This time, it wasn't a casual strike. It was invoking a true Supreme divine ability, determined to kill Lin Chen in one blow and seize the Dragon Soul Origin.
The immense pressure surged again. The air solidified, and the shadow of death fell over every heart.
Son Goku and Vegeta forced themselves to their feet despite their injuries. They tensed their bodies again, ready to fight to the death and stop it. Everyone knew that when this strike fell, no one would survive.
But just as the Supreme divine ability was about to take shape, at the very moment life and death hung in the balance, the Mysterious Shadow atop the altar suddenly moved.
Ignoring the Supreme Remnant's eruption and the overwhelming pressure of destruction, it blurred and crossed hundreds of feet in an instant, appearing above the battlefield. It made no earth-shaking attack. It merely extended a long, slender black hand, aiming in opposite directions at the enraged Supreme Remnant and Lin Chen, whose energy was spent and who could no longer dodge.
At that moment, two terrifying beings had taken control of the situation.
The Ancient Supreme Remnant's world-ending divine ability had taken shape, while the Mysterious Shadow's black palm concealed some unknown mystery.
Lin Chen looked up, his pupils contracting sharply. He realized that the power swirling in the Shadow's palm shared the same origin as the Dragon Ball Origin, yet also carried a force of ancient desolation that surpassed the Dragon Ball itself!
This double dead end had descended upon him. He had never imagined that after breaking the seal, he would face not only the awakened Ancient Supreme but also this terrifying being, whose identity remained a mystery after hiding its intentions for so long.
And the Mysterious Shadow's true purpose was far more chilling than the Supreme Remnant's bloodthirsty savagery.
Before you continue