These nine silhouettes were none other than the nine Emperor-level existences led by the Blue Emperor. There were only nine out of the original Thirty-six Emperors.

It was Merlin's first time seeing powerful existences such as the Thirty-six Emperors. True enough, they were very different from the watchman. Back then, the watchman was also a fourth-grade Emperor-level existence. The threads of the natural order that were connected to his body were completely frayed and could not be detached.

On the other hand, the ancient Thirty-six Emperors no longer had any threads of the natural order. This was because their bodies had been fully integrated with the natural order's origin and became a part of it. They could even be seen as the origin of the natural order's avatars.

This was the price the Thirty-six Emperors had to pay in order to have more power and transcend above the ordinary fourth-grade Emperor-level existences. There was only one way, which was to become part of the origin of the natural order.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. Their responsibility was to maintain the smooth operation of the Void Zone and keep its balance. If there was any trace of a threat to the Void Zone's balance, they must destroy it.

Prior to this, despite the three great Golden Ray Warriors' escape, they did not cause any massive bloodshed, so the nine Emperor-level existences could choose to turn a blind eye. Even though they were a part of the origin of the natural order, they would not care unless they were compelled.

However, the three Golden Ray Warriors intended to enter the origin of the natural order. They wanted to achieve the Vestigial Tribe's goal of crossing the gateway of the natural order and into the natural order's origin.

The origin of the natural order was the foundation of the entire Void Zone. No matter what, the Void Zone would not allow the three Golden Ray Warriors to enter its origin. Thus, the nine Emperor-level existences were sent to stop them.

"Stir up trouble? Haha, the three of us were imprisoned by you for over billions of years, and the Vestigial Tribe was exterminated. Yet you say that we're stirring up trouble? We all know that this whole saga is unrelated to you. Whether it's the Vestigial Tribe, you guys, or even the rest of the life-forms in the Void Zone, all our actions are dictated by a higher power. But, precisely for that reason, we want to enter the origin of the natural order."

"What benefit would you obtain from destroying the origin of the natural order? If that happens, the entire Void Zone will collapse. You won't survive either…"

Both sides were ready to engage, but no one attacked.

"Who said that we are going to destroy the origin of the natural order? We just want to enter to see the core of the Void Zone that the Vestigial Tribe did not manage to see. All we want is to break free of its control."

The Blue Emperor shook his head. "Regardless, you're not allowed to enter the origin of the natural order!"

The nine Emperor-level existences emitted a magnificent aura, especially since the gateway of the natural order behind them seemed to radiate traces of the power of the natural order which fortified the nine Emperor-level existences. The origin of the natural order was increasing their power levels.

When the Vestigial Tribe tried to enter the origin of the natural order the last time, the same thing happened in the battle outside the gateway. The origin of the natural order enhanced the Thirty-six Emperors' power, causing a massive defeat to the Vestigial Tribe. That single battle had determined the outcome of the war.

Therefore, the Vestigial Tribe failed to enter the origin of the natural order until they lost the war. Now that the three great Golden Ray Warriors had broken free, they simply wanted to fulfill the Vestigial Tribe's dream.

"Haha, can you stop us?"

When he saw the nine Emperor-level existences, Marta laughed. At the same time, along Larkin and Myron, who had already replenished their energy levels, the three Golden Ray Armors began to balloon up. All of their bodies radiated a dazzling golden glow.

Every single inch of this golden glow was capable of disintegrating the power of the natural order and could destroy countless numbers of dimensions. Even the fourth-grade ultimate existences could not withstand a single blow from the Golden Ray Warriors.

Only the Thirty-six Emperors, who were the avatars of the origin of the natural order and possessed an endless stream of power, as well as able to mobilize the origin of the natural order, could possibly challenge the Golden Ray Warriors!"

"Fight!"

Marta was far more impressive than a Titan Giant. A single punch released a terrifying force that swept across every direction and smashed multiple layers of the natural order's power. The ancient Thirty-six Emperors' powers of the natural order, which had been condensed to the limit, transformed into a huge shield that blocked Marta's punch.

However, Marta did not stop at a single punch. Following after the first punch was hundreds and thousands of punches. Every single blow consisted of pure power. Although such an attack would consume an immense amount of energy, the Golden Ray Armor demonstrated its resilient nature. They were able to transmute the power of the natural order into energy.

Therefore, they too were in no shortage of energy. The fight was very intense, which was why back in the day, even the Thirty-six Emperors were unwilling to engage these Golden Ray Warriors in battle.

"Boom".

The three Golden Ray Warriors triggered a huge explosion with unparalleled force. The nine Emperor-level existences were knocked into the air. Although they did not die, the power gap was apparent.

In terms of absolute power, the three Golden Ray Warriors held an unmistakable advantage. Their explosive power, in particular, shocked Merlin to no end. He would much rather face an Emperor-level existence than a Golden Ray Warrior.

Nevertheless, these nine Emperor-level Warriors were still the illustrious Thirty-six Emperors, so their abilities were not so inadequate. Naturally, they had access to special tactics beyond the abilities of ordinary Emperor-level existences.

"Origin of the natural order, bind!"

The Blue Emperor roared. An apparition of a halo which contained the origin of the natural order coalesced above his head. Following that, the threads of the natural order began to tremble mightily.

The thread flew towards the three Golden Ray Warriors. Moreover, the other eight Emperor-level existences began to wield their strongest power too. Distinct apparitions of the origin of the natural order coalesced above their heads respectively.

This was the most unique ability of the Thirty-six Emperors. They were able to mobilize the origin of the natural order's power, in other words, the Void Zone's power!

Originally, the threads of the natural order would not change. Merlin only knew that these threads were somehow linked to the natural order's origin.

Right now, however, the origin of the natural order was astonishingly able to manipulate these threads. Hence, it was able to bind its enemies invisibly. This was the inherent weakness of all life-forms born in the Void Zone. No matter what, they could be suppressed by the origin of the natural order.

Multiple threads of the natural order swiftly entangled Marta and the others. Despite the brilliant radiance of the Golden Ray Armor, they could sense the strain and could not break free from the threads' bondages.

"You don't have to struggle anymore. These contain the power of the natural order. Every time we use this power actually causes a huge loss to the origin of the natural order, so we don't want to use it. But you leave us with no choice. When you broke free, we wanted to give you a chance, as long as you don't commit any massive bloodshed. However, it seems like we can't let you go free. We will just have to imprison you forever…"

When that sentence ended, the nine Emperor-level existences flew towards Marta and the others. If these three Golden Ray Warriors were like the other ordinary Golden Ray Warriors who had not achieved 100% compatibility with the Golden Ray Armor, they would certainly be separated and killed.

However, the three of them were completely fused with their Golden Ray Armors, so they were very difficult to kill. Thus, they could only be suppressed and imprisoned.

"You want to imprison us again? Impossible, I will not allow you…"

The dazzling golden rays on Marta, Larkin, and Myron grew more intense and the Golden Ray Armors continued to expand. They, too, threw all caution to the wind and unleashed all their powers. For a split second, the pure power began to struggle against the threads of the natural order.

"This is bad, I can't hold them for long. Let's work together to imprison them!"

The Blue Emperor's face shifted. Everyone could see that Marta and the others had unleashed their full power. It was a final act of desperation, but also very effective. They were able to break free of the suppression.

"We've exhausted our power as well unless the origin of the natural order gives us more power!"

"Yes, only with the origin of the natural order's power, it will be possible for us to suppress these three Golden Ray Warriors."

These Emperor-level existences turned their gaze towards the enormous gateway. That was the gateway of the natural order, and behind it, was the true core of the entire Void Zone!

As if able to sense the thoughts of these nine Emperor-level existences, the gateway of the natural order began to hum. At the same time, an overwhelming aura emerged from the gateway of the natural order.

This overwhelming aura contained a sense of geniality to everyone, except for Merlin, Marta, and the others, who instead felt uncomfortably suppressed. They felt suppressed by this aura, which was the purest power of the origin of the natural order.

With the support of this aura, the apparitions above the heads of the Blue Emperor and the others became stronger and solidified several folds. Their power was stronger than before.

The nine of them combined their powers and the threads of the natural order once again suppressed Marta and the others with a vengeance.

"Haha, the origin of the natural order has given us power."

"In the Void Zone, the origin of the natural order is forever our strongest fort!"

The nine Emperor-level existences were overjoyed. The origin of the natural order had not responded to their requests for a long time. Unexpectedly, this time, it lent them its supportive powers. This also proved that the three Golden Ray Armors were actual threats to the origin of the natural order.

Marta and the others were gradually suppressed and bound. At this time, Marta looked towards Merlin and shouted, "Merlin, you're also rejected by the Void Zone. This is the best opportunity for you to enter the origin of the natural order. Once you miss this opportunity, you'll never be able to enter. What are you waiting for?"

"Whoosh".

As soon as Marta's voice fell, the nine Emperor-level existences turned their attention to Merlin, their eyes filled with vigilance.

"Rejected by the world? He's not from the Vestigial Tribe though? What is going on?"

It was only then that the Emperor-level contenders discovered Merlin's unique existence.